Tonight Bitter and I watched Sarah Palin’s acceptance speech for the nomination for Vice President. Palin definitely has her delivery down. She even said Minnesota that weird way people from there say it, and she recovered from her one fumble with a grace George W. Bush only wishes he had. What I did not get from her manner of speaking is an unprepared amateurish politician. She far surpasses the current occupant of the Oval Office in terms of speech making. Biden is going to have his work cut out for him. After 8 years of having to listen to him (the Bush Him, not the Biden him, although he makes me want to gouge my ears out too), it’ll be nice to have someone who’s pleasant to listen to (and look at).
There were a lot of shots of her family. Her youngest daughter Piper seems to be a total ham on camera. She either has a future in pagents or politics. Seriously, these people are way too attractive for politics. They put the Kennedy’s to shame. No wonder the media hates them. They even look good in HD, which is a harsh mistress for a lot of people. It has to really get in the left’s craw that these people come from small town Alaska, and not an uppity cosmopolitan city. I am going to enjoy this election. It’s the kind you’ll want to make some popcorn for.
The chant for the Republican convention appears to be “Drill Baby! Drill!” I half expected them to erect a drilling rig right there on the convention floor and to get started. That would have been handy, because Palin’s hubby could have oversaw the operation. I’m not sure whether there is any oil under the streets of St. Paul, but if there were, I’m sure that crowd could find it.
After seeing Palin in action, I feel much better about the choice. She’ll be a capable candidate. Even if this ticket loses, they’d be foolish not to put her up against the Lightworker (who I suspect by then will be about as popular as herpes) in 2012.
There’s oil under there alright. There’s oil EVERYWHERE, if the cockblockers would just STFU and let us drill!!
Chris Wallace said it best” A Star was born”. Sarah will be the Republican party . She will be the embodiment like Ronald Reagan and we saw it tonigt.
I watched all the RNC speeches today & I have to say that although they were all very good, Sarah Palin really knocked it out of the park! She really delivered tonight. My entire family sat glued to the TV watching her speak. We cheered, we laughed, we cried, and best of all, we felt her patriotism & depth of character shine through the entire time.
Looks like another showdown between the bicycle-racks and the gun-racks. And, Yup! She did a pretty good job speechifying: I liked her comment the “Being a mayor was kind of like being a ‘community organizer’ – but with responsibility.”
And, to answer the critics who’ve asked how she can fill the office of Vice President and take care of a family, well the shots of the gallery lead me to think maybe Mrs. McCain wouldn’t mind taking care of the kids every now and then.
By the end of her speech, I was laughing, imagining Biden with his face in his hands, dreading the coming debates! Is there any chance we can get the ticket flipped? LOL
Yikes, I think you guys and I were watching different speeches.
Didn’t like it?
Well, I disagreed with her policy stuff, but I expected to. The half-truths and outright lies were a bit hard to take. But, really, I just don’t get why people are excited by her. I don’t get how her speech was any different than any other GOP speech, aside from the ‘my family’ stuff, of course.
Of course, perhaps that’s just seeing what it’s like for a lot of people when they see Obama speak.
“he half-truths and outright lies ”
and those would be?
Palin ’08/’12
As for 2012 VP Piyush “Bobby” Jindal for a Palin/Jindal 2012
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080904/ap_on_el_pr/cvn_fact_check has some of them, but also includes things from McCain, Huckabee and Romney.
“She even said Minnesota that weird way people from there say it“?
I’m from Minnesota and I know *I* don’t pronounce it weird.
But, really, I just don’t get why people are excited by her.
Because she’s a strong candidate. Whether we want to admit it or not, experience has little to do with that. It helps, but it’s not the deciding factor for most voters. Voters want someone they think will represent their values is government, and for most of the Republican coalition, she’s about the right mix of issues to keep everybody happy. That’s a far cry from the current occupant of the White House, who hasn’t done so good a job in that regard. She’s also going to appeal to many independents, and now we know she’s a good public speaker. That’s something the GOP has been sorely missing, especially going up against Obama, who also has a gift for oratory. She gets people excited because she’s a lot of things McCain is not.
Thomas Jefferson was as well known for his stutter as his intellect. Why anyone chooses to infer intelligence or ability on someone based on how they delivered a speech is beyond me. That Thomas Jefferson couldn’t get elected in today’s sound bite world is a sad commentary on our society.
Thanks for that, Sebastian.
As I alluded to, I’m against almost all of her policies (save one), and that makes it difficult to see why people are excited about her. Most of the explanations I’ve seen have been a little long on excitement and a little short on explanation. :)
I still have a hard time seeing her as a strong candidate, frankly, and just wasn’t impressed with her speech. She spoke well, better than I would in the same situation, to be sure. But I didn’t see anything, well, exciting in it. Of course, a constant barrage of things that I don’t agree with makes it hard to be excited. Still, we’ll see how she does going forward. Maybe I’ll see something that changes my mind.
The reason that people are excited is that she resonates with the American mythos of a frontier woman. Let me count they ways: beautiful, sexy, motherly, faithful, shoots and hunts, cooks, capable, competent, fearless, willing to take on her own state Chairman in a corruption scandal. Plus she is real. Most politicians fake this stuff.
Plus she can deliver a speech with wit and humor and still skewer the opponent. She is charismatic. All these item appeal on an emotional level.
If you do not cherish the frontier traditions then she would not resonate with you. But more American does cherish the American myth and will love her for that alone.
The bonus is that she is for government for the people by returning money to people, fiscal conservative, low taxes, and wants to expand our energy production. Not a hostage to environmental fanatics. She like a clean environment but balances that with proper development.
She is for a strong America. You know she believes in peace through strength a Reagan motto.
She has the same values as most Americans. She has not tried to mandate her faith on others and she has integrity. Her first veto was against legislation that would have banned state benefits to homosexual couples. She checked the constitution and found the legislation unconstitutional, even though she did not want to promote benefits for gays, she vetoes the banned and implemented benefits.
Thomas Jefferson was as well known for his stutter as his intellect. Why anyone chooses to infer intelligence or ability on someone based on how they delivered a speech is beyond me.
It doesn’t really infer that, but speech making is a critical skill in politics, and she’s good at it.
I still have a hard time seeing her as a strong candidate, frankly, and just wasn’t impressed with her speech. She spoke well, better than I would in the same situation, to be sure. But I didn’t see anything, well, exciting in it. Of course, a constant barrage of things that I don’t agree with makes it hard to be excited. Still, we’ll see how she does going forward. Maybe I’ll see something that changes my mind.
I would say the same thing about Obama, who is a gifted orator, but doesn’t have much else in the way of political accomplishments. But as I said, it’s a critical skill in politics, and Obama may just be able to get to the White House on that skill alone. In fact, it’s rather interesting the ways in which Obama and Palin are similar in their political skills. We’ll have to see how she debates. That’s one area I think Obama is weak on.
Ok, that is a good point, RAH, the fact that she vetoed an unconstitutional bill, even though it went against her beliefs (even though I find those beliefs to be, uh, unpleasant), is a good thing.
The bonus is that she is for government for the people by returning money to people, fiscal conservative, low taxes, and wants to expand our energy production. Not a hostage to environmental fanatics. She like a clean environment but balances that with proper development.
Most of your bonuses, though, I think could be disputed.
I would say the same thing about Obama, who is a gifted orator, but doesn’t have much else in the way of political accomplishments. But as I said, it’s a critical skill in politics, and Obama may just be able to get to the White House on that skill alone. In fact, it’s rather interesting the ways in which Obama and Palin are similar in their political skills. We’ll have to see how she debates. That’s one area I think Obama is weak on.
I would argue that he has some, but they are, I readily admit, not towering. Of course, my standard response to the general experience line is that George Bush had 5 years of ‘executive experience’, so it really doesn’t count for much.
I would, also, disagree that it is simply oration that is pushing Obama. He has an amazing campaign machine. Some people have pointed towards the campaign itself as evidence of his ability to lead and manage. I don’t know, neccessarily, that is a great argument, but I think it has some merit. While many, many people are voting for Obama because of his speeches, many others have read his policy proposal and agree with it. Or, at least, agree that it’s better than the alternative.
I think Palin has injected a lot of the same energy into the Republicans that Obama has to the Democrats. I’m not sure that I’d say she has the same skills, yet. I agree, also, that Obama is not a great debater. Of course, he has to go up against McCain, not Palin. I don’t think McCain is a very good speaker, or debater. Better than some, of course, but I think the Presidential debates will be very interesting. Palin has to face Biden, who I think (at this point) will destroy her. But, I’ve seen more of him than her in that setting, so that could easily be wrong.
Well, she did sell the state jet on e bay. That is fiscal conservative and got rid of the Governors cook, which may have been penny foolish.
She got an gas pipeline deal signed after that had not been accomplished since the North slopw was opened.
Currently the natural gas is flared off, which means that it just burning and wasted. A pipeline to pipe natural gas is better than wasting that fuel. That is energy development.
Most Alaskans value their enviroment and want to retain the clean wildness of their state.
Check out Alsakans oil system. The citizens own the oil and get paid for that. Unlike other states set ups.
I hope I helped Phournos.
Phournos I would live to converse with you because though you seem to favor Obama’s policies , you have an open mind. But ths is not a political blog.
RAH,
I agree that those things do support what you’d said.
I think there are other things she’s done that undermine that somewhat. The whole ‘bridge to nowhere’ thing that (from what I understand) she supported until it was politically inviable. I believe, also, that some of the money from that was still retained by the state. Adding in to that the Federal funds taken by Wasilla while she mayor and that she left it in fairly deep debt, I’m not sure small government or fiscal conservativeness are really true.
I only know a little about the Alaskan oil system. I’m not sure how much I agree that the citizens of Alaska should, necessarily own that oil. It’s something I’m wrestling with, but I have a hard time accepting that just because you were born in Anchorage, you should get $2300 a year.
Not to mention that despite their fairly large surplus, they still get quite a bit of federal funds. That seems contradictory to me.
I would also argue that Obama resonates with the mythos of the American left, which is largely why he’s so adored in those circles. It’ll be very interesting to see which way Independents go here. I think it will hinge on Obama’s ability to tie McCain to Bush. If he can do that successfully, I think he has a good chance of winning. If not, he’s toast. Obama will also have the advantage of a motivated an organized base. McCain might have that now with Palin, but it might not be enough. Time will tell.
I would absolutely agree, Sebastian. He has been very successful at tying himself and his story to that mythos.
I agree that tying McCain to Bush is essential to Obama’s success. The degree to which he can do that will likely determine the entire game. Luckily for him, McCain has some strong ties there already and has created more during his campaign. I don’t think it will be terribly difficult to do, but, who knows what the next two months will do. I do, though, believe that Obama could win without a total success on undermining McCain. I think it’s very possible that he could win with a superior ‘ground game’, but it won’t be an easy win.
I think that McCain has the motiviated base, at least for now. The question is, is Palin enough to sustain it, as she becomes more known? The other part is where I think Obama really has the edge. Organization. His network of supporters and volunteers is really impressive. I think McCain will need a lot of help overcoming that. Especially since he’s not very motivating, himself.
Phoronus:
Yes, I read the “fact check” piece. Not a single one replies to what she actually said and are spun just as bad as any other hit piece does.
Note he doesn’t say what the “special federal funding” was for.
Note he doesn’t dispute that Obama DIDN’T author any legislation but just ‘worked with’ people in his years as a state legislator.
Note that he doesn’t state that all the tax increases on the ‘wealthiest’, you know, the ones who own the businesses, will completely negate any ‘tax income’ increases through price increases.
I’m from IL so I’m fully aware of Obama’s ‘experience’. The majority of the time he voted ‘present’ as a IL senate member. His active time in the Fed. Senate accounts for less than 6 months before he went on the campaign trail. He’s spent his entire career building up towards higher and higher office and has done as little as possible to lessen possible controversy.
It would be a foolish Governor who is against getting Federal funds for their state. That is the their duty to their state. The GOP that ran the state had been shoveling federal funds to the state for decades. That is why it was so amazing that she managed to defeat the GOP. The state GOP hates her because she went after their cronyism and bribery with the oil companies.
But she actually was appointed by Murkowski to the State Gas and Oil Commission and that experience is where she learned about the bribery. She made complaints but Murkowski ignored them. She could not go public because of the rules, so she quit and then went public.
She quit a job paying over 100k to expose bribery to the State GOP chairman that was on the agency. That takes moral courage and guts. Her reformer credentials are real.
She was for the Bridge and so was Alaska until she got into office and realized that it was making her state looked badly and the earmark was a national scandal. Like a smart politician, she got in front and refused the earmark.
She went after the oil companies to start production on the leases and they ignored her until she sent the AG to terminate the leases. Exxon caved and started an exploration rig. This is after she changed the taxation on the Alaskan oil that was a more equitable value for the State and citizens.
Now all this is simplified and you can check out the details. But I do not blame a Governor for doing the best they can for their State. That is their duty their were elected to do.
I do not think that Obama is the liberal mythos. He really is like the Mirror Of Erised in Harry Potter where the viewer saw their heart desire.
He also appeals to absolve white guilt. To African Americans he is the dream that one of them rises to the top.
His supporters are very fanatical and they were the same for Kerry but even more so today. They were fast to throw Hillary under the bus because they could say the accomplished the liberal dream of a black American becoming President.
I always wonder why an American who is biracial is always considered black rather than white. But Barry Obama deliberately sought a black identity and 95% black Americans will vote for him. That is a solid demographic.