Palin delivers star-turning performance for GOP

[AlHayatZween 2]

That one black woman in the audience must have a lot of stamina. She seems to be in every shot.

i saw one Asian woman as well...

[SteveLaura 0]

New York Times

Easiest Task for Palin May Have Been Speech

T. PAUL — Gov. Sarah Palin could not have asked for a better setting for her solo debut on the national stage: an audience enthralled with her selection as Senator John McCain’s running mate even before she walked on stage to a roar of approval, after three days in seclusion with some of the country’s most skilled political counselors to write, hone and practice her speech.

She drew warm applause as she described her life in Alaska and introduced her family. She heard cheers as she promised an aggressive energy policy that included more drilling. And Ms. Palin ignited a loud round of approving boos as she denounced the news media and “Washington elite” that she suggested had ganged up against her since Mr. McCain announced Friday that she would be the Republican vice-presidential nominee.

But her speech at the Republican National Convention, if delivered with confidence and ecstatically embraced in the hall, may prove to have been the easy part.

From here, Ms. Palin moves into a national campaign where she will have to appeal to audiences that are not necessarily primed to adore her. She will have to navigate far less controlled campaign settings that will test not only her political skills but also her knowledge of foreign and domestic policy. And she must convince the country she is prepared to be vice president at a time when the definition of that job has been elevated to the status of governing partner — something voters might have been reminded of Wednesday by images of Vice President ####### Cheney embarking on a mission to war-torn Georgia.

“The people who are in the hall — they’ve already been sold, they are the choir,” said John C. Danforth, a former Republican senator from Missouri,. “Now the question for her and for McCain and for everybody who is inside the hall is how to clarify their message to the American people.”

But what is that message? Her speech left no doubt that she would take on the traditional role of a ticket’s No. 2, attacking the top of the other ticket, which she did repeatedly and with gusto.

“I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities,” Ms. Palin said, a slash of the sword at Senator Barack Obama’s job as young man working on antipoverty programs in Chicago.

The remark capped three days in which Republicans have sought to say it is Mr. Obama, and not this first-term governor from a small-population state, who does not have the experience to be president.

The question is whether someone who is so little known and has what even Republicans describe as a scant résumé has the authority to make those attacks credible — unlike, say, her counterpart on the Democratic side, Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, a veteran of foreign and domestic policy who attacked Mr. McCain last week. It is also unclear if the sharp and often mocking tone of her attacks — combined with her general avoidance of such key issues as the economy — might turn off swing voters across the country.

“It’s more difficult with someone of her background to go on the attack than it would be for Joe Biden,” said Warren Rudman, a former Republican senator from New Hampshire. “Before she attacks someone, she has to get out there and define herself.”

Clearly, her big task on Wednesday and in the days ahead was to drive home the image the McCain campaign has sought to attach to this unexpected pick: the corruption-fighting governor from outside Washington, a socially conservative mother of five who can easily connect with working-class Americans in a way that Mr. Obama has so far had trouble doing. She scorned the trappings of elitism — she talked about driving herself to work, and how she put the Alaska governor’s plane up for sale on eBay — as she signaled that she would serve as Mr. McCain’s ambassador to Americans who think the government has lost touch with their values and needs. She went as far to compare herself to a haberdasher from Missouri who became vice president and later president, Harry S. Truman.

The problem for Ms. Palin is that that story has been tripped up by disclosures about her professional and personal life, enough so that at least until Wednesday, she had become a bigger figure at this convention than Mr. McCain.

In her speech, she tried to address that by belittling what she disparaged as the Washington elite and the news media — a sure-fire applause line at these kinds of events — and invoking her own experience as a reformer. Yet she made no effort to say what she might do as a vice president, no small question when her lack of a national or international portfolio suggests she would not slide easily into the kind of full partner role enjoyed by Mr. Cheney and Al Gore.

“The Gore-Cheney series of vice presidencies have changed the nature of the job,” said Gary Hart, a former Democratic senator from Colorado and a friend of Mr. McCain. “What McCain has done is to try to revert to the 19th-century model, early-20th-century model of vice president — the ‘job isn’t worth a warm pitcher of spit’ model, which means you don’t do anything.”

“But we don’t live in that kind of world anymore,” Mr. Hart said. And, he said, that is a particularly relevant question given Mr. McCain’s age — 72 — and health problems. “I’m sure John thinks he can live forever, or at least for eight years,” Mr. Hart said.

In an interview a month ago on CNBC, Ms. Palin went so far as to disparage the job of vice president, saying, “What is it exactly that the V.P. does every day?”

The one role she is going to play — and one that Mr. Cheney played — is helping to motivate the right wing of her party. The uproarious applause that capped her speech left little doubt that she had already moved easily into the job — a big lift for Mr. McCain, who has always had difficulty persuading social conservatives to trust him.

The question for the governor of Alaska, as she heads out across the country on her first national campaign, is whether she can do for Mr. McCain in a general election what she did last night with this audiences of delegates at the Xcel Energy Center.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I think it is something of a risk - given that the big Rep criticism of Obama is that he lacked relevant experience. The rationale doesn't really change that much for Palin - though I think many Rep supporters are desperately trying to convince themselves that this ticket is suddenly marvellous, when a few months back they were slamming McCain vehemently for his lack of Conservative credentials and threatening to sit out of the election.

[Marilyn. 340]

I seem to recall a few people saying earlier this year that they were only voting for McCain because he was the lesser of two evils and now these people seem to have completely changed their minds and jumped on the McCain bandwagon...

[IAMX 3,055]

I seem to recall a few people saying earlier this year that they were only voting for McCain because he was the lesser of two evils and now these people seem to have completely changed their minds and jumped on the McCain bandwagon...

I just see the same people cheerleading. Who has just jumped on?

I consider all of this Democrat-Republican frenzy a joke.

[Dan J 277]

I think it is something of a risk - given that the big Rep criticism of Obama is that he lacked relevant experience. The rationale doesn't really change that much for Palin - though I think many Rep supporters are desperately trying to convince themselves that this ticket is suddenly marvellous, when a few months back they were slamming McCain vehemently for his lack of Conservative credentials and threatening to sit out of the election.

Maverick image appealed to independents, but made conservatives, especially social conservatives unhappy. Over most of the campaign, his positions have been moving more right. Although his maverick image has stuck.

Ironically, having Palin give such a strongly conservative speech, is going to do more to convince independent voters, that McCain is just another Bush, than Obama can.

[symbiosis 0]

I think it is something of a risk - given that the big Rep criticism of Obama is that he lacked relevant experience. The rationale doesn't really change that much for Palin - though I think many Rep supporters are desperately trying to convince themselves that this ticket is suddenly marvellous, when a few months back they were slamming McCain vehemently for his lack of Conservative credentials and threatening to sit out of the election.

Maverick image appealed to independents, but made conservatives, especially social conservatives unhappy. Over most of the campaign, his positions have been moving more right. Although his maverick image has stuck.

Ironically, having Palin give such a strongly conservative speech, is going to do more to convince independent voters, that McCain is just another Bush, than Obama can.

But it doesn't matter, because the religious right has now gone from luke warm to hot. Remember, these are the wonderful people who brought you Bush-Cheney.

There's no sense in trying to "intellectualize" this because the people who will support Palin don't think.

Edited September 4, 2008 by symbiosis

[Mononoke28 135]

Did anyone notice the "hearfelt" hugs these two gave each other? It felt as if they were hugging because they HAD to, not because they wanted to. There's absolutely no chemistry between Palin and McCain and if she steals the show, he's done. She's not the one running for president, he is.

Diana

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Did anyone notice the "hearfelt" hugs these two gave each other? It felt as if they were hugging because they HAD to, not because they wanted to. There's absolutely no chemistry between Palin and McCain and if she steals the show, he's done. She's not the one running for president, he is.

Diana

Watching them hug is like watching a beautiful young woman ready to fight off the unwanted advances of a perverted old man.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I think it is something of a risk - given that the big Rep criticism of Obama is that he lacked relevant experience. The rationale doesn't really change that much for Palin - though I think many Rep supporters are desperately trying to convince themselves that this ticket is suddenly marvellous, when a few months back they were slamming McCain vehemently for his lack of Conservative credentials and threatening to sit out of the election.

Maverick image appealed to independents, but made conservatives, especially social conservatives unhappy. Over most of the campaign, his positions have been moving more right. Although his maverick image has stuck.

Ironically, having Palin give such a strongly conservative speech, is going to do more to convince independent voters, that McCain is just another Bush, than Obama can.

I had a better opinion of McCain before he sold his soul to appeal to the hardline elements in the party's base. Of course I'm not surprised by political pandering - its par for the course.

Though once again - GWB brought us to a whole new low in this respect.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Did anyone notice the "hearfelt" hugs these two gave each other? It felt as if they were hugging because they HAD to, not because they wanted to. There's absolutely no chemistry between Palin and McCain and if she steals the show, he's done. She's not the one running for president, he is.

Diana

Watching them hug is like watching a beautiful young woman ready to fight off the unwanted advances of a perverted old man.

The Rep ticket seems typically authoritarian.

[JillSmith 0]

i thought, Palin did a very good job and made a fine speech..better than liberman ..thompson...etc..she was polished and articulate..not a fan of hers, but for a first timer on the national stage..it was a shining moment in politics

i think we know what's on your mind.

Have you heard how boldly Palin challenged Obama? She got some courage in her. She spoke so well and without fear. That's the kind of VP we need to have.

[almaty 19]

i thought, Palin did a very good job and made a fine speech..better than liberman ..thompson...etc..she was polished and articulate..not a fan of hers, but for a first timer on the national stage..it was a shining moment in politics

i think we know what's on your mind.

Have you heard how boldly Palin challenged Obama? She got some courage in her. She spoke so well and without fear. That's the kind of VP we need to have.

lol..in front of thousands of cheering fans,..it is easy to be "brave'

[HAL 9000 96]

You might notice that this was an AP story taken from Yahoo. It isn't some right wing blog's OpEd piece. This is a very good sign. The press has just fell in love with Palin. McCain has skunked the dems with this pick. Bravo!!!

Here's a little better AP/Yahoo story:

Attacks, praise stretch truth at GOP convention

ST. PAUL, Minn. - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and her Republican supporters held back little Wednesday as they issued dismissive attacks on Barack Obama and flattering praise on her credentials to be vice president. In some cases, the reproach and the praise stretched the truth.

Some examples:

PALIN: "I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending ... and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress. I told the Congress 'thanks but no thanks' for that Bridge to Nowhere."

THE FACTS: As mayor of Wasilla, Palin hired a lobbyist and traveled to Washington annually to support earmarks for the town totaling $27 million. In her two years as governor, Alaska has requested nearly $750 million in special federal spending, by far the largest per-capita request in the nation. While Palin notes she rejected plans to build a $398 million bridge from Ketchikan to an island with 50 residents and an airport, that opposition came only after the plan was ridiculed nationally as a "bridge to nowhere."

PALIN: "There is much to like and admire about our opponent. But listening to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform — not even in the state senate."

THE FACTS: Compared to McCain and his two decades in the Senate, Obama does have a more meager record. But he has worked with Republicans to pass legislation that expanded efforts to intercept illegal shipments of weapons of mass destruction and to help destroy conventional weapons stockpiles. The legislation became law last year. To demean that accomplishment would be to also demean the work of Republican Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, a respected foreign policy voice in the Senate. In Illinois, he was the leader on two big, contentious measures in Illinois: studying racial profiling by police and requiring recordings of interrogations in potential death penalty cases. He also successfully co-sponsored major ethics reform legislation.

PALIN: "The Democratic nominee for president supports plans to raise income taxes, raise payroll taxes, raise investment income taxes, raise the death tax, raise business taxes, and increase the tax burden on the American people by hundreds of billions of dollars."

THE FACTS: The Tax Policy Center, a think tank run jointly by the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute, concluded that Obama's plan would increase after-tax income for middle-income taxpayers by about 5 percent by 2012, or nearly $2,200 annually. McCain's plan, which cuts taxes across all income levels, would raise after tax-income for middle-income taxpayers by 3 percent, the center concluded.

Obama would provide $80 billion in tax breaks, mainly for poor workers and the elderly, including tripling the Earned Income Tax Credit for minimum-wage workers and higher credits for larger families.

He also would raise income taxes, capital gains and dividend taxes on the wealthiest. He would raise payroll taxes on taxpayers with incomes above $250,000, and he would raise corporate taxes. Small businesses that make more than $250,000 a year would see taxes rise.

MCCAIN: "She's been governor of our largest state, in charge of 20 percent of America's energy supply ... She's responsible for 20 percent of the nation's energy supply. I'm entertained by the comparison and I hope we can keep making that comparison that running a political campaign is somehow comparable to being the executive of the largest state in America," he said in an interview with ABC News' Charles Gibson.

THE FACTS: McCain's phrasing exaggerates both claims. Palin is governor of a state that ranks second nationally in crude oil production, but she's no more "responsible" for that resource than President Bush was when he was governor of Texas, another oil-producing state. In fact, her primary power is the ability to tax oil, which she did in concert with the Alaska Legislature. And where Alaska is the largest state in America, McCain could as easily have called it the 47th largest state — by population.

MCCAIN: "She's the commander of the Alaska National Guard. ... She has been in charge, and she has had national security as one of her primary responsibilities," he said on ABC.

THE FACTS: While governors are in charge of their state guard units, that authority ends whenever those units are called to actual military service. When guard units are deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, for example, they assume those duties under "federal status," which means they report to the Defense Department, not their governors. Alaska's national guard units have a total of about 4,200 personnel, among the smallest of state guard organizations.

FORMER ARKANSAS GOV. MIKE HUCKABEE: Palin "got more votes running for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska than Joe Biden got running for president of the United States."

THE FACTS: A whopper. Palin got 616 votes in the 1996 mayor's election, and got 909 in her 1999 re-election race, for a total of 1,525. Biden dropped out of the race after the Iowa caucuses, but he still got 76,165 votes in 23 states and the District of Columbia where he was on the ballot during the 2008 presidential primaries.

FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOV. MITT ROMNEY: "We need change, all right — change from a liberal Washington to a conservative Washington! We have a prescription for every American who wants change in Washington — throw out the big-government liberals, and elect John McCain and Sarah Palin."

THE FACTS: A Back-to-the-Future moment. George W. Bush, a conservative Republican, has been president for nearly eight years. And until last year, Republicans controlled Congress. Only since January 2007 have Democrats have been in charge of the House and Senate.

Associated Press Writer Jim Drinkard in Washington contributed to this report.

Edited September 4, 2008 by maviwaro

[Peikko 1,575]

I very much disliked her strident tone when referring to the problems of Al Quaida and Islamic terrorism. I got the feeling that she thinks she really could do a whole lot better on this issue (not that she will be president, but still). I am not sure what she has in mind, but I am sure it will involve a lot of self sacrifce fror a lot of American citizens in order to achieve a very dubious goal.

Of course, it was a rally rousing speach designed to make Barack look weak and cowardly.