She came, she saw, she spewed her venom.
Last night's "get to know me" presentation by Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin was more a venting session than it was a speech. Bursting at the seams with schoolyard taunts and questionable claims, it contained all of the classic GOP tactics that are trotted out whenever they don't have a track record to run on. There was character assassination, fear mongering, culture war finger pointing and more smoke and mirrors than a Vegas stage show. Did we learn anything new about Sarah Palin's qualifications to be vice president? Did we get any specifics on how a Sen. John McCain and Palin administration would bring "reform" and "change" to Washington? Were we given one shred of evidence that four years of a McCain presidency wouldn't look exactly like the past eight years under Pres. Bush and Vice President Cheney? On all counts, a resounding NO. That, by the way, was exactly the point.
I'll give Palin props for delivering other people's words quite well. Except, of course, when those words didn't revolve around her family story and body slams against everyone from Barack Obama to community organizers. Unfortunately, these passages accounted for the majority of the second half of her lengthy speech. They also forced her to make an awkward transition from proud mother and wife to angry harpy. It was jarring to watch. Certainly the party faithful in the convention hall ate it up. Did it play as well in millions of middle class living rooms across America? Doubtful. It was too partisan and too nasty. While her personal story might connect with a segment of the electorate, she shot herself in the foot with a constant stream of negativity that seemed unnecessary and out of place. What should have been a high-minded challenge to those who have tried to take her down all week degenerated instead into the oratory equivalent of shooting your opponent in the back.
When Palin recited Republican Party platform points, they rang hollow. Lack of specifics aside, these are talking points that are entirely new to the VP nominee. She's a cracker jack on oil tax rebate checks and caribou but she's way out of her element when the discussion turns to issues that actually matter to voters outside of Alaska. In what was surely an act of desperation and a lame attempt to create the illusion of foreign policy chops, the speechwriters had Palin tick off a list of countries. Not only was it obvious she had never been to any of them, I suspect it's the first time she's uttered their names in public. Wading into the murky waters of foreign policy savvy is as dangerous for Palin as McCain critiquing Obama and Biden's lack of "executive experience." She has none of the former and he has none in the latter.
In the process of belittling Obama, Palin also managed to insult community organizers and activists around the country. According to Palin's odd world view, dedicating your life to helping others for little or no money is somehow not worthy of accolades. Rather, it's something to make fun of. Maybe this kind of stuff gives a chuckle to the old white folks in the convention hall (and from what I saw on TV, it did) but I have to think it won't pass muster when the glow of GOP self-congratulation evaporates and people start picking the speech apart. There are literally millions of community organizers around the country who do amazing work every day without a shred of selfishness or recognition. Not only does Barack Obama connect with these people, he was one of these people. This line of attack on the part of Palin and the GOP is especially confusing when "service" is supposedly one of the major themes of the Republican convention. So "service" is a good thing when it provides McCain with a Gustav photo-op or POW back-story but something to be demeaned and mocked when it is part of your opponent's resume? Talk about cynical hypocrisy.
I still maintain that the selection of Palin by McCain is an insult to women and the office of vice president. Her speech last night did nothing to convince me otherwise. In fact, I think I like her even less. Of all the qualified people McCain could have picked, this is the best and brightest he could come up with? I can't help but wonder what Kay Bailey Hutchison, Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe really think about this lightweight? Palin is on the ticket for one reason and one reason only: she placates the extreme right of the GOP base. Anyone who thought Republicans actually give a hoot about Hillary Clinton supporters (a group of which I was a part) need only watch Palin's acceptance speech to see how wrong they were. With more than an assist from Bill and Hillary Clinton, Obama and Biden managed to coalesce into an impressive ticket. The Democratic convention ended with a united front and a speech by Obama that not only connected with his faithful, but it also managed to silence a sizable number of his critics. He did damage and Palin is McCain's poorly conceived notion of damage control. Only we, as voters, can stop his bad decision from becoming our next Republican created nightmare.