Palin Takes No Prisoners in Debut Speech
Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin took the podium to a huge standing ovation from the Xcel Center crowd -- it must have lasted at least two minutes. And after all the recent talk about Palin's so-called unpreparedness for the customary attack-dog role of the VP nominee, she came out tonight with guns blazing. Her speech covered all the bases -- some of her own life story, John McCain's bio, national security, the economy, and a string of well-delivered one-liners mocking and sometimes savaging the Democratic ticket and the media.
Palin opened with some discussion of her family -- a touchy subject this week as many bloggers and pundits have wondered aloud about her mothering responsibilities. She did not directly discuss her pregnant teenage daughter Bristol, but she did tackle another subject that's generated online interest: her baby son, Trig, who has Down Syndrome. Questions have arisen in some circles about whether Palin can sufficiently parent Trig if she is elected. (As Rudy Giuliani pointed out in his remarks tonight -- and we here at VoxPol offer a hearty 'hear, hear' on this one -- that would never be asked about a male candidate.) Palin took the subject head on -- promising that if she's in the White House she'll make a point of working on behalf of special needs kids like Trig.
Sometimes even the greatest joys bring challenge.
And children with special needs inspire a special love.To the families of special-needs children all across this country, I have a message: For years, you sought to make America a more welcoming place for your sons and daughters.
I pledge to you that if we are elected, you will have a friend and advocate in the White House.
Palin talked up her own political germination as an "average hockey mom" (joking that the only difference between a pitbull and a hockey mom is lipstick) who "signed up for the PTA because I wanted to make my kids' public education better." She worked her way up, earning a seat on the city council and eventually reaching the mayor's office in her hometown of Wasilla. She described that job with poke at Barack Obama's oft-cited beginnings as a community organizer in Chicago.
I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a "community organizer," except that you have actual responsibilities. I might add that in small towns, we don't quite know what to make of a candidate who lavishes praise on working people when they are listening, and then talks about how bitterly they cling to their religion and guns when those people aren't listening.
We tend to prefer candidates who don't talk about us one way in Scranton and another way in San Francisco.
She then cut straight to dissing the media...
Here's a little news flash for all those reporters and commentators: I'm not going to Washington to seek their good opinion - I'm going to Washington to serve the people of this country. Americans expect us to go to Washington for the right reasons, and not just to mingle with the right people.
Palin touted her credentials as a reform-minded governor of Alaska, firing her predecessor's private chef and selling his luxury jet on eBay.
And then she turned her attention to a weaker area of her resume: foreign policy. She dropped a few overseas energy references like a pro as she pushed for more domestic energy production and an increased focus on renewables:
With Russia wanting to control a vital pipeline in the Caucasus, and to divide and intimidate our European allies by using energy as a weapon, we cannot leave ourselves at the mercy of foreign suppliers.To confront the threat that Iran might seek to cut off nearly a fifth of world energy supplies ... or that terrorists might strike again at the Abqaiq facility in Saudi Arabia ... or that Venezuela might shut off its oil deliveries ... we Americans need to produce more of our own oil and gas.
And take it from a gal who knows the North Slope of Alaska: we've got lots of both.
Palin then turned her sights directly on Barack Obama, spending the next section of the speech portraying the Democratic nominee -- rather snidely -- as strong on rhetoric but weak on policy.
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.This is a man who can give an entire speech about the wars America is fighting, and never use the word "victory" except when he's talking about his own campaign. But when the cloud of rhetoric has passed ... when the roar of the crowd fades away ... when the stadium lights go out, and those Styrofoam Greek columns are hauled back to some studio lot - what exactly is our opponent's plan? What does he actually seek to accomplish, after he's done turning back the waters and healing the planet? The answer is to make government bigger ... take more of your money ... give you more orders from Washington ... and to reduce the strength of America in a dangerous world. America needs more energy ... our opponent is against producing it.
She wrapped up with a final push on John McCain's character, telling the story of a fellow-POW from McCain's days in the Hanoi Hilton whose spirits McCain lifted with a signal through a pinhole in the cell door. That man, Tom Moe, was also a member of the Ohio delegation tonight. Moe summoned a huge cheer from the crowd when he stood and saluted after his name was mentioned.
Palin's final note of implicit comparison between McCain and Obama:
For a season, a gifted speaker can inspire with his words.
For a lifetime, John McCain has inspired with his deeds.
The feisty speech left no doubt that Palin doesn't plan to roll over this fall. The rave reception she got from the conservative die-hards in the convention hall doesn't necessarily indicate how she'll do with voters at large, and she still has a long way to go to prove that she's really up to the task of the Vice-Presidency. But tonight's performance suggests that the VP debate between Palin and Joe Biden may be a better show than the chattering classes had anticipated.
-- Evie Stone
12:29 AM ET | 09- 4-2008 | permalink
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