Palin Keeps Attacking Obama: "No Present Button"

The presidential campaign is over, but Sarah Palin -- still at the epicenter of media attention -- continues to take digs at Barack Obama.

Speaking at the Republican Governor's Association meeting on Thursday in Miami, the Alaska Governor spoke primarily about the responsibilities of Republican executives in supporting domestic initiatives like tax cuts and budgetary prudence. But then she offered an obvious swipe at the President-elect.

Governors, she said make "tough decisions to best serve the people who hire us. And we are held accountable every day. The buck stops on our desk. We are not just one of many voting yea or nay or present. No. There is no present button in our office, is there? We have to make the tough decisions."

The line about voting "present," of course, is a clear jab at Obama -- lifted from an attack line that the McCain campaign (and the Clinton camp) used repeatedly on the trail. The crowd, it seemed, got the joke.

The dig comes, moreover, after Palin has continued airing concerns about Obama'a associations and readiness to be commander-in-chief in recent interviews.

It's hard to understand just what type of strategy Palin is deploying here. Her popularity rating plummeted as the campaign progressed, in part because of her attacks on Obama, in part because, after the campaign ended, aides to McCain painted her as vapid and out-of-her-league.

As such, she needs to push back against these negative narratives. And so we see her taking all of these national interviews after mostly avoiding press on the trail. But by continuing to take swipes at Obama, Palin seems to be doing little more than reinforcing the image that she is hyper-partisan and bitter over the election outcome.

UPDATE: Reader JMZ points out that in many states legislation can pass without the governor's signature -- the political equivalent of voting present (governors don't have to watch as their vetoes are overturned).

Comments

[Cogs]

I think Palin was taken aback when the conference attendees were mostly silent after she trotted out a reference to "Joe the Dumber".

[FLRN4Obama]

I guess there wasn't any joe the plumber in the audience....lol

[cgoodie]

Hubris....the best word in the English language to describe Sarah Palin (I've been looking for it for quite a while....)

[TheIronPuppyDog]

A double thank you to the person who recommended "Quotable: Sarah Palin's Top 10 Bloopers" (article is posted on http://politicalnewsconnection.com/ ). Very funny stuff.

[tm68]

Is she seriously still attacking the president-elect? What a set of balls on that woman. I'm so sick of everything that comes out of her mouth.

[NeoObamacrat]

Okay, Sarah, we get it; you don't like Obama. But you don't have to remind us every single time you get on the air. So, please, move on to something more productive. You do have a state to run after all.

[cgoodie]

She has so little of relevance to say that all she can do is repeat stump speaches and spout Republican talking points...kinda what lost her the election. And I don't think the Republicans are buying it...Charles Krauthammer (sp?) suggested she needs to be spending the next four years getting an education.

[wagthedog1001]

Irrelevant, irrelevant, irrelevant!

[Inthematrix]

I am officially sick of Sarah Palin!
http://inthematrix.wordpress.com/2008/11/14/goodbye-dubya/

[annabella1966]

what, it took you THIS long?? (just kidding - not trying to be snide!) (but really, I was completely sick of her on Sept. 1.)

Memo to Sarah: THE ELECTION IS OVER. GET OVER IT AND GO THE F*&K HOME.

[NeoObamacrat]

Hmm? What? I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch what you said. You want to hear more Sarah P, is that it?

[Ron1951]

"The presidential campaign is over, but Sarah Palin -- still at the epicenter of media attention -- continues to take digs at Barack Obama."

1. She is the center of attention simply because after months of not talking to the press she has made herself available to anyone who will listen to her. There is a simple solution to this. This is not news, stop covering it 24/7.

2. So, she still is going after Obama. Yogi and Boo-Boo are still going after picnic baskets. and "What did you expect me to do? I'm a scorpion."

[Psychonoetic]

Holy eff! Can we all agree to just ignore this nutcase? Isn't this just another case of 'tinkerbell syndrome'? If we collectively agree that Sarah Palin is just a figment on the imagination won't she just disappear into the Alaskan tundra and bother us no more?

[wagthedog1001]

I'm all for it.

[ckt]

Will there ever be a day when that woman's name is not in the headline?

[NeoObamacrat]

Yes. When she gets off the court and lets the other kids play. However, as things stand today, it is indeed a doubtable likelihood.

[Twinkie]

She's obviously playing up to the disgruntled Republican voters 'depressed' and 'scared' about the election outcome in order to improve her own political stocks for the future. So once again trying to put herself forward by dragging others down. She still have quite a few people bamboozled though.

[bullwinkle88]

She's giving hockey (a sport I love) a bad name! I wish she had called herself "A crickett mom" or something.

[ckt]

LOL, I kinda like the name 'Scrum Mom'.

[suhud]

Somebody needs to press her "not Present" button and make her go away.

[imagram3785]

Palin has an over-inflated ego about her political talent. She can talk a blue-streak, a mean-streak, and a just-folks-you betcha streak, but she lacks substance. She spins out her words, kind of like a spider spinning a web....you can get trapped in it trying to figure out what she just said. When you see her "speeches" in print, it makes you want to use a marker and delete all the superfluous words to get to the "message". She is extremely dangerous in front of an audience, and I believe she gets "high" on getting a crowd riled up. We certainly don't need this Sarah-Mata-Hari in the White House in any role. She needs to go back to Alaska where she can continue to bilk the state for more "expenses" for her and her family.

[zerotimes10]

Oh Sarah just give us a table dance and be on your way. Maybe, just maybe you could get that right. Here's 10 bucks. Go buy your self somethin' nice, sweetie.

[saus]

The Republicans are truly worse off than I originally thought. Is she the best they can do? I think the GOP should put a muzzle on thisarrogant and unsavvy woman.