Sarah Palin's Speech: The Good, the Bad, and the Whoops

And so Sarah Palin has made her speech. And commentators were amazed she didn't collapse before their eyes. A crowd of 15,000 Republican partisans cheered wildly. The American public doesn't watch substance. So, therefore she hit a home run.

So, did she?

Perspective is important, because nothing exists in a vacuum. So, as I watched the speech, I tried watching it from three perspectives: Make no mistake. All three perspectives are very real. And more, all of them matter. Not just the razzle-dazzle.

For the first perspective, that was easy. Anybody can play to the house, and she did. It was big there. She did wonderfully. She got everyone dancing, because she blasted Barack Obama big time. It looked good and played great. It energized the Republicans, no doubt, and showed that this person everyone was saying was a nothing actually had some fire. To the house, she was absolutely wonderful. Beautifully done.

Let's now look at the second perspective: watching as undecided voters, people who are actually hurting and wondering which candidates will help them. I think Sarah Palin had some very nice moments criticizing Sen. Obama. She showed herself a feisty fighter. And it came across well. She presented a relatable side, someone who "gets" everyday folk. It was effective razzle-dazzle. Though much wasn't true ("Democrats will raise your taxes!!"), that's me knowing that. Some others won't, some will.

But watching as if undecided, I also kept thinking - a lot - "Okay, so, what are you going to do??" And I kept waiting for her to say something. And she never did. And as an undecided voter who's hurting, I started to get a bit annoyed. And I started to think, "George Bush was someone I might like to have a beer with, but he's who got me into this mess." I wanted someone to get me out. And on occasion I even gave myself credit to say, "Wait, I've watched some TV ads, and I saw Barack Obama's acceptance speech, too, and he didn't say that." So, on this second level, it played okay - pretty well in some parts, some good razzle dazzle for those who don't pay much attention, but for all those people hurting enough to care, it also had some huge, problematic, gaping holes.

Oh, and she put her children on the table, talking endlessly about her son going to Iraq. They're supposed to be off-limits.

But it's the third perspective that shocked me, and this is what most people have overlooked. And even though it affects only an audience of one, it creates significant problems. Because it swung the barn door wide open for Joe Biden. You must keep in mind that Joe Biden is a seriously smart man. Former chair of the Senate Justice Committee, and current chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He's one of the country's leading experts on world affairs - and during the Democratic debates, he gave lessons to all his highly-impressive opponents on the subject.

Watching the speech as if Sen. Biden, I could see his eyes gleaming every time Sarah Palin said we were "so close to victory in Iraq" and that Democrats want to "cave." In their debate, he will skewer her on this. Even the White House is now for setting time tables to withdraw. Iraq itself wants us out in 16 months - which John McCain has said we must do, because Iraq is a sovereign nation. When she blasted Mr. Obama about wanting to negotiate without preconditions - Joe Biden will detail not only American history in negotiating, but also note that the Bush Administration has now met with Iran without pre-conditions. Time and again, she opened the door even wider with ghastly foreign and domestic platitudes that will fall apart in the face of an expert responding. And Joe Biden will respond every time.

Yet none of this gets to the two most glaring gaps in her speech for a waiting Joe Biden. The first is what she wants to do about the issues that face America. The economy, housing, the environment, science, women's right to choose, stem cell research. Watching as Joe Biden, I couldn't wait to address these. Or her belief in teaching creationism. That Iraq is a mission from God. That global warming isn't man-made. She intentionally left all these out of her speech. Joe Biden won't.

The second glaring gap is her lack of experience. It can't be forgotten. Yes, she attacked Barack Obama - but she never explained herself. When your big accomplishment is selling a plane on eBay, your empty spaces are pot holes. What a mistake it was for her to belittle being a community organizer in the inner-city of Chicago. Really? It was Barack Obama's first job - right out of college. Incredibly impressive. Meanwhile, 20 months ago, she couldn't even be mayor of 5,500 people without the town bringing in an outside administrator to help her. Barack Obama's full career has been vetted by the American public and won 20 million votes. She has 114,000 in her home state. Before meeting face-to-face with Joe Biden, she had this one chance to build a defense why she was qualified to be a heart-beat from the presidency, even with zero experience in foreign affairs. She offered nothing in her speech. And let the door open.

But above all, there is one major issue that people are missing about this third perspective. And it's very real. And very serious. It may have been Sarah Palin's biggest mistake. If people are razzle-dazzled by the speech - then this speech raised the bar for her. She's no longer playing with low expectations, because she chose to slash and burn. Her one ace card was always the inability of Joe Biden to be hard on her. But that's gone, because she opened the door first, directly attacking her opponents on policy. This isn't isolated Alaska, where she's on safe, familiar ground. This is the full nation, the world, and everything is at stake. Her speechwriters went for razzle dazzle and ignored that, at her peril.

And lest you think this is a minor quibble - more people will likely watch Joe Biden and Sarah Palin debate than saw her speech.

So, finally, let's step back and look at Sarah Palin's speech in full. All those perspectives together. Not just "She beat expectations." Not just "People don't listen." Let's look at what her speech actually was.

Some of it was extremely good. She didn't show herself a disaster. She got some good, rousing responses. But her best parts -- her attacks -- left her glaringly open and without defense. Democrats couldn't seem "mean" before. Not any more, she attacked first. Foolish.

But mainly, this was just a speech. Written by others, that she practiced, practiced and practiced. The measure of her candidacy will be out on the campaign trail, facing the public and the press. And then facing Joe Biden..

In the end...she didn't say anything. She offered no proposals to get those hurting in America out of their problems. Name one. She offered no solutions for Iraq, Iran and North Korea. And with John McCain's serious health issues, that gaping hole of no answers and no experience will stretch wider, unaddressed.

And so this one speech is over. It likely went over well with many. Republican poll numbers likely will go up overnight. It happens at conventions. Yet recognize it in full: if this had been a keynote speech, it would have been ignored. There was nothing in it to suggest dazzling people for 19 months and winning your party's nomination for president. And now, Sarah Palin must enter that real world.

Sarah Palin's speech does not exist in a vacuum. It does not exist only in the Republican convention hall. It does not exist only in the eyes of those both smart and dull who'll see only razzle dazzle. It also exists in the eyes of those watching across America who are very hurt and want answers. And it exists in the eyes of the one man watching who will be debating her in front of a far larger audience.

The speech was good. And bad. The bad, though, is seriously problematic. And how her speechwriters opened the door to it was a big mistake.

Read more analysis from HuffPost bloggers on Sarah Palin

Comments

[jmbates]

Very well done article!

[JulianJons]

Well, "Sarah Barracuda" or "pitbull with lipstick" or whatever else you call yourself, you are in shark infested waters and there is one shark that really likes fresh meat. I hope you dont cry unfair or sexism. Cant wait to watch the debate!

[wandering girl]

thank you, thank you, thank you!! you nailed it perfectly. yeah, she's a looker, and she's got spunk, but basically... well, basically she's a neo-conservative shill with an empty bag of tricks - and many, many vulnerable areas. as much as I want the Obama/Biden campaign to stay above the Karl Rove sewage, I dearly want them to not get sidetracked by the "she's a woman; you can't go after her" bull. she's a target just waiting to be fired on, and now that she's in the fray, she can't pull that card any more. again, thank you.

[tel8034]

Palin came out FIGHTING ..........­..........­.... I hope she can take the same as she gives out.

In less than 1 week we have learnt that Sarah Palin is nothing but a Dick Cheney and Karl Rove in a skirt and some makeup.

[WhiteHat]

One little punchline Palin tossed off was distressing to me, and I hope Biden addresses it.

"...he wants to read [terrorists] their rights!"

As if that were silly, or wrong.

I sincerely hope anyone detained by any branch of government in America does have rights, and does understand them. Because any exception to our Constitutional protections weakens everyone's claim.

We all have the same rights or none of us have any. It really is that simple.

[larstein]

I was thinking about this while listening to her speech. Who does she sound like? What is this accent? Is this an Alaska accent, or is it a blend of North Dakota and teenage LA? I thought, maybe a little bit William Macy in the movie Fargo, a little bit Reese Witherspoon in Legally Blonde, a little bit like that generic clenched-jaw, perky 17 year old accent you hear at the mall. Then I remembered.... Church Lady, SNL, Dana Carvey. Is that precious?

[Bitsko]

"She has 114,000 in her home state." That's rich.

I thought during most of her speech the one's in the crowd who weren't in the front or next to cameras seemed to be sitting on their hands. Maybe a lot of them forgot to take their Geritol. O maybe they weren't totally sold. I just don't buy this wholehearted support of the party spin.

[Bobrobert]

Thank you.

I really dislike folks who try to ban books.

[seeker1of2truth]

Me too! Smacks too much of the "ism's" and a police state with a theocracy at it's head!

[barackobama4prez]

Nice article. Let the debates begin! Oct. 7th can't get here fast enough.

[NoOneSpecial]

This sums up EXACTLY what I've been thinking since last night.

She raised the bar for herself to SERIOUSLY high levels by going 100% offense. Of course the Repubs ate it up and are singing her praises. They've been trained to relish this Rush Limbaugh style of attack for over a decade now.

The problem, however, is that Rush Limbaugh is never forced to confront his opponents face-to-face on NEUTRAL GROUND, and can take comfort from the fact that he's constantly playing to his own choir.

Political races like this are a kind of rhetorical jujitsu in slow motion. Palin came out early with stunning form and full frontal attack. And it's left her wide open to having that strength turned into a liability.

I say show no mercy.

Because that's exactly what she asked for.

[KiwisCanFly]

Thank u so much Robert J Elisberg. U articulated what I thought and what I hadn't thought. Really good points u made.

[Titonwan]

Joe was my first pick for Prez. Great article because I know you're right. Joe will look at her like a small child... and then commence to tear her a new one.

[veteran1964]

I don't think Sarah Palin understands what is going on yet.......­People...U­nderstand this...Do you think that John McCain and the rest of the NEOCONS are going to let Palin make any decisions at anytime anyplace? She is a setup to win. She is the facade that they needed to hit the emotions of America and the first woman VP.....She is the frontal assault on these crying women to get McCain in office. Are people this dumb? Do any of you think that she is relevant to the Republican WHITE OLD MAN party? She is being used and is too damn dumb to understand it...I wonder if she was originally BLONDE...Because she can't see through the smoke.
With John McCain's arrogance and temper and attitude....does anyone think she will get any say in ANYTHING? LAUGHABLE.

[momof3inGA]

Excellent article. Excellent.

[nonni-g]

sheesh, finally some perspectiv­e.....I've been saying the same thing all day....thank you for looking at it for us and reminding us it was just a talking point from McSame, rehashing the same complaints against Obama with nothing for us working stiffs who worry about everything and pray payday comes on time