Well, you know… That and being Governor of a state. Don’t forget that little quibble.
Why do you think that? Do you think the polls would not have otherwise moved in McCain’s favor post-convention?
I thought she came off likeable, strong, decisive and believeable. I predict a HUGE bounce for McCaine, over 5 pts.
But regardig her executive, mayoral experience, I have only one thing to say…
IIRC, Thompson said only that she could dress a moose.
Have you ever tried putting underwear on one of those suckers?
I thought she did fine with the speech - I knew she could read from a teleprompter, and I knew they would have put together a base-pleasing speech for her.
I was surprised (and pleased) that they decided to have her go so mean and nasty. Combined with the antagonistic tone the McCain campaign has decided to take with the media, I 'm happy to see them fuck up the dynamic that they could have established. I also agree that her nastiness will free up Biden to go after her harder than he might have been able to.
I noticed that after they got through the part in the speech about how great she is going to be for special needs kids (and of course, as governor, she apparently actually slashed funding for special needs kids), her husband handed Trig off to the youngest daughter for the remainder of the speech. Maybe it’s just me, but I found this troublesome, and I wonder how it looks that every time you see them (apart from in posed photos) someone else is holding the baby.
Nah, in adjusted dollars, they’re cheaper than they used to be, (from what I understand.)
You’re gonna need them more if McCain wins and croaks, Palin really does seem more like Nixon with every item I learn about her. She seems like the kind of person who would keep a shit list, and use it.
As far as the speech goes:
Delivery: B
She didn’t stumble, and didn’t manage to make it more than it was. If she could have, maybe she could have won someone over. Given the speech, I am not sure a speaker of Obama’s caliber could have made it any better.
Writing: C-
None of the speeches I have heard from the Pub convention have been good, IMHO. You can make an attack speech have a theme, you know. Who wrote Ronnie’s speeches? I might have disagreed with the man, but listening to him a second time was not tantamount to dentistry.
I guess preachers aren’t as good as they once were, either. What did I expect?
My opinions of Mrs. Palin were probably more favorable than most going in so I really wasn’t too surprised to see her deliver a really quality performance that would electrify and help cement her base and given McCain’s relative inability to be that charismatic I wasn’t surprised to see her supporters there react so positively. They were chomping at the bit for just such a performance and, as you’d expect, ate it up.
Viewing it objectively though, I also saw some parts where I thought she’s not making points with some of the audience that may matter most, including those who might have supported Hillary and still be considering all options. Then again, Campbell Brown, after lighting into Tucker Bounds just a day or so back certainly seemed rather smitten with Sarah’s spunk and smarts. She won’t be alone and this will provide a noticable bump, thus making events of the next two months all the more engaging.
All in all I think she did a fine job, sans some rather glaring mistakes. She didn’t get everyone on board, but then as a frequent reader here I was under no illusions that could ever be the case with a considerable few.
What she has done though is turn this into a real horse race. Disgusted for years with every available lame ass candidate that’s won their party’s nomination, this year I’m pleased to have a number that I enjoy listening to and so relieved that no matter who prevails in the end it’s guaranteed to be a damn sight better that what we’ve endured so painfully as of late.
Eh, it was a good speech. But two things really bugged me about the Republican spin machine.
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When Reagan spoke to the nation, he was the Great Communicator. When Palin spoke to the country last night, she proved herself worthy of the second highest post in our government. When Obama speaks to people, that just proves he’s an elitist. WTF?
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I’m tired of every single election painting the Democratic candidate as the most liberal person ever to run for president. Amazing how the Republican base always believes it.
Elections are won by moving the independents. About 30% of the population will stick with either party - even if they eat puppies. Highly partisan speeches move the middle - the wrong direction.
Which is fine if you are Joe Biden and your speech isn’t being closely watched because who cares, we all know who Joe Biden is. Its a big deal when America is tuned in to figure out who Sarah Palin is. And that the GOP decided to show their colors on the night that a lot of independents were tuned in to figure out who Sarah Palin is was probably a mistake.
I’d have made tonight “big tent” night if I were a GOP strategist.
I disagree that it was an “Epic fail,” and we have the usual suspects claiming it was an awful speech, which it wasn’t. But it wasn’t great.
She was definitely more charismatic and less screechy than she’d been in her first appearance, and the fact that she was attacking is hardly a big deal because that’s what VP candidates do. I was quite impressed with her speechifying, from a skill point of view.
However, I thought the SPEECHWRITERS did a terrible job. Absolutely awful. I don’t mean that in a partisan way; I mean it was a crappy composition, from the point of view of good English composition. Palin was like a good actor doing a cameo in an Adam Sandler movie; she did the best she could with the lines she had but they weren’t very well written. It wasn’t that any one line was bad, it’s just that it was a jumble of lines that didn’t flow or connect in a way that you could take away as memorable. It was like they used a program called Vice Presidential Speech For Windows Vista, where you upload an Excel spreadsheet filled with fifty Facts About Candiate, fifty Attack Jabs, and fifty GOP Talking Points, and it spits out a speech that includes them all.
The overall impact of the speech was that it makes no impact. It was totally forgettable; within a week nobody will really be able to recall much about it. It’ll have no impact at all for the GOP, which is bad for them; when you’re behind in the standings, ties don’t help you catch up.
So she didn’t actually say anything about Michelle Obama. OK.
:rolleyes:
I agree with you. I don’t think it’s smart when liberals dismiss the opinions and feelings of so many people. I saw Gov Pawlenty on a morning show yesterday and he made some simple accurate observations about what the average grass roots republicans thinks and feels and why he got elected. It would be wise for the Dems to pay attention to that and specifically address those issues. Obama has done it a little, but I believe he could do more. Dems need to explain to folks that they don’t want a big brother type government controlling everything. That’s how they’re being painted and the “I’m going to fix everything” jargon plays into that.
Palin’s speech, I was a very good delivery to the base. I was impressed by how well she spoke considering this was her first time on such a huge national stage.
I’d give her a solid A on delivery.
I’d give her a C on content. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/04/ap-attacks-praise-stretch_n_123771.html
Here’s an article that spells out some of the outright lies she told. Tell me what you and McCain are going to do specifically. Yeah, special needs kids will have an advocate in the white house that doesn’t want UHC.
Sneering sarcasm about the opponents may please some but it lacks substance.
I think Obama is trying hard to elevate the level of the campaign to real discussions about real issues. If we support him then let’s try to do that also. I’m very disappointed when his campaign resorts to cutesy content free ads like the celebrity one. It’s too easy to get dragged into the derision game where each side is sneering and belittling the other. There are plenty of facts to go after Palin with. Be tough and constantly call them out on policy issues. Point out their lies. Point out that 4 years ago they were eager to attack a decorated Vet to elect GWB, and now they hold up a heroic 40 year old experience as if it’s a qualification. We applaud his heroism then. He’s running for president TODAY! How accurate is it that McCain has voted with Bush 90% of the time? Drive it home.
Did anyone see the Daily Show? Brutal! If only the liberal pundits were this smart.
They showed Rove praising Palin and then showed him crapping on a potential Obama VP pick with similar {but better} credentials. They showed the GOP whining about sexism against Palin, and the same people {including Palin} deriding Hillary for doing that. It so clearly showed the great hypocrisy.
That comment was an obvious jab at Michelle. Don’t ya think?
Seriously. Apparently, Michelle Obama can say whatever she wants and nobody’s allowed to even refer to it. However, direct attacks on Palin’s daughter are a-ok!
As an Independent, I was hoping for someone to talk about what they actually plan on doing for the American people. Instead, I got nothing but fear mongering and bashing of Obama and the democratic party. No substance, just the same old boring tactics. I was hoping Sarah Palin would come through for me, like a breath of fresh air, but instead she left me struggling to fight the urge to spew chunks all over my tv. She’s nothing more than McSame’s attack dog and quite honestly, I found her to be a nasty witch.
Sarah Palin just confirmed my vote for Barack Obama.
Are you suggesting that Michelle Obama attacked Bristol Palin?
If not, can you cite anyone in Obama’s campaign attacking Bristol Palin?
If not, can you cite anyone at all attacking Bristol Palin?
Sure I would have been happy with her as President. I don’t have a distaste for her. That’s got nothing to do with whether I think she would be able to get elected.
WTF did Michelle Obama say about Palin or her daughter?
Well, they did write the speech before they knew who’d be giving it, so it had to be somewhat generic. 
Although they did adjust it somewhat, once Palin was the nominee. But still, it really was a Generic Speech.
They did such a thorough job of retrofitting the speech for Palin that the now-thoroughly-debunked claim of her principled opposition to the Bridge To Nowhere was still in there. It was a lie, and by now just about anyone paying attention knew it was a lie. And either she didn’t read her own speech ahead of time, or she was perfectly happy to leave a repeatedly debunked lie in her own speech.
I can’t decide which is worse, and it hardly matters. Certainly the McCain staff that wrote the speech is a passel of liars.