Palin's Big Night: A Win for McCain--And a Possible Worry for Democrats
| Wed Sep. 3, 2008 9:49 PM PDT
The speech was the easy part. But she did it well.
Delivering the most anticipated vice presidential acceptance speech in modern political history, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin accomplished the mission. She talked family, biography, policy, and John McCain. Especially John McCain the POW. And--Democrats beware--she demonstrated she's handy with a rhetorical stiletto and can slice Barack Obama and Joe Biden while flashing a stylish smile.
The 44-year-old Palin did not wipe out questions about her experience. She did not address allegations she had abused her office while serving as a small-town mayor and as a governor. She did not defend her more extreme social positions, such as her support for teaching creationism. But in politics, performance counts for much. And for a little-known politician who had been hunkered down for days, as negative stories and rumors flew about, she had a helluva opening night. Next, Palin will have to face the media--one of the targets of her speech--fielding presumably tough queries about her actions (and life) in Alaska and her foreign policy experience (or lack thereof). But for the night, she held her own--and showed that she has the potential to be a fierce and effective critic of the Obama-Biden ticket.
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Palin came on right after former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani had trash-talked Obama, and she began with an obligatory maneuver: praising John McCain as a hero, and doing so multiple times. She quickly dealt with the, uh, family issue, noting that "No family ever seems typical...our family has the same ups and downs of any other." Not quite. But it sounded good.
After comparing herself to Harry S Truman and hailing small-town Americans (like herself), she lit into Obama. "A small-town mayor," she said, "is sort of like a community organizer except that you have actual responsibilities." (When Giuliani earlier referred to Obama's days as a community organizer, he drew laughs and hoots from the delegates.) Palin claimed that Obama had written memoirs but not laws, that he has given speeches on the Iraq war but has never used the word "victory"--except when "talking about his own campaign." Obama, she said, was more worried about the rights of terrorists than about defeating them. And what will Obama do once he has finished "turning back the waters and healing the waters"? Raise taxes, reduce the strength of America, and do nothing to increase drilling. (The delegates repeated their favorite chant of the evening: "Drill, Baby, Drill"). "The American presidency," Palin said, in another dig at Obama, "is not supposed to be a journey of personal discovery." She grinned the grin of a smooth put-down artist.
Palin, a self-described "hockey mom," laid on the populism--the Republican version of populism--noting how she had confronted entrenched interests in Juneau (she got rid of the governor's jet and chef), praising factory workers and small farmers, citing her husband's membership in the steelworkers' union, bashing the elite Eastern media, and denouncing the "permanent political establishment" of Washington, many of whom were in the hall as McCain supporters, donors, and aides. (After the speech, Republican pollster Frank Luntz said he believed Palin has the potential to connect with working-class voters.)
Decrying the Democrats as tax-hikers and national security weaklings, while blasting Washington, is the usual fare for Republicans. But Palin read her lines with flair and confidence. And--can we be frank?--she looked darn good doing so. She was with the program: this election is not as much about change, hope, or issues as it is about the measure of one man. "Biden and Obama," she said toward the end of her speech, "say they are fighting for you....There is only one man in this election who has ever really fought for you...in places where winning means survival and where defeat means death." He is, she continued, "the kind of fellow whose names you will find on war memorials in small towns across America--except he came home." And, she noted, he possesses "the special confidence of those who have seen evil and have seen how evil is overcome....That is the kind of man America needs." It's some ticket: a made-in-small-town-America working mom and the man who goes off to war to protect her way of life.
Palin's case for McCain was as effective a pitch for the GOP candidate as any made at the convention. And her attack on Obama was drenched with panache. After she was done, her family--including her pregnant teenage daughter's fiancé--joined her on the stage, and then McCain walked out. "Don't you think we made the right choice for the next vice president of the United States?" McCain exclaimed with glee. McCain and his aides were entitled to conclude that Palin had been misunderestimated by her critics and foes.
They also were entitled to believe that Palin would be something of a magnet for the party's base. Days ago, Tom DeLay, the former House majority leader, told me that by picking Palin, McCain had electrified social conservatives, who had not been jazzed by the prospect of voting for McCain in November. But at his church, this past Sunday, DeLay's parishioners told him they now were excited about the ticket. Palin's performance on Wednesday night can be expected to reinforce and boost social conservatives' enthusiasm for the McCain-Palin ticket. The social cons have a new champion.
Political experts say that veep picks ultimately do not determine outcomes in presidential elections. And that's probably true. Yet on Wednesday night, Palin displayed plenty of potential. (Joe Biden had reason to say to himself, "This debate's gonna be a challenge.") Though rumors still swirl and unanswered questions about her official actions in Alaska remain, Palin might end up an asset, not a liability, for McCain. She has to meet the press and withstand the ongoing and intense media scrutiny that only began a few days ago. She has to handle that debate with Biden. She has to prove her mettle on the harsh campaign trail. But while pundits before the speech were pondering how the McCain campaign could put lipstick on this (seemingly) pig of a choice, after the speech was over, it was clear, for at least the moment, that with Palin there's more lipstick than pig.
Comments
Submitted by Tim (not verified) on Wed Sep. 3, 2008 11:29 PM PDT.
Republicans?since you are so fixated on winning (at whatever cost to us) and not much else, get this straight: you are LOSING.
McCain + Palin = Same Plain McPain.
As you said in 1994: stop whining! Get used to it!
Bill Clinton once said that the first rule in politics is don't talk about yourself, talk about the people and their concerns. Sarah Palin's first speech to the nation as a candidate for national office was essentially about three people: herself, John McCain and her "opponent". A breakdown of the words the "country first" vice-presidential candidate used may reveal who she is most concerned with:
I, me, my = 53
McCain = 16
Opponent / Biden / Obama = 10
Housing = 0
White House = 2 (the only time she referred to house or housing)
Economy = 1
Environment = 0
Deficit = 0
Jobs = 2
Energy = 5
Iraq = 3 (one when referencing her son's deployment)
This was a speech essentially about her ? her kids, her state, her man, her running mate, her small town, her love of country and, yes, her anger at the media. Her speech was virtually devoid of anything that anyone outside of politics cares about.
It worked for the base. The shrinking base. It will go over neutral in the rest of the land. The speechwriter should be fired for wasting an opportunity to make a substantive splash.
Your article surprised me in that it seems to be fairly praiseworthy of this new phenomenon. I personally had great trepidation about this debut, and Gov. Palin's speech assured me of many things. Having had a sister with Down's Syndrome ? I can't tell you how affected I was by seeing her baby presented to the world with love and pride. I grew up feeling shame about my sister, as if her condition was some judgment from God on my family ? you know, taunts and kidding and funny faces from "friends" who must have heard talk around their own kitchen tables. My sister died when she was four.
This is the type of character that is Presidential. It is what we call LEADERSHIP and I think many people will reassess their opinions of Governor Palin. Many of these opinions may have been formed by some fairly vicious, agenda-conscious political flaks who have been sexist and seem completely unaware of their stupidity.
I think that John McCain appears brilliant in retrospect ? and her selection proves that once again, he is the type of Leader that we desparately need ? not a self-indulged celebrity.
Submitted by Tim (not verified) on Wed Sep. 3, 2008 11:29 PM PDT.
Republicans?since you are so fixated on winning (at whatever cost to us) and not much else, get this straight: you are LOSING.
McCain + Palin = Same Plain McPain.
As you said in 1994: stop whining! Get used to it!
Bill Clinton once said that the first rule in politics is don't talk about yourself, talk about the people and their concerns. Sarah Palin's first speech to the nation as a candidate for national office was essentially about three people: herself, John McCain and her "opponent". A breakdown of the words the "country first" vice-presidential candidate used may reveal who she is most concerned with:
I, me, my = 53
McCain = 16
Opponent / Biden / Obama = 10
Housing = 0
White House = 2 (the only time she referred to house or housing)
Economy = 1
Environment = 0
Deficit = 0
Jobs = 2
Energy = 5
Iraq = 3 (one when referencing her son's deployment)
This was a speech essentially about her ? her kids, her state, her man, her running mate, her small town, her love of country and, yes, her anger at the media. Her speech was virtually devoid of anything that anyone outside of politics cares about.
It worked for the base. The shrinking base. It will go over neutral in the rest of the land. The speechwriter should be fired for wasting an opportunity to make a substantive splash.
Your article surprised me in that it seems to be fairly praiseworthy of this new phenomenon. I personally had great trepidation about this debut, and Gov. Palin's speech assured me of many things. Having had a sister with Down's Syndrome ? I can't tell you how affected I was by seeing her baby presented to the world with love and pride. I grew up feeling shame about my sister, as if her condition was some judgment from God on my family ? you know, taunts and kidding and funny faces from "friends" who must have heard talk around their own kitchen tables. My sister died when she was four.
This is the type of character that is Presidential. It is what we call LEADERSHIP and I think many people will reassess their opinions of Governor Palin. Many of these opinions may have been formed by some fairly vicious, agenda-conscious political flaks who have been sexist and seem completely unaware of their stupidity.
I think that John McCain appears brilliant in retrospect ? and her selection proves that once again, he is the type of Leader that we desparately need ? not a self-indulged celebrity.
Submitted by zoe kentucky from pittsburgh (not verified) on Wed Sep. 3, 2008 10:33 PM PDT.
I have to admit I was much more worried about her before her speech. Now? Not so much. I would have thought they'd have her give a speech about her ideas about America, her heartfelt beliefs about true American values, about making a better world-- you know, something about what brings her to politics and why she wants to be VP. Instead she was snide and sarcastic and combative towards everyone who wasn't a republican. Reminded me of Bush's "you're for me or against me" mentality.
They made a mistake introducing her to the world with only the GOP's right-wing base in mind. They missed a huge opportunity by not trying to broaden her appeal to the biggest audience possible. So much for appealing to independents, moderate democrats or anyone who doesn't stronly identify as a republican.
I have to take issue with the notion that the "Palin speech" be lauded for anything more than it was - it showed she could read a teleprompter with as much facility of most politicians. But the words - or most of them - were written by others before she ws even nominated, as sources confirmed today when the speechwriters admitted they had to alter the speech so it would be as "masculine" as originally written.
So what is the Republican base so excited about? Another Milli Vanilli politician?
One of the things that impresses me most about Obam is that the man actually writes his own speeches.
She is a lightweight! She may be able to read a speech that was written for her, but nobody -- including most Republicans -- is taking her seriously. She is "window dressing" for an outdated, outclassed political machine. I'll be very surprised if she even makes it to election day. The Repulicans have already given up on this election.
Gotta give her props, she kicked ass tonight. She may well be ne of the best speakers of any of the candidates (which is needed to balance McCain who is terrible at speeches). Hillary must be figuring Palin will be her opponent in 2012 and not relishing that contest.
What speech were you watching? Yea she jumped the Sainted One but she did it with a smile and she laid out clear differences. She clearly made it about talk with the Sainted One and results with McCain. There is a huge difference here and she pointed it out clearly and did it with a smile too.
Submitted by Tim (not verified) on Wed Sep. 3, 2008 11:29 PM PDT.
Republicanssince you are so fixated on winning (at whatever cost to us) and not much else, get this straight: you are LOSING.
McCain + Palin = Same Plain McPain.
As you said in 1994: stop whining! Get used to it!
Submitted by Jason from Pittsburgh (not verified) on Wed Sep. 3, 2008 11:38 PM PDT.
Its interesting how so many Democrats out there say there was no substance or policy or anything about what she believes in terms of government in her speech. Its just like Democrats to be so immersed in their own worlds that everything else is irrelevant. Perhaps they missed all the explanation about reforming Washington. If they haven't heard it 20 times in this 36 minute speech about cutting federal spending and keeping taxes low so that businesses and companies can afford to grow and offer jobs. Its interesting that Democrats missed the point about facing terrorism head-on instead of waiting to be hit. Its interesting that Democrats missed the point that this election isn't about change and more of the same, but the talk of change versus a record of results for change from both McCain and Palin.
It just goes to show that Democrats are very insulated in their own world, not realizing that are many small town people in this country, more than city people that Obama typically appeals to. It is interesting that after his PA gaffe about clinging to religion, he belittles Palin for being a mayor of a small town, neglecting her tenure as Governor of the largest state in our country, however sparsely populated. Obama, the top of the Democratic ticket, wants to compare himself to Palin, the bottom of the Republican ticket. And to compare, he acclaims his experience running his campaign (btw, isn't David Axelrod running his campaign?) compared to the multi-billion dollar state budget that Gov. Palin manages, the command of the Alaskan National Guard, the education and political reforms that Palin has lead, as well as the negotiations for a natural gas pipeline from Alaska to the mainland as a first step towards energy independence. Oh yea. That stuff doesn't really matter.
Submitted by Jason from Pittsburgh (not verified) on Wed Sep. 3, 2008 11:42 PM PDT.
Obama supporters - you're saying Palin is nothing because she read from a teleprompter? What does Barack Obama do? And what happens when he doesn't? Doesn't he fumble? Doesn't he go 'uh uh uh"? Doesn't he snap back at Virginian women who are trying to help him at his rally when he can't remember what he wants to say? On her initial debut, she made a speach in Dayton Ohio without any teleprompters.
Submitted by FX (not verified) on Wed Sep. 3, 2008 11:42 PM PDT.
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People are quick to call this the "National Stage". I should remind everyone she has not personally faced off against a single tough question participated in a single national debate or held a single significant press conference. The RNC is an artificial environment, heck people who hated Bill Clinton were cheering him on last night. It was an artificial speech delivered to an artificial audiance, NOT a test of character. That will come. So I'll believe it when I see it.
Submitted by 復縁 (not verified) on Wed Sep. 3, 2008 11:55 PM PDT.
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I'm a "city peeps", live in a really big city in a really liberal world and I'm SO VOTING FOR McCain/Palin. Mostly can't stand how the Dems seems to hate America, or at least whatever it is they have in their head we are. We are a great country and will continue being great with the wrinkly old dude and the fresh-faced gal from Alaska. I LOVE SMALL TOWN VALUES and wish the liberal elites would just go away. They're so bad for America. Move to Europe and leave us alone.
It is interesting that Republicans conveniently forget that they had control of the gov't for 8 years and screwed it up and gave us those record deficits.
It is interesting that the Bush administration decided to attack Iraq, instead of hitting terrorism head on in Afghanistan where it exists.
It is interesting the Republican cling to old policies like subsidizing the oil industry instead of figuring out ways to get off the oil addiction.
It is interesting that Palin's abuse of power, her lack of control over her family, her pandering to the oil companies, her espousal of creationist teachings in public schools, and lack of any meaningful major league experience does bother the Republicans in the least bit.
Do Republicans think if we drill-drill-drill that the US will become energy independent? They all can't be that stupid we import 13-16M barrels a day and the Alaskan pipeline only can transport 2M and we only pump 740K bpd anyway. This is a fallacy and perhaps they are right, may be the American people are just stupid enough. I am sure that is Karl Rove's calculus. We will certainly find out in November. God Help Us if McCrazy and Gerraldine Quayle win.
Submitted by Alix F (not verified) on Thu Sep. 4, 2008 12:16 AM PDT.
Funny, I have thought the same about Obama for months now and even after the primaries, I have little reason to believe he's any better suited to the top of the ticket than Palin is to the bottom....
Sarah Palin was a big, big win tonight. McCain was right to choose her for all the right reasons: To energize the Republican base, and to appeal to women, independents, and blue-collar workers. She does all of those.
As Hillary Clinton's former Comm. Dir. Howard Wolfson said tonight: Dems are right to be afraid of her; they need to be very afraid of her.
For a conservative, praise from Corn is praise indeed. The lady deserved it. For conservatives the choice of Palin was really very important for beyond 2008.
If McCain had picked a liberal Republican running mate, as many think he was capable of doing, the whole future of the GOP might have been different whenever he dies or retires. As it is, the Republicans will remain the party of God, guns, patriotism, law and order, tax cuts, and drill, drill, drill. In other words, the U.S. will keep one virile party, willing to fight wars when necessary to preserve capitalism and freedom.
Posted by: Bill Carson on 09/03/08 at 10:37 PM
............................
Bill Carson,
I hope you're an equal-opportunity teleprompter-user basher. As we all know, Obama can barely speak without his pre-written speeches and teleprompters, but no one seems to mind that. I guess only Palin is held to these standards.
And if Obama writes his own speeches, then why does he need to hire 3 speechwriters? If you really believe Obama writes his own speeches, then I pity your naiveté.
Btw, I am a Clinton supporter and am not a Repub. However, I'm now an Indy and am no longer a Democrat --- it's truly a liberating experience to no longer see the world through blind-loyalty-party goggles.
She's a former beauty queen, of course she can memorize and deliver her lines and shine and smile. She spent two days holed up in an undisclosed location to practice a 30 minute speech. I had every confidence she would deliver the speech.
At the end of the day, Palin is McCain's gift to Obama. It's not going to be that hard for Obama to reveal Palin as the extreme social conservative hypocrite that she is. And also to remind voters that McCain is 72 and has had 4 bouts of cancer.
I'm a 40 year old professional woman, maybe I represent the group of voters that McCain is after. Before the Palin pick, the right to have an abortion wasn't an emotional voting issue for me. Now I'm fired up more than ever to make sure that woman never makes it to anywhere where she can turn this country into the ass backwards values that Palin has been spouting.
LOL...I'm glad to see that OBAMA DOESN'T WRITE already addressed the fact that Obama has a 20-something-year-old white guy who writes his speeches. Yes, he does. I believe that is his main speech writer. Hmm...I guess Obama likes throwing away money if he hires someone when Obama is clearly writing his own speeches...ROTFLMAO!!!
Bill Clinton once said that the first rule in politics is don't talk about yourself, talk about the people and their concerns. Sarah Palin's first speech to the nation as a candidate for national office was essentially about three people: herself, John McCain and her "opponent". A breakdown of the words the "country first" vice-presidential candidate used may reveal who she is most concerned with:
I, me, my = 53
McCain = 16
Opponent / Biden / Obama = 10
Housing = 0
White House = 2 (the only time she referred to house or housing)
Economy = 1
Environment = 0
Deficit = 0
Jobs = 2
Energy = 5
Iraq = 3 (one when referencing her son's deployment)
This was a speech essentially about her her kids, her state, her man, her running mate, her small town, her love of country and, yes, her anger at the media. Her speech was virtually devoid of anything that anyone outside of politics cares about.
It worked for the base. The shrinking base. It will go over neutral in the rest of the land. The speechwriter should be fired for wasting an opportunity to make a substantive splash.
America has become a nation of Talibans. I am stunned. I am from India and I see that republicans take pride in failing grades and blue collar wanna-be. Good for INDIA and CHINA. 50 years later, USA will be a TALIBANISTAN, rulwd by evangelical fanatics.
Well Ann, I'm sorry to hear that you feel the need to deride Palin because she was a beauty queen. Honestly, I love that she was a beauty queen. It's time that people stop attacking beautiful women as "dumb" because many are very intelligent. Honestly, the hate that so many Obama supporters spew makes me seriously wonder what Obama's message of "hope/change" really means. If his supporters reflect it, please let me pass.
Btw, I don't believe that you represent the group that McCain hopes Palin will reach out to. The media keeps focusing on Clinton women supporters (and I am a PROUD Clinton supporter), but no one points out that there are millions of conservative women who would be thrilled over a woman candidate who shares their values. Women's issues are not solely about abortion. And there are just as many conservative women as there are liberal women. They too deserve a voice. I'm sick of the liberal movement thinking that they own women's issues -- they don't!
I think it's great that you're fired up to keep Palin out of the WH, but don't let your ego trip you too much because there are many conservative women just as excited to get Palin in the WH.
Personally, I see the abortion issue as a political sledgehammer that both parties use to keep their bases afraid of looking at true issues. I'm an atheist, but I respect those who are pro-life. The Pope is against birth control, but there are millions who don't view him as a nutcase. So why do Obama supporters froth at the mouth with hatred over Palin being pro-life? The fact that her administration was the 1st to extend FULL benefits to same-sex partners reveals to me that she is pragmatic and willing to respect other beliefs. And I'm not too worried about Roe v Wade getting overturned. If it does, then maybe that'll be better since all it'll do is say that abortion is a state issue. Liberal states will continue to legalize abortion and super-conservative states won't. Maybe that would be a better solution...this country is huge and I don't see why we all have to force our beliefs on others. I'm a Manhattanite so you can imagine that I'm an uber liberal, but I don't see why people living in Kansas can't have their beliefs respected. I say leave it all up to the states! Btw, I'm still waiting for NY to get around to gay marriage. And when Americans think it's ok for an atheist to be POTUS, then I'll really be impressed. :D
Kentucky Zoe, have you not heard that Rome was not built in a single day let alone with a single speech? First you have to lay the corner stone. Palin passed this first test with flying colors, and I've heard she is at her best in one-on-one interviews. Keep in mind most Americans don't watch the Sunday talk shows, especially in the West where they start around 7 a.m., but I'm confident she can handle the entrenched establishment.
There is a reason why Katie Curic was #1 on morning news and #3 on evening news. Men are hard-wired from eons of evolution to wake-up eager to hear their mate's female voice but by evening, have their minds on other things (often including cheating--or at least, expamding the 'harum'). We can help it but don't wish to and besides, are not even aware of all the various ways our reptilian brain controls our values, judgements and preferences.
Palin is very good on camera and can deliver a speech and insult Obama as well as anyone and better then most. So can any info-commercial actress. Besides, Obama has his weak points which are quite open to effective insult. But at the end of the day, Palin was a huge mistake because many men won't warm up to her and women are notorious for foresaking their own, especially those right-of-center. Leftist lesbians (and almost lesbians) won't vote for her either, which is a substancial portion of Hillary's female power base and pretty-much the ONLY portion of the women vote which DOES serially support other women.
The "Shake-up Washington" theme would work MUCH better if the D's ran it. Republicans are known for obiedience and McMigrane already sold his virtual soul to clinch the 'R' nomination. Now he is comming out as the ALTERNATIVE to the incumbant Republican administration? So he HAD to use someone like Palin to deliver that message--which in reality is her ENTIRE role. But by Nov., people will be choosing between Obama with Biden, versus McMigrane alone. Palin will soon loose any substanical relivance. In that comparison, there is NO WAY people buy into the 'new and improved' (a.k.a. same-old) Republican message.
Obama may loose this by excessive lawyering, which is exactly how Kerry lost his. But it is Obama's to win or loose and McMigrane has little to say or due and Palin even less (far less).
Submitted by William W. Wexler (not verified) on Thu Sep. 4, 2008 3:14 AM PDT.
Listening to Palin speak was like walking on broken glass. Stringing one GOP hyperbolic untruth after another into a mantra in front of a room full of inebriated faithful isn't going to change anything.
It does provide some genuinely surreal theater, though. We now have the GOP spinning their way out of Palin's many flaws and that is truly interesting. According to GOP spokesholes, being the mayor of a small town in Alaska qualifies you to be president more than sitting in the US Senate. Oh, that's right, she was governor for 2 years, during which she accomplished... not much, unless you want to talk about moose killing, supporting Ted Stevens, and firing the head of Public Safety for refusing to take your side in a family squabble.
Holy smokes. The GOP has presented us with the worst ticket I have ever seen, and I've been watching a while (since '64). This is how the two party system works these days and is perfectly illustrative of why we need to break it into pieces and start a multi party government.
Do you think that either party would pull the crap on America that they have for the last 8 years if there were other viable parties? Not on your life. They know that it's a Punch and Judy show and they are using YOU FOR THE PUPPETS.
-Wexler
It took John McCain and the Republican Party to show Hillary Clinton and her supporters the respect we deserve.
I'm 'over the moon' at Gov. Palin's introduction to the nation. Perhaps today the MSM will wake up and realize that their coordinated attempt to smear her and her family isn't going to work. It's already backfired and stands in contrast to the authentic, spirited woman we saw last night.
Please don't waste time pointing out policy differences between the two Parties. We'll have a solidly democratic congress.
Face it, the Democrats went with the wrong candidate yet again proving that they know how to 'snatch defeat from the jaws of victory'.
What was with the constant attacks on the legislative branch? News flash -- McCain is a senator too.
Oh, and if you're from a city, you're the enemy? Now there's a long term strategy.
Just another lying bully. Well, the country loves lying bullies almost as much as it loves fights, so it'll be a good long fight.
Jon Favreau. That's the name of President...errr...Senator Obama's chief speechwriter. Belittling Gov. Palin for making use of an accomplished speechwriter is akin to mocking a .300 hitter in baseball for having a hitting coach. The fact is, when it's game time, coaches and speechwriters are on the bench.
Submitted by Ed (not verified) on Thu Sep. 4, 2008 4:07 AM PDT.
If even Mother Jones is giving a thumbs up to Palin, you gotta believe the libs are concerned.
And for crying out loud people, Barry Obama does not write his own speeches. Bush doesn't. Hillary doesn't. Nobody does. For supposed so-phis-ti-macated liberal Democrats you people don't know much about anything.
As an outsider living in South Africa may i comment. This commentry on Palin's speech is the first 'liberal' comment i have read or seen so far that quotes what she has said and gives a few of her ideas. Up to now all commentry (CNN/BBC/blogs have been either:
- what someone else has said
- was about her or her kids life or
- about her inexperience.
Regarding the last point watched snippets from CNN/BBC yesterday +- 4/5 hours before her speech and they were 100% about her in-experience. Seems like double standards, expose this yes but compared to Obama in terms of executive experience she is 100% better.
Did not see her speech live but this morning watched (again CNN/BBC)news and commentry and it was 100% about her knocking Obama. Imagine my surprise when CNN then played her speech in full and it took 30 minutes before she even mentioned Obama - talk about slanted news media and these stations are not even considered liberal .
The McCain/Palin ticket offers US voters a definite choice - conservatism vs liberalism surely the role of the (reponsible) media is to offer the voters what they say direct from their mouths and let the voters choose ie leave out the soap opera/wild family stories and stick to the issues especially when the speechs address the issues and ideas.
Brent
Submitted by William W. Wexler (not verified) on Thu Sep. 4, 2008 5:38 AM PDT.
Conservatism is a mental disorder.
How else can you explain the posts on this page, wowed over an incompetent, flawed, inexperienced, provincial, VP choice? How else can you explain that the party of "morals" looks the other way when her PREGNANT daughter is mentioned?
Talk about double standards... the mental illness of conservatism is rife with them.
I know all the cons are pumped up because of the conventions, but they KNOW that Palin is going to disintegrate. She breaks the "experience" argument. She breaks the "morals" argument. She breaks the "foreign policy" argument. She breaks the COMMON SENSE argument, by belonging to a secessionist party!!>??!! LMAO!
You must be crazy to love her... but looking at what's happened over the last 8 years and THINKING IT WAS A GOOD THING proves you're crazy by default.
I pronounce Palin/McCain DOA... Don't know what time he "picked and vetted" her, but put that down as the TOD.
-Wexler
rom listening to Sarah Palin's speech last night I learned:
-The Republicans hate anyone who is not a Republican.
-Listening to Sarah Palin's voice was like listening to nails on a chalk board.
I think McCain has the problem here. Once the novelty wears off, people will still be asking questions about the issues.
