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Saint Sarah Beats Expectations in Saint Paul
Dividing a presidential convention between two cities -- Minneapolis and Saint Paul -- that are a half hour cab ride apart is a very good way to deflate enthusiasm and raw political energy, but tonight. . .finally. . .this convention woke up with a spark provided by former NY Mayor Rudy Giuliani and then a powerful home run speech by Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.
Expectations of Palin had been set so low by all of those who doubted her abilities and experience that perhaps any semi-competent talk would have done the trick, but clearly she was comfortable speaking powerfully to tens of millions on television and a packed stadium in St. Paul.
Substantively, I strongly disagreed with her tongue-in-cheek dismissal of Obama for wanting to stand by those who deserve to have their rights read to them in a way consistent with democracy. She portrayed herself as being a believer in liberty -- distrustful of government, and then seemed to argue that some accused (possible terrorists) didn't deserve the benefit of doubt that liberty promises and argued that an empowered government could judge who was evil and who was innocent without regard for basic human rights.
Palin talked a lot about fiscal responsibility, of sacking her chef, and selling former Senator and Alaska Governor Frank Murkowski's state-provided luxury plane on EBay and wanting to bring those practices to Washington -- but she mentioned nothing of the irresponsibility of waging the second most expensive war in American history with no regard to raising revenue to pay for it.
Like Bush and McCain and Cheney, Sarah Palin embraces war and lowering taxes. Suggesting that that is a fiscally responsible posture is neo-Orwellian.
Palin tried to build on the silly meme that Obama is somehow positioning himself as a modern Messiah:
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. . .
It is the government of George W. Bush that she and McCain are trying to succeed that has made the reach of government into people's private lives the most extensive and invasive in modern history -- and the size of government as measured by the gap between receipts and expenditures is also the largest in American experience.
Palin, like George W. Bush and Cheney, seems to think that by asserting falsehoods or juxtaposing contradictory goals like maintaining a large forward based troop presence in Iraq but keeping taxes from going up sells just fine to Americans.
She may be right. I think that in contrast to Obama -- whose selection of Joe Biden was smart and important in shoring up the Obama Team's gravitas -- Palin has been set up by McCain to be a new kind of 21st century "saint."
She has a large, seemingly wonderful family -- juggles her home cooking with running a large state as its chief executive. She has a snow mobile racing husband who is a North Shore oilman and she tackles corrupt "lobbying interests" and their cozy deals with politicos wherever she goes.
It's a great story on many levels. Her husband is even a member of the United Steel Workers. Faint applause on that line though.
But despite my substantive differences with Palin, this performance tonight beat expectations and moved her to a new level. Her competition at this incredibly flat, low energy confab in St. Paul is thin -- so one could easily argue that she had a lot of room to pull off a success. But that is too cynical.
She did a great job -- and stared her doubters and the challenge down.
There is much about Sarah Palin we don't know yet. Unlike Biden and Obama, we didn't get much time to have our own public vetting of her before McCain's decision -- so there will be more fits and starts and twists and turns as other parts of her life are dredged up, over-analyzed, and judged by the American public.
But this is going to be very close race, particularly if nothing new and surprising shows up on Palin.
What no one will say just yet -- but which I think the McCain folks tried to convey is that "Saint Sarah" just made her real debut in Saint Paul.
-- Steve Clemons publishes the popular political blog, The Washington Note
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What is her position on maternity leave ... 3 days.
Sarah Palin made a good presentation. The McCain handlers and she worked for 3 days, and Palin practiced until a few hours before the event started. Everyone is saying that she "performed well" and that is exactly what she did--she performed. She gave a scathing speech which was written for her. There were a few of her words in it, but mostly she presented the sams very sarcastic and rude message presented by the Republicans. Hucklebee, Romney, and Guilliani had already said much of the same thing that Palin said. She added more untruths and used more sarcasm and insults. Her speech is now being hailed as "manna from Heaven" by Joe Scarborough and a guest. It is also being discussed as to how the McCain camp may just "keep her from the press" for a while. It will be interesting to see Sarah on her own. Her speech needed substance, but Republicans were only concerned with her and her zingers. I hope her family will stay off limits, but I hope she will not USE her own family for her benefit. Someone on tv this morning praised her speech and her family, and in doing so, he said something to the effect that the family is just great, and look at her with "that little Down Syndrome baby"(his words). No one made a comment. I hope the baby will not become a prop as he did last night.
This election is about a woman named Sara Palin and her daughter. It is not about electing the chief executive officer of the United States government. Something has caused America to become extremely stupid. I see no hope for us.
Wow, she can read a speech that was written for her. When's she gonna answer some questions.
It's been almost a week and she has not been available for questions. If she can't answer questions from the press, then she's not qualified to be VP.
Oh, the McCain campaign will make her available, but only to Fox "News". There she will get tough questions like, what kind of day is typical in the Palin family? How many times do you go out and hunt Moose? Is it very tiring to be a Hockey Mom?
No. She may appear to you to have a 'arge seemingly wonderful family, but believe me, when your oldest son has discipline problems and goes into the Army at 18 instead of college; when your 16 year old daughter is having unprotected sex with her boyfriend, and when you leave your Down syndrome newborn to go to work...the
Your commonsense is so refreshing.
This is a profoundly silly woman and I cannot believe the general electorate will fall for her. She appeals to the faithful only. Do Americans really want someone at the top of the country whose family spurns higher education?
Looking at the closeups of the kind on the way to Iraq, I'd say he looked uncomfortable and scared. He sure didn't look happy to be going to war. Could his mother have pushed him into it?
unbelievab
For years Ted Kennedy, the surrogate head of the entire Kennedy tribe had to deal with seriously bad behavior from his kids, his nephews and his nieces. Serious problems. Heroin. Rape charges. Drug overdoses etc. Did anyone tell him there was nothing wonderful about him going to the Senate? Did anyone tell him he should stay home and deal with his family issues? No, of course not. MomWithTwoHeads you obviously have two value systems, one for women, another for men. You are a sexist democrat and your bad attitude is probably made worse by the fact that the Republicans have a fascinating woman on their ticket.
I'm not sexist. I'd say the same thing if it was a guy running for office.
We need to have role models in this country---Brack Obama's family seems to be an excellent example, and so does Joe Biden's--and I don't find Palin's family to be anything approaching "wonderful" or a role model. It's a mess. And the only reason I'm making the point is this: if they want to hold that family up and shove it down our throats on tv, and not expect us to have the right to question or point out the obvious, then sorrrrrryeeeeee.
I mean, to take a four month old baby into a convention setting, one who is a preemie, and expect not every mother in America to point out how unsafe and risky that is? And then to pass the baby from person to person? Then to parade a pregnant unmarried teen and her fiance across a stage!! At seventeen!!!
Palin may be fascinating, and she may have given a rip roaring speech, and George Bush's speech writer may be a star today, but as a mom, I'm horrified at the unspoken message I saw last night. If that's family values, you can have em.
Call me old fashioned, but sexism has nothing to do with it.
Yo, most politicians are frauds and play by different rules than you or I-seems to be irregardless of party affiliation or ideology.
spare me the indignatio
What goes around comes around....
It's a rough game running for president.
The only way for these tactics to stop working is voters to stop paying attention to them.
In George Bush, monied interests within the Republican party, the military-industrial complex and big oil in particular, put in power someone who owed his wealth and position to them and who could be expected to do their bidding - as he has in fact done. Sarah Palin follows in that tradition.
In my book, saints don't come to the party snarling like pit bulls. This "babe" is Ann Coulter running for VP! On top of that, she can outsmirk the greatest smirker of them all -- "W." And that's "saintly?" Puhleese..
Saint - - Saint Paul, get it? Steve was just trying to be clever at the expense of our democracy and an informed electorate. Was it worth it Steve?
Mosh -- Not true.
I called Sarah Palin "Saint Sarah" because the Republicans have been trying to malign Obama as a self-indulgent Messiah.
I was playing on this trick by the Republicans and suggesting that they are trying to convince Americans that Sarah Palin is some kind of Saint.
My facetious allusion is flying over many reading this.
But seriously, do you think after reading my piece that I consider Sarah Palin some sort of a saint? No way.
-- Steve Clemons
Sounding like a little girl receiving an award at the junior prom, she gave a terrible speech, made bearable only by the lowest expectations possible.
If the Democratic Party can't make a landslide out of this gift, then it must disband and beg the republic's forgiveness.
If the democratic party can't win in this climate this country is doomed and the world with it. But that is the 'end times' religious fanatic's goal isn't it? To usher in the final chapter of Jesus' coming? Armegedon here we come.
This country isn't doomed. It's just that all you brainwashed narcissists think if your guy doesn't get in, it's over. Things will go on and your doom prediction shows how provincial you are in your thinking. And you make fun of the red states crowd for having no perspective.
How did we ever survive without the democrats being successful? They have failed at presidential politics.
Their democratically controlled Congress is a failure and a joke.
Reid calls Palin "shrill". Nice.
Pelosi causes groans whenever she opens her mouth [does she wear lipstick?].
I guess we will just have to muddle along without the democratic leaders that exist in your fantasies.
Was she wearing an Alaskan First Flag pin?
sarah plain cont.
When then-Governor Murkowski was handing out political plums, Sarah got
the best, Chair of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission: one
of the few jobs not in Juneau and one of the best paid. She had no
background in oil & gas issues. Within months of scoring this great
job which paid $122,400/yr, she was complaining in the press about the
high salary. I was told that she hated that job: the commute, the
structured hours, the work. Sarah became aware that a member of this
Commission (who was also the State Chair of the Republican Party)
engaged in unethical behavior on the job. In a gutsy move which some
undoubtedly cautioned her could be political suicide, Sarah solved all
her problems in one fell swoop: got out of the job she hated and
garnered gobs of media attention as the patron saint of ethics and as a
gutsy fighter against the “old boys’ club” when she dramatically quit,
exposing this man’s ethics violations (for which he was fined).
As Mayor, she had her hand stuck out as far as anyone for pork from
Senator Ted Stevens. Lately, she has castigated his pork-barrel
politics and publicly humiliated him. She only opposed the “bridge to
nowhere” after it became clear that it would be unwise not to.
As Governor, she gave the Legislature no direction and budget
guidelines, then made a big grandstand display of line-item vetoing
projects, calling them pork.
sarah palin cont.
As Governor, her recent firing of Alaska’s top
cop has the ring of familiarity about it. He served at her pleasure
and she had every legal right to fire him, but it’s pretty clear that
an important factor in her decision to fire him was because he wouldn’t
fire her sister’s ex-husband, a State Trooper. Under investigation
for abuse of power, she has had to admit that more than 2 dozen
contacts were made between her staff and family to the person that she
later fired, pressuring him to fire her ex-brother-in-law. She tried to
replace the man she fired with a man who she knew had been reprimanded
for sexual harassment; when this caused a public furor, she withdrew
her support.
She has bitten the hand of every person who extended theirs to her in
help. The City Council person who personally escorted her around town
introducing her to voters when she first ran for Wasilla City Council
became one of her first targets when she was later elected Mayor. She
abruptly fired her loyal City Administrator; even people who didn’t
like the guy were stunned by this ruthlessness.
Fear of retribution has kept all of these people from saying anything
publicly about her.
As a resident of Wasilla, you should be encouraged to distribute this information on Sarah throughout the Internet. Perhaps you want to take advantage of Arriana's new policy and write a Blog for her. In any case, thank you for taking the time to go into the details--something that Republicans--who "don't do nuance"--seem little interested in.
I am probably replying mid history, but she does seem like the proverbial wolf in sheep's clothing. Maybe almost a bit fascistic. The Obama camp should not underestimate her as she seems quite intelligent and definitely knows how to work a crowd. However, her finger waving style, which seems to appeal to Americans, will not play that well internationally. Thanks for your info about Sarah Barracuda (why didn't the RNC have Gretchen Wilson play Barracuda after her speech-probably because they would not be able to clear rights from the Wilson sisters).
Thanks for your posts.
Yes, I think her foiled attempt to ban books from the local library speaks fascistic tendencies - that and supporting a religious war in Iraq. Just what we need - a potential commander in chief who believes in 'end time' scripture and destiny a heartbeat away from the presidency. McPs now have a two part rational for bombing Iran - oil and god.
Wow! This lady is not only loved but she knows how to make herself feared. Good qualities for a leader in a predatory world with enemies who given the chance would kill us by the millions in mushroom clouds of mass death.
Palin has the same credentials Bill Clinton had when he became President.
Sarah Palin should know the reason it is important to protect the rights of those we capture in Iraq and Afghanistan is because it gives us grounds to fight and demand the rights of our service members that could be taken in combat by the enemy. Oh wait she thinks the nation is founded on the Pledge.
First she has to know what those rights are. Hmmm. Constitutional Law Expert or Journalism major????
St Sarah believes god has a plan for her and for this country - to usher in the second coming by killing as many non-believers as possible. What happened to the notion of Compassionate Conservative? I guess even the repubs don't have the audacity to resurrect that canard/oxymoron.
JoJoRae,
Please, talk to someone in the military to understand what really goes on in a battlefield situation. So many of Obama's elitist followers have zero understanding of the combat experience. You're concerned about the rights of those captured in Iraq but sometimes the safety of our soldiers comes first. I also find it interesting that often the very same people screaming about the importance of due process of law change their tune when they become the victim of a crime.
Big whoop. I wasn't impressed.
The voters in exurban and rural Colorado were impressed, Nevada, Montana, North Carolina, and Virginia too. Yes folks, those state are now gone from the Obama map thanks to Sarah.
Sarah will be living in small town Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania for the next 60 days. Gee, I wonder who those white working class (that means no college folks) women voters are going to go with?
One thing is for sure, Johnny MAC is a very good gambler.
Palin has the same credentials Bill Clinton had when he became President.
No, she does not.
When did Palin become a Lawyer, a Rhodes Scholar and state Attorney General?
Put that glass of koolaide down before you embarrass yourself further.
While Sarah was Mayor of Wasilla she tried to fire our highly respected
City Librarian because the Librarian refused to consider removing from
the library some books that Sarah wanted removed. City residents
rallied to the defense of the City Librarian and against Palin’s
attempt at out-and-out censorship, so Palin backed down and withdrew
her termination letter. People who fought her attempt to oust the
Librarian are on her enemies list to this day.
Sarah complained about the “old boy’s club” when she first ran for
Mayor, so what did she bring Wasilla? A new set of “old boys”. Palin
fired most of the experienced staff she inherited. At the City and as
Governor she hired or elevated new, inexperienced, obscure people,
creating a staff totally dependent on her for their jobs and eternally
grateful and fiercely loyal–loyal to the point of abusing their power
to further her personal agenda, as she has acknowledged happened in the
case of pressuring the State’s top cop (see below).
As Mayor, Sarah fired Wasilla’s Police Chief because he “intimidated”
her, she told the press.
Sarah Palin cont. pt. 3
The huge increases in tax revenues during her mayoral administration
weren’t enough to fund everything on her wish list though, borrowed
money was needed, too. She inherited a city with zero debt, but left it
with indebtedness of over $22 million. What did Mayor Palin encourage
the voters to borrow money for? Was it the infrastructure that she said
she supported? The sewage treatment plant that the city lacked? or a
new library? No. $1m for a park. $15m-plus for construction of a
multi-use sports complex which she rushed through to build on a piece
of property that the City didn’t even have clear title to, that was
still in litigation 7 yrs later–to the delight of the lawyers
involved! The sports complex itself is a nice addition to the
community but a huge money pit, not the profit-generator she claimed it
would be. She also supported bonds for $5.5m for road projects that
could have been done in 5-7 yrs without any borrowing.
While Mayor, City Hall was extensively remodeled and her office
redecorated more than once.
These are small numbers, but Wasilla is a very small city.
As an oil producer, the high price of oil has created a budget surplus
in Alaska. Rather than invest this surplus in technology that will
make us energy independent and increase efficiency, as Governor she
proposed distribution of this surplus to every individual in the state.
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