# Do Palin's leaked speeches alter your opinion of her? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 5, 2009, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-palins-leaked-speeches-alter-your-opinion-of-her/516486 "2009-11-05T23:27:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-palins-leaked-speeches-alter-your-opinion-of-her/516486/1 "2009-11-05T23:27:42Z")
Story [here](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/6502746/Sarah-Palin-victory-and-defeat-speeches-leaked.html) Here’s her concession speech. > [@Linked article](#): > > “And when a black citizen prepares to fill the office of Washington and Lincoln, that is a shining moment in our history that can be lost on no one. Barack Obama has achieved a great thing, for himself and for our country, and I congratulate him. > “It would be a happier night if elections were a test of valour and merit alone, but that is not for us to question now. > “Now it is time for us go our way, neither bitter nor vanquished, but instead confident in the knowledge that there will be another day.” Pretty good, I think. Being at a great distance, I’m aware that I have a rather more **lenient** view of her than many here, but these speeches do give me a **slightly** more positive view of her. I’m well aware that she likely didn’t write the speeches, but she chose them nonetheless. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-palins-leaked-speeches-alter-your-opinion-of-her/516486/2 "2009-11-05T23:31:24Z")
Eh. I always assume these speeches are written by hired hands, so speeches don’t usually do much of anything for me. McCain, OTOH gave a very classy concession speech, notable mainly because of the slimy way he campaigned this time around. It seemed to be an indication that the old, statesman-like McCain was back. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-palins-leaked-speeches-alter-your-opinion-of-her/516486/3 "2009-11-05T23:36:00Z")
She says some nice things, but no, it’s going to take a lot more than that to alter the opinion of her I have from her three months on the campaign trail and what she has said and done in the year after the election. I agree with **John Mace** about McCain’s concession speech. It’s too bad his campaign didn’t come close to measuring up to that. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-palins-leaked-speeches-alter-your-opinion-of-her/516486/4 "2009-11-05T23:43:48Z")
She’s not a \*bad \*person, I’ve never thought that, she’s just no better than the rest of us. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-palins-leaked-speeches-alter-your-opinion-of-her/516486/5 "2009-11-06T00:11:43Z")
That’s an odd use of quotation marks. Is it a standard thing in speeches (or maybe just the U.S. in general) to only end a total quoted piece with the marks? I mean, i’m reading it as not being three consecutive points, but three quotes taken from seperate parts of the speech, but the quotation marks are making it unclear. If i’m wrong on that, it seems like rather an unpleasant speech, all told, which is why i’m tending to assume they’re three seperate quotes. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-palins-leaked-speeches-alter-your-opinion-of-her/516486/6 "2009-11-06T00:14:48Z")
> [@](#): > > And when a black citizen prepares to fill the office of Washington and Lincoln, that is a shining moment in our history that can be lost on no one. Barack Obama has achieved a great thing, for himself and for our country, and I congratulate him. > It would be a happier night if elections were a test of valour and merit alone, but that is not for us to question now. Very well done. After all, you must get behind someone before you can stab them in the back. And “that is not for us to question now” doesn’t erase the fact that you just did. If she truly wanted to deliver this speech, it does alter my opinion of her. It just got lower. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-palins-leaked-speeches-alter-your-opinion-of-her/516486/7 "2009-11-06T00:16:23Z")
Yeah, that was the bit that made me question things. It just seems a bit\* too\* unpleasant. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-palins-leaked-speeches-alter-your-opinion-of-her/516486/8 "2009-11-06T00:45:19Z")
Does a speech some writer gave her change my impression of her standing before screaming crowds and shouting that Obama pals around with terrorists? No, not really. ---
**Author:** ![Kyrie\_Eleison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kyrie_eleison/32/7682_2.png) [@Kyrie\_Eleison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyrie_Eleison)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-palins-leaked-speeches-alter-your-opinion-of-her/516486/9 "2009-11-06T00:53:39Z")
I too am reading that as three excerpts from her speech. The first and third statements are fine, but the second? Obama didn’t win on his merits? Sour grapes, baby. And valour? It’s not Russia you’re seeing there, but Canada, I think. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![PrettyVacant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/49beb7/32.png) [@PrettyVacant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PrettyVacant)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-palins-leaked-speeches-alter-your-opinion-of-her/516486/10 "2009-11-06T01:19:27Z")
It’s how she talks unscripted that’s the problem. ---
**Author:** ![elelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@elelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elelle)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-palins-leaked-speeches-alter-your-opinion-of-her/516486/11 "2009-11-06T01:37:12Z")
The fact, as said in the OP’s link, and,[another source](http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/11/04/the-election-night-speeches-sarah-palin-never-gave/), that the McCain team decided to cut the lights out on her in fear of her giving the impromptu speech is really frightening. Maverick or Narcissist? Not honorable, at least. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-palins-leaked-speeches-alter-your-opinion-of-her/516486/12 "2009-11-06T01:41:33Z")
That second quoted sentence pretty much invalidates everything else. Saying in a concession speech that the winner has less “merit and valor” than the loser is a twat move. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-palins-leaked-speeches-alter-your-opinion-of-her/516486/13 "2009-11-06T01:44:15Z")
> [@elelle](#): > > The fact, as said in the OP’s link, and,[another source](http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/11/04/the-election-night-speeches-sarah-palin-never-gave/), that the McCain team decided to cut the lights out on her in fear of her giving the impromptu speech is really frightening. Maverick or Narcissist? Not honorable, at least. What’s frightening about it? Running mates in those situations do not traditionally give concessions speeches. She had done enough attention whoring and camera sucking for a lifetime at that point. It was time to put an end to it. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-palins-leaked-speeches-alter-your-opinion-of-her/516486/14 "2009-11-06T01:57:29Z")
Even if we stipulate that these speeches say nice things (despite the fact that some of it is awfully backhanded): The fact that she privately considered saying nice things doesn’t change the fact that she publicly did say very nasty things. Sure, the public speeches she actually gave came from speechwriters, too, but she’s the one who said them, and so she assumes responsibility for them. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-palins-leaked-speeches-alter-your-opinion-of-her/516486/15 "2009-11-06T02:01:01Z")
This is supposed to be her gracious speech in which she says basically “oh, fine, have your stupid election, it’s not like you won on merit or anything anyway”? Yeah, she’s a peach. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-palins-leaked-speeches-alter-your-opinion-of-her/516486/16 "2009-11-06T02:03:46Z")
There is no way that Sarah Palin wrote the quote in the OP. She is incapable of eloquence. It was written for her and it is telling it wasn’t used. ---
**Author:** ![elelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@elelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elelle)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-palins-leaked-speeches-alter-your-opinion-of-her/516486/17 "2009-11-06T02:54:51Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > What’s frightening about it? Running mates in those situations do not traditionally give concessions speeches. She had done enough attention whoring and camera sucking for a lifetime at that point. It was time to put an end to it. You’ve Read it wrong… , didn’t figure it would be, I’m reading it as frightening that she would give that speech, really horrendous judgement on her part to ursurp the main candidate. So, ya read me wrong there. Clear? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-palins-leaked-speeches-alter-your-opinion-of-her/516486/18 "2009-11-06T02:55:27Z")
Clear. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-palins-leaked-speeches-alter-your-opinion-of-her/516486/19 "2009-11-06T03:55:03Z")
In what respect, Charlie? ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-palins-leaked-speeches-alter-your-opinion-of-her/516486/20 "2009-11-06T04:17:46Z")
> [@Revenant\_Threshold](#): > > That’s an odd use of quotation marks. Is it a standard thing in speeches (or maybe just the U.S. in general) to only end a total quoted piece with the marks? In the U.S. if a quoted paragraph ends without a closing quote mark, then the next paragraph is continuing the same quotation. The closing quote goes at the end of the quoted material, however many paragraphs are used. Usually writers will interject with a “, she said.” or a “. He continued by saying,”. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-palins-leaked-speeches-alter-your-opinion-of-her/516486.md?page=2)