# The RNC Sarah Palin Speech Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 4, 2008, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rnc-sarah-palin-speech-thread/461931 "2008-09-04T02:23:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2008, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rnc-sarah-palin-speech-thread/461931/161 "2008-09-04T16:30:13Z")
> [@emarkp](#): > > Do you have any evidence that Palin had less to do with her speech than Obama has with his? Yes, actually. > [@](#): > > There was a flutter of attention when McCain campaign manager Rick Davis told a group of Post reporters and editors yesterday that his team was having to rework the vice presidential acceptance speech because the original draft, prepared before Gov. Sarah Palin was chosen, was too “masculine.” While we all wondered to ourselves what might make a speech masculine or feminine, no one batted an eye at the underlying revelation: that the campaign was writing the nominee’s speech before knowing who the nominee would be. > > . . . > > [http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postpartisan/2008/09/putting\_words\_in\_palins\_mouth.html](http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postpartisan/2008/09/putting_words_in_palins_mouth.html) ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2008, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rnc-sarah-palin-speech-thread/461931/162 "2008-09-04T16:34:16Z")
i forgot briefly ('cause cnn reminded me) the bit about “parting the waters, and healing the land”. sen. clinton tried that already. it didn’t work terribly well. if you use former oppon.s tactics use the ones that chipped away, not the ones that made you look a right fool. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2008, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rnc-sarah-palin-speech-thread/461931/163 "2008-09-04T16:35:13Z")
I thought she really nailed the speech. She did what she had to do and knocked me off of the fence and back into the McCain camp… ---
**Author:** ![spazattak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8e8cbc/32.png) [@spazattak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spazattak)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2008, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rnc-sarah-palin-speech-thread/461931/164 "2008-09-04T16:45:06Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > I thought she really nailed the speech. She did what she had to do and knocked me off of the fence and back into the McCain camp.. And what was that? ---
**Author:** ![emarkp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3be4f8/32.png) [@emarkp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emarkp)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2008, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rnc-sarah-palin-speech-thread/461931/165 "2008-09-04T16:47:32Z")
Excellent link Shayna, thanks. I have no idea how much Obama wrote of **this speech** , so I don’t have apples to apples. But at any rate, we now know she can deliver a speech. We’ll see how she does in the debates. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2008, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rnc-sarah-palin-speech-thread/461931/166 "2008-09-04T16:48:19Z")
> [@Hippy\_Hollow](#): > > Obama has speechwriters, in fact, the chief one is named Jon Favreau (not the actor/director, another guy). Where did this idea get out that people running for president don’t have speechwriters? > > Do we know for a fact that Obama penned his convention speech all by himself? I’ve not heard that claim, and I would be very surprised if he did. Good speechwriting is assisted by professionals that do it for a living. JFK had Ted Sorenson. I for one don’t think having a speechwriter is a bad thing. I may be naive, but here’s how I’ve always imagined it worked: Politician says to speechwriter, “I’m giving a speech to the Cold War Veterans’ Association next week, and I’d like the main topic to be the crisis in Slobbovia. If you need more info about my specific positions on Slobbovia, talk to Joe Blow and he’ll tell you what you need to know.” Speechwriter sketches out a speech, talks to Joe Blow to fill in some details, produces a draft for Politician, who marks it up, and says, “a little more emphasis on X, less on Y, move Z near the front of the speech, and conclude with A.” Speechwriter rewrites per Politician’s instructions, and Politician gives the speech. Palin’s speech, OTOH, was written before anyone writing the speech even knew she’d be the one giving it. It was retrofitted somewhat to fit her, but she apparently didn’t direct the speechmaking process to any meaningful extent. For the most part, she was John McCain’s speechwriters’ sock puppet. I think that’s vastly different from simply not writing your own speeches. ---
**Author:** ![mazinger\_z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@mazinger\_z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mazinger_z)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2008, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rnc-sarah-palin-speech-thread/461931/167 "2008-09-04T16:50:08Z")
> [@Skopo](#): > > In Obama’s case, he sat on the board of directors for several organizations that were involved with providing grants to organizations or young adults from disadvantaged (read “poor inner-city”) neighborhoods. These organizations go beyond charity work by trying to rebuild their communities (hence, “community organizing”) and offering their residents–especially students and young adults–opportunities for their future. > > For instance, [the Woods Fund](http://www.woodsfund.org/about/mission) and [the Joyce Foundation](http://www.joycefdn.org/) provide grants to nonprofit organizations involved in education, the arts, employment opportunities, and so on. Obama also served as chairman of the board of directors for [the Chicago Annenberg Challenge](http://www.annenberginstitute.org/challenge/sites/chicago.html) which was involved specifically with improving public schools. > > Both Barack and Michelle Obama were involved with [Public Allies](http://www.publicallies.org/site/c.liKUL3PNLvF/b.2775807/k.C8B5/ABOUT_US.htm). PA offers paid apprenticeships to young adults from diverse cultural and social backgrounds. The apprenticeships are carried out with local nonprofits, the idea being that the young adult learns career skills while building a stronger connection to his or her community. > > And, of course, throughout this time Obama was practicing law (mainly writing and researching) with a firm that specialized in civil rights cases. > > In other words, Obama was involved in building up local communities and helping to provide opportunities to disadvantaged young people–or, more simply, “community organizing.” During my second summer in law school, I went to Chicago to clerk. While my “practicing law” was nowhere near what an associate does, the organizations that my senior partner suggested we volunteer for (to be fair, he volunteered too) were an awful lot like what you’re describing here. IME, the board of directors is as about as far removed from the community as one can get. Literally, if you’re on the board, you sit around and discuss budget and goals and objectives, kind of like in the corporate setting. It’s about an hour each meeting. Contrast to what I did, a volunteer, then you help with the menial activities, and actually meet the people your helping. At the time, my firm had tons of people with board of directors type jobs. With billing 2400+ hours a year, one wonders what time one has to devote to such projects. It was difficult for me, and I was a summer clerk. Every time I hear “community organizer,” I think Jesse Jackson – who, btw, showed up at a couple of fund raisers that we threw (nowhere nearly as annoying in person as he is on tv). As to the OP, this is the reason I don’t watch convention coverage. These conventions lack substance and the style is pure muck raking and pandering. Giving the speech, I think she did a good job. While the speech lacked specific detail about what to do about the issues, I do identify with that she was insinuating better than I did watching the democratic convention – well, really just the economical stuff. She also did a good job, I think, energizing the base and she got more applause than I had even anticipated. I would’ve liked to see more substance on the issues, such as identify specific objectives and goals and a means to meet those goals, but this is the convention and I’m not going to get that. These things have gotten more entertaining since the last one I saw, so I guess that’s good. ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2008, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rnc-sarah-palin-speech-thread/461931/168 "2008-09-04T16:50:25Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > That’s easy. It’s the ones who don’t make the demonization of minorities a cornerstone of their rhetoric. I see. Given that it is a “cornerstone of their rhetoric,” and that political conventions are about nothing but rhetoric, you can supplement your cite for how “most” people cannot provide their own health care (still waiting on that one) with a cite – just one, a single cite – to an actual example of Republican “rhetoric” from this Convention that “demonizes minorities.” > [@](#): > > That top 2% has over 90% of the wealth. Sounds like they’re undertaxed to me. And consumes 90% of government “services.” And distribution of wealth is **completely random and arbitrary.** Look, if you’re a communist, that’s fine, but just say so in so many words. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2008, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rnc-sarah-palin-speech-thread/461931/169 "2008-09-04T16:52:43Z")
It was not a political speech. It was a sermon to the repubs. She dealt with no issues. She failed to mention the lower taxes and spend heavily repubs and the national debt. But she made it clear Iraq is gods war. She was impressive ,if you are into cheerleaders. ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2008, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rnc-sarah-palin-speech-thread/461931/170 "2008-09-04T16:54:27Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > So over 20% of the country’s wealth being in the hands of 0.5% of the population is your idea of a good thing? It’s my idea of the market. Read up on it, or (as I suggested elsewhere above), profess your adherence to communism overtly. > [@](#): > > Of course rich white people get a seat at the table. EVERYONE is supposed to get a seat at the table. In the republican party though only white people get a seat at the table (by and large) judging by their supporters at the convention. > > The Dems “pander” to minorities? Representing them when Reps won’t is pandering? If that is the case so be it. Then everyone is by definition pandering to anyone who supports them. > > Point is the Dems are clearly more inclusive in a country that is distinctly diverse. Reps clearly are not. Even if we go with your 70% white figure (looks more like 50% to me on a quick Google but not seeing an easy answer) the floor of the Rep’s convention still in no way comes remotely close to reflecting that balance. Because no one’s best interests can be represented if there is not some dumbass of their color/sex (and here I definitely include goofy old white people) wearing a straw hat and Uncle Sam beard at a do-nothing jerkoff fest (and here I include both Conventions)? IIRC, there were precisely zero blacks at the Republican convention that selected Lincoln. So I guess Lincoln did nothing for blacks. ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Ryle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8dc957/32.png) [@Mark\_Ryle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Ryle)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2008, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rnc-sarah-palin-speech-thread/461931/171 "2008-09-04T17:04:44Z")
Maybe I missed this somewhere upthread, but was a protester hustled out of the arena during Sarah’s speech? The (PBS) camera briefly switched away from Palin to a woman being led up some stairs by two men. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2008, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rnc-sarah-palin-speech-thread/461931/172 "2008-09-04T17:05:02Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Basically, what happened is that on occasion the teleprompter operator didn’t pause for the applause lines, so it got a bit out of sync. Then he sync’ed it up again as she continued. So you say. There isn’t even any evidence for this, although it seems likely that anytime a teleprompter is used, it won’t remain in perfect sync. I just don’t get the need to lie about it. I also noticed that she seemed to have notes in front of her during the speech anyway. I’m still perplexed about making up lies about this issue, but as I’ve said before, pretty much any claim from the right is now automatically to be considered dubious. My approach, to paraphrase, is always, “Don’t trust, and verify.” ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2008, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rnc-sarah-palin-speech-thread/461931/173 "2008-09-04T17:06:25Z")
> [@Mark\_Ryle](#): > > Maybe I missed this somewhere upthread, but was a protester hustled out of the arena during Sarah’s speech? The (PBS) camera briefly switched away from Palin to a woman being led up some stairs by two men. I noticed that. Two things I loved about it were that you could see a guy, clearly a plant, hustle down with one of those “handmade” signs to block the view of her exodus, and all the rows of empty seats that they hustled past. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2008, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rnc-sarah-palin-speech-thread/461931/174 "2008-09-04T17:06:43Z")
> [@Huerta88](#): > > just one, a single cite – to an actual example of Republican “rhetoric” from this Convention that “demonizes minorities.” If you’re looking for current examples, the Republican positions on gay marriage and gay rights, repeated by almost every speaker at the convention, is the prime example. ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2008, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rnc-sarah-palin-speech-thread/461931/175 "2008-09-04T17:09:17Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > If you’re looking for current examples, the Republican positions on gay marriage and gay rights, repeated by almost every speaker at the convention, is the prime example. Still looking for a quote. Saying two people cannot get married is not the same as demonizing. I am sure that most Republicans and Democrats would say that two five year olds, or two already-married people, cannot get married. Is this “demonizing” five year olds or the married heterosexual community? No, it is not, and hence your assertion fails. ---
**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:** [September 4, 2008, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rnc-sarah-palin-speech-thread/461931/176 "2008-09-04T17:15:42Z")
> [@Huerta88](#): > > I see. Given that it is a “cornerstone of their rhetoric,” and that political conventions are about nothing but rhetoric, you can supplement your cite for how “most” people cannot provide their own health care (still waiting on that one) with a cite – just one, a single cite – to an actual example of Republican “rhetoric” from this Convention that “demonizes minorities.” From this convention in particualr? I don’t kknow I haven’t watched that much of it. But listen to 5 or 10 minutes of right wing radio and it’s all about bashing undocumented workers, Muslims and homosexuals overtly, and bashing black people in slightly more coded language. > [@](#): > > Look, if you’re a communist, that’s fine, but just say so in so many words. There needs to be a law analogous to Godwin for when an internet poster automatically reduces any kind of liberal economic opinion to “Communism.” ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2008, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rnc-sarah-palin-speech-thread/461931/177 "2008-09-04T17:15:47Z")
You guys do know that there is essentially no difference between McCain/Palin and Obama/Biden when it comes to gay rights, don’t you? Both oppose gay marriage, both support civil unions. When Republicans in her state tried to pass a law refusing spousal benefits to gay couples, Sarah Palin vetoed it. ---
**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:** [September 4, 2008, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rnc-sarah-palin-speech-thread/461931/178 "2008-09-04T17:22:14Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > You guys do know that there is essentially no difference between McCain/Palin and Obama/Biden when it comes to gay rights, don’t you? Both oppose gay marriage, both support civil unions. > > When Republicans in her state tried to pass a law refusing spousal benefits to gay couples, Sarah Palin vetoed it. McCain and Palin both support a Constitutional Amendment to ban same sex marriage on a federal level. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2008, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rnc-sarah-palin-speech-thread/461931/179 "2008-09-04T17:22:24Z")
> [@Huerta88](#): > > …Look, if you’re a communist, that’s fine, but just say so in so many words…profess your adherence to communism overtly. Post-Stalinist irony? ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2008, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rnc-sarah-palin-speech-thread/461931/180 "2008-09-04T17:23:54Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > You guys do know that there is essentially no difference between McCain/Palin and Obama/Biden when it comes to gay rights, don’t you? Both oppose gay marriage, both support civil unions. > > When Republicans in her state tried to pass a law refusing spousal benefits to gay couples, Sarah Palin vetoed it. Bzzzt! [http://mediamatters.org/items/200808290025](http://mediamatters.org/items/200808290025) > [@](#): > > Further, the AP did not note that Palin stated that she vetoed the bill because the Alaska attorney general had advised her that it was unconstitutional, not because she believed same-sex partners of public employees should receive benefits. Indeed, Palin’s office stated in its veto message: “The Governor’s veto does not signal any change or modification to her disagreement with the action and order by the Alaska Supreme Court.” Further, the AP did not note that as a candidate for governor, Palin also reportedly supported a ballot question banning benefits for same-sex couples. This has been another edition of “If a Republican says it, don’t trust and verify.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rnc-sarah-palin-speech-thread/461931.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rnc-sarah-palin-speech-thread/461931.md?page=10)