Two California GOP delegates -- excited over McCain, worried about Sarah Palin

ST. PAUL -- Karen Bonadio is a rare species -- a Republican from Los Angeles.

And as she and her father, Col. Robert A. Bonadio, USMC retired, traveled here for the scheduled Monday opening of the Republican National Convention, both delegates were excited -- and both a little worried.

They were excited by the prospect of naming Sen. John McCain as the Republican presidential nominee, so excited that they donned McCain buttons even before they boarded their flight at LAX so anyone in the airport would know their candidate in case they cared, which they surely must, though no one said anything.

"He's a great man," they agreed. Karen Bonadio, in fact, changed her voter registration from Decline to State to Republican so she could vote for McCain in the primary.

The pair actually met the senator recently and have a tarmac group photo to show anyone who doesn't ask to see it. McCain, it seems, was so effectively responsive to Mr. Bonadio's years-long effort with....

...others to get some back pay owed to U.S. POWs from World War II.

Having himself been a POW for 66 months, McCain drove the measure through Congress. And the former prisoners, the ones who were left anyway, got the pay, albeit in 1942 dollars.

The father-daughter delegate duo was worried, though, not so much about the hurricane with the German name because if Angelenos knew the slightest thing about hurricanes or tornadoes, they sure wouldn't cover their roofs with all those half-sewer tiles.

They were worried about this VP pick of McCain's. They'd expected former Gov. Mitt Romney, which means the Bonadios sure didn't notice the acidic personal chemistry between the two during some GOP debates.

The Bonadios are worried over this Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska. They like her story a lot -- star high school athlete, college graduate, part-time fisherperson, tax-cutting mayor, mother of five, fiscal conservative, successful reform fighter against corrupt party bosses, sold off the state jet to fly commercially, drives herself around.

But the Bonadios heard that Palin and her family are hunters, actually going out into the countryside to shoot wild creatures that weren't doing anything to her. That offends the L.A. delegates greatly, and they really don't want to hear that different parts of the country may have different cultures and views of such things.

The Bonadios don't know that they want such a smalltown person as vice president. And they intend to make that point clear this week if they get another chance to talk with the senator.

-- Andrew Malcolm

Photo credit: Stephan Savoia / Associated Press

Comments

[OlderWhiteWoman]

Electing McCain/Palin and McCain dying while in the White House is scary enough.

Electing McCain/Palin and McCain not dying while in the White House absolutely terrifying.

Reasons:

Symptoms of POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER are prevalent with Combat Duty and POWs. Symptoms include chronic physical signs of hyper arousal, including sleep problems, TROUBLE CONCENTRATING, IRRITABILITY, ANGER, POOR CONCENTATION, blackouts or DIFFICULTY REMEMBERING THINGS, increased tendency and reaction to being startled, and HYPER VILIGANCE TO THREAT.

Two scientific articles:

1st Article: Worsening of post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms with cognitive decline: case series.

Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Jackson, Mississippi 39216, USA.

Patient age ranged from 57 to 70 years old and all patients had war-related PTSD. In each case, the patient had a history of PTSD that was under fairly good control until the onset of cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer's disease or vascular or alcohol-related dementia.

To view the entire article,
www.PubMed.org and search on ‘Worsening of post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms with cognitive decline: case series’

2nd Article: Memory performance in older trauma survivors: implications for the longitudinal course of PTSD.

James J. Peters VA Medical Center, OOMH, 130 West Kingsbridge Road, Bronx, NY 10468, USA. Julia.golier@med.va.gov

These alterations may put trauma survivors with PTSD at greater risk for cognitive decline in later life. PTSD was associated with substantial impairments in learning, free and cued recall, and recognition memory.

To view the entire article,
www.PubMed.org and search on ‘Memory performance in older trauma survivors: implications for the longitudinal course of PTSD’

Additional concerns of a MD from Chesterton, IN brings up critical points about McCain’s ability to govern:
“As a psychiatrist, I find the most troubling void in McCain's personal story, THE ABSENCE OF RESULTS FROM HIS VARIOUS NEURO-PSYCHIATRIC-EVALUATIONS. A man who demonstrates suggestive behaviors consistent with both Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (episodic, violent outbursts) and early dementia (multiple slips and errors of fact, flat, unmodulated speech, excessive reliance on teleprompters), McCAIN’S REFUSAL TO RELEASE THE RESULTS OF THESE EVALUATIONS RAISES THE SERIOUS POSSIBILITY THAT HE IS CONCEALING SIGNIFICANT MENTAL AND BEHAVIORAL DYSFUNCTION. While in general, there is an important right to privacy that must ordinarily be respected with all patients, the fact that this particular patient has chosen to run for the presidency makes it imperative that these records become available.”

Summary:

We owe McCain our love and respect for his military service. However, I love my grandchildren and this country too much to vote McCain into the White House.

The Choice is Ours:
If you want "EXPERIENCE AT GETTING IT WRONG", vote for McCain.
If you want "JUDGEMENT AT GETTING IT RIGHT", vote for Obama.

[Mitchell in NY]

John McCain claims to put Country First. With the decision to select Palin he has made a purely political move to gain more votes, at the price of the welfare of the country. Palin is simply not ready to be president should something happen to McCain. Further, he didn't properly vet her, which shows poor judgment on his part. Given the stuff that is starting to come out about her, I don't know if the Republicans will be able to keep her as the nominee.

"McCain Just Lost the Election with a Hail Mary (or Political Ambition 21, Country 0)"
http://msa4.wordpress.com/

[Jim Johnson CRS]

The American people are ready for change. Governor Palin will shake up Washington on both sides of the isle.

[frank]

worried about losing she should have thought about that when she switched over.i hope she gets to talk to mccain and hopefully if shes not to dizzy by then well lets just out it this way she belongs and deserve to be a repub.she is totally qualified.[stupidity]

[IndependentForObama]

Playboy McCain. Trophy wives, female advisors wanted, good-looking need only apply. At least McCain surrounds him self with good looking women. That seems to be a campaign strategy, then the Britney Spears and Paris Hilton ad. His comments about the topless beauty contest for his wife. He left his first crippled wife for a younger rich women to pursue politics. What has McCain done for women's rights over the last 40 years? Nothing! What does this say about his view of women?

[DrBanks]

So now we finally learn, after much subterfuge from the candidate in his writings that Joe Biden had the SAME number of deferments during the Vietnam war as did Dick Cheney. The VP has been mercilessly attacked on this issue for 8 years. Is there any chance the Main Stream Media will even carry the story, much less level 1% of the criticism they took against the VP. Also, how can Obama appoint a man who has had two brain aneurysm operations to a position of such importance when Obama, himself, has no military, executive or foreign policy experience? He is putting the country in peril, should Biden have a 3rd aneurysm. Will he have to rely only on his friends Ayers, Wright and Farakhan for leadership advice?

[pdx]

Sarah Palin is a great pick for the McBush ticket. I cannot wait to hear her debate. Old Mac can give her a few tips with allhis years almost behind him. I'm sure her husband will do a good job takeing care of their baby as she is vice president. If McBush does not finish his term, Sarah cannot do any worse than our current Bush.

[plankbob]

Posted by Jim Johnson CRS: The American people are ready for change. Governor Palin will shake up Washington on both sides of the isle.

Which isle would that be? One of the Aleutians? McCain shoots from the hip and apparently he vets from the hip too.
-- Hockey dad for Obama

[Linda]

I find the "inexperience" charge leveled at Palin from Obama supporters laughable. Oh there is inexperience alright, only it's your candidate who lacks it. Palin has more executive experience than Obama, Biden and McCain put together.

[cheo]

Hey DocBanks! Hurry Sean "Insanity" Hannity is on Fox. He is interviewing himself because no one wants to. Maybe you can get the anti-Obama talking points for the day and use it in your next comment.

[David from California]

Don't worry, be happy. Palin is a star... she's governed a state. Obama has governed nothing... he's a community organizer.

[scootmandubious]

Jim Johnson CRS wrote:
The American people are ready for change. Governor Palin will shake up Washington on both sides of the isle.
--------------------------------------
Just curious which "isle" you were referring to, Kodiak?

[scootmandubious]

plankbob wrote:
Which isle would that be? One of the Aleutians? McCain shoots from the hip and apparently he vets from the hip too.
-- Hockey dad for Obama
--------------------------------------
GMTA!

Sorry I didn't get to your post before putting up my own response. to jim johnson.

I think the best part of all of this is that her supporters are giving her the nickname barracuda. That's a plus??

[scootmandubious]

Linda wrote:
I find the "inexperience" charge leveled at Palin from Obama supporters laughable. Oh there is inexperience alright, only it's your candidate who lacks it. Palin has more executive experience than Obama, Biden and McCain put together.
---------------------------------------------------
Wow...did you really just write that Palin has more 'executive' experience than Obama, Biden and McCain put together?

I know this is one of the GOP prime talking points, along with the fact that she is governor of America's ' largest' state.

Look, we know you are referring to the fact that she is a governor and not a senator, but cmon....do you realize the danger of Sarah Palin EVER becoming president in the next 4 years?

A religious zealot, who wants us to teach creationism and would force a child raped by her father to conceive??

This is the person John McCain, who has had several bouts with cancer, thinks can best govern this nation if he is incapacitated?

You call the criticism "laughable?"

If this race is even close, the world will be laughing at us.

Who would blame them.

[Rodney]

I am a supporter of Romney, and he should have been VP to help McCain with economics issues. I am very disappointed in the choice of Palin, because the reason that the more qualified Romney isn't the nominee or VP pick is because he is not the right kind of "Christain" for the GOP. McCain was rumored to have wanted Lieberman which would have been a true bold move, but Leiberman wasn't acceptable to the "Christain" extremists in the GOP. The Republican party is suffering from pandering to incompetent Christain extremists under Bush, and McCain is now doing the same. McCain is no independent or maverick, and he won't get my vote. The only way the GOP can fix their relaince on the religious extremists is to lose big in November.

[bill]

Sarah Palin's interview by katie Couric was herendous. I have never seen anyone who supposedly has so much executive experience respond the way she did. What in the world was she talking about. If you vote for McCain after picking her or because he picked her you are not doing America any favors. Now I really know why John McCain did not want her to talk to the media. Really it would be best if she didn't talk at all. Now I also see why she went to six different colleges in a six year period. My friends saw the replay of her interview and people were laughing at her. God please help us!