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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Since she's so ethically opposed to private luxury jets, I hope the press will make it a point to get numerous photos of her traveling from coast to coast on the one belonging to Cindy and John McCain.
I would like to know if she got a fair value for the jet on ebay. That does not seem like the place to obtain top dollar for an investment paid for by the tax payers.
I bet Cindy McCain would not sell a company jet on eBay
Like the planes she used to shoot wolves. Nothing elitist about that.
I've had a stomach ache since listening to this person tonight. Her attacks on Obama were quite effective and her personality charming. This is going to be tough. I agree, there are so many uninformed Americans who might fall for this crap. On the bright side, I don't think many Hillary supporters will fall for this crap. But it looks to me like the race just got closer and since the Republicans are very adept at cheating when it comes to elections (and everything else) we could be in trouble folks.
for a person that thinks Hilary's endorsement of Obama was tepid, maybe you don't know her overall supporters or maybe appreciate what Hillary and her campaign to the end was all about.
Since she is so anti-c orruption and pro-ethics, she should, as Governor of Alaska, direct the State Police to arrest and charge the Statutory Rapist who shared the stage with her after her recitation!! She is, after all, a Bible-thumping Moralist, isnt she?
Zing!
"Uninformed" is too benign a word to describe the state of wallowing ignorance of many Americans. Anybody that would vote for this person, with her belief in creationism, global warming skeptic, and book banning would have to: 1) Not be able to read 2) Not care, because they are just like Palin.
We have to remember Obama is running against McCain, not Palin.
Nice to know I wasn't the only one chewing thru a bottle of antacid last night. You are correct that this will be tough, but not for the reasons you are worried about. I can only hope election fraud will not be the root cause for a potential Obama loss (someone's god help us if it happens). The bright side you speak of is what I worry about. Too much credit is given to the average American voter. Politicians know we are, as an electorate, generally uninformed and continue to use our prejudices as well as our sympathies against us. I know more than one Hillary supporter that is now backing McCain. It would be naive to assume that more women will not support Sarah Palin for reasons no more complicated than a similarity in anatomy. Racism and sexism will continue to play a big role in this election.
McCain and Palin can't beat the media too. They act as they are in a war with fellow americans. Just divisiness, pure hatred and vitriol. This will backfire on them. Too many people are hurting, we don't want this divisive Karl Rove, Right Wing Crap. And if anybody in rural america falls for this, if you think you are poor now, just look back in four years if you vote these 2 in office. Not to mention reinacting the draft to take your sons and daughters away from home. So I guess she is going to kick everybody's behind in Washington, Kick the media to the curve, but somehow she will be respected to work across party lines. She just disrespected every potential colleague she might have to work with. This dog won't hunt. You havent' seen community organizing yet. See you on Nov 4.
That dog won't hunt. The American people do not want four more years of Bush, and that is what they offer. No fear, just do the work. See you on Nov 4.
As in 2004, the Democrats are all assuming everyone has had it with Bush, and there is no doubt voters will elect their candidate.
But in reality the country votes more conservative in presidential elections, and almost always elects a Republican in the end.
Palin's play on Obama's messiah status is exactly how conservatives see him--he has been put up as a Messiah by Democrats, above any questioning or criticism.
The ecomony is not doing that bad, except for gas prices and the mortgage crisis. In the end this will
be decided on which candidate will be the best for national security. And that is mcCain.
No. McCain and Bush like wars that is true. But they can't win them. The Dems have got to point that out. It doesn't matter, and never did, who voted for this war. It matters how long they have gone on and when they will end. Got to make the point we are not safer today than eight years ago and we are losing ground. Look the Russians are in Georgia.
Bush/McCain can't finish what they started. Bush is leaving before it's won and McCain wants it to go on until his grandson's kids are fighting it.
Can you say Crusades II?
Please, please, keep telling Americans that we are whining about how bad the economy "seems." That will play really well in heartland America.
After all, folks who are trying to figure out why they can't buy what they used to be able to buy need to realize that they are actually richer, their computers are 32 times as fast, for instance, so they should be happy with thier situation.
To not be happy with where the country is going is just a sign of being "uppity."
You're right, of course. McCain, who refuses to believe he could ever fall victim to imperial over-reach, is the right man for this job.
NOT!!
Many people vote Republican because they believe that party can keep them safe. I ask you, which ticket now looks like the safer choice?
Let's see.....fr
Wrong! He has been put up as the "messiah" by the GOP, it's supporters and anyone who sought to defeat him. (This includes Hillary) But anyone who watched and listened saw a candidate with a clear idea of what he wanted not just for himself, but for all of America. If having a coherent plan and an actual record to stand on constitutes on being called a "Messiah", then so be it.
Above all else and outside of the GOP rhetoric, nothing can erase the fact that the state of our nation is a result of stewardship of the Republican party, which includes John McCain. Nothing can erase the fact that Iraq was the wrong war to fight. Nothing can erase the fact that people are losing their homes (amongst other things) because of the policies that were borne in the Republican mindset... which now includes Her Holiness Sister Sarah Palin - Patron Saint of the GOP.
She delivered a solid convincing speech that the Moon is made out of cottage cheese -- convincing to anyone who believes, or wants to believe that the Moon is made out of cottage cheese. Anyone who knows that the Moon isn't made out of cottage cheese now knows that she specializes in character assassination using mockery and lies as her weapons of mass destruction. I'm not surprised that her speech was well received since she was speaking to the choir from a prepared text. However, mockery and lies will not serve her very well in a debate with a well informed opponent like Joe Biden.
Don't be surprised. The Dems show over and over again they have no stomach for attack politics. They will lose for it like the last two times.
They don't have too. All Obama needs to do is have testimonials from all the community people whose lives he improved. and end the commercial with
He may not be a small town mayor but he HAS made a difference.
"...she specializes in character assassination using mockery and lies as her weapons of mass destructio
Doesn't sound very Christian to me.
It's about time that we start dealing openly with the dread that festers in the heart of every thinking person. It would be nice to believe that the performance of the Bush/Cheney regime has been so abysmal that Nov. 4 would be a no-brainer. But much of our electorate is so woefully ill-informed and disengaged that they are vulnerable to another dose of GOP snake oil, in spite of the manifest horrors of the past eight years.
Consider this-- roughly 50% of America believes that Iraq attacked us on 9/11. We're talking about one of the most dramatic and shocking event in American history, and it occurred just a few years ago. How the hell are we going to have meaningful political conversation and a sensible election when we can't even establish a baseline of mutually agreed-upon reality?
I can't recall her precise words, but during the primary campaign Hillary Clinton made the point that it's amazing that we're even having a Presidential election. If this was a civilized country the Republicans would just step aside and let somebody else govern for awhile. Real men who failed the nation as badly as the GOP would simply go off and quietly commit Hari-Kari. I still think Obama is going to win, but it's troubling to realize that he has to bother making the argument.
where does that 50% number come from?????
the imaginatio
The way I see it, people can still vote GOP. But ultimately they will come around. They may have to lose their jobs and homes, or have a few children starve to death, but those unthinkable things may have to happen for people to finally come to their senses.
I love my country, but if the people fall for these right wing hacks once more, then America deserves every disaster and calamity that befalls her. I am sorry.
I agree. The country gets the government it deserves, and if people choose to vote for a party that has done so much to destroy the economy, well, then I invite them to queue up in front of McCain/Palin for help-and all they'll get will be a lecture on the glories of the free market.
Better get tough or see the election slip away. The issue is national security. That is how the repugs have framed it. Better deal with it or lose.
"...much of our electorate is so woefully ill-informed and disengaged
How true, We're a society of fast food, fast news, tabloids, and celebrity. It's quite disheartening when people know more about those twins living in a chateau in France than they do about how this country has been run for the past 8 years.
If one pretends it doesn't exist or isn't happening, then it doesn't exist or isn't happening. If we continue to function on auto-pilot, we're doomed.
I am concerned about her. The Republicans are masters of Weapons of Mass Distraction and white, working class voters have been voting against their economic interests for two elections now.
The economic and foreign policy disasters are real. However, I do not underestimate the Rovians ability to obscure the issues.
For all their hateful venom, the Republicans never offered any solutions.
In particular, they didn't offer economic solutions because they don't think there is anything wrong with the economy and that we're all a nation of whiners.
Now that she's spoken, we need to get the conversation off of Palin and back to McCain's ineptness and Obama's solutions.
Comparing Palin and Obama is a deliberate attemp to minimize Obama's stature in front of the public. It probably won't work, but there's no need to take the bait.
For the 2 seconds I was able to stand watching, I heard Mitt railing against unions. How can anyone from Pa, Ohio, Mich et al even consider voting for these greedy selfish criiminals. I am actually in the repub demographics, age and race and income wise and I am ready to leave this country if americans are too dumb, racist, and hateful to even save their own skins
The media, who was already prepared to love this speech, is not in touch with middle America. This choice, and person, frightens them.
Steve Clemons and James Love are both correct. Palin hit a home run to her audience whether we like it or not. She can speak, she can connect, she can attack.
She's appealing, she's confident, she delivers rhetoric with assurance and disdain.
Since when do Republicans have to make sense to get elected?
This woman is a problem, and McCain (or whoever it was-Rove?) was shrewd to choose her.
Just a year ago, Hillary thought her nomination was in the bag. Then some upstart came out of nowhere, ran a shrewd, innovative campaign, and took the prize from her. Half the Democratic party is still in shock that such a thing can happen, that somehow Hillary's pre-ordained Presidency has been stolen from her. They didn't take Obama seriously, and now there are a lot of bitter people unsure of who to vote for.
If we don't want to face the same mistake of hubris all over again from 2000, 2004, and the primaries, I beg all of you to take Palin seriously.
OH, I AM SURE O AND BIDEN DO TAKE THE GOP VEEP PICK SERIOUSLY. O IS SMATER IN MANY OTHER WAYS ROVE AND MAC NEVER WILL BE. I CANNOT STAND TO WATCH HER, SHE IS RREPUGNANT TO ME AND MILLIONS OF PEOPLE WHO CAN SEE THROUGH HER EXTREME FRINGE RT VIEWS. ANY SUPPORTER OF PAT BUCHANAN FOR PRES IS SUSPECT IN MY BOOK. IT SHOULD BE REPEATED AND INVESTIGATED. SHE WARES THAT SSCHLOKY MAKE UP AND SEERING PICH VOICE ...AND MAC 'S 2 WIFE WEARS THIS SICKENING GREEN OUTFIT....
boltaflex, I second your Motion. ATTACK her and her family as she attacked Obama and his last night. She is a criminal, inthat she is harbouring a Statutory Rapist whom, as Governor, she ought to demand is brought to Justice. Conspiricy to pervert the course of justice is the charge.
The State Trooper Ex Brother in Law should arrest the Statutory Rapist and his co-conspiritors when they arrive in Alaska
There is no Defence to Statutory Rape, other thaqn the accused had reason to believe that the victim was 18 years or older, a claim the Dropout cannot make.
Let us see what will be done. If this was a man of colour or the son of a Democrat, he would already been a Registered Rapist.
Equality Under The Law NOW!!!.
She hit a double, thrown out trying to make it a triple. But in truth this speech wasn't for most of America. It was for select areas, like Appalachia. Hillary went for those same places in the primary against Obama, now it's the Republican's turn to court those voters.
Just because pundits are calling this a home run, doesn't make it so. There's no question it was effective to the right-wing base. However, Ms. Palin's introduction to Middle America was via an onslaught of attacks on a generally respected public figure.
30% of the electorate is now excited. The jury's still out on the rest, although If my hunch is correct, the mainstream media has it wrong again.
If she beat expectations, that only means Joe Biden should not have to hold back then.
http://cnb
biden's in for an unpleasant surprise
Evil often succeeds in the short run.
Is this some sort of crypto-insult aimed at all the Jamaican sprinters, or what?
;-)
And always in America!!
Palin boasts of firing the chef in the governor's mansion, and vowed to bring the same kind of change to Washington.
Does this mean that she and Cindy will have to take turns in the WH cooking for their families?
Palin needs to check with the top of the Republican ticket on this matter ..........
CINDY WILL KEEP THE CHEF ..........
"CINDY WILL KEEP THE CHEF ..........
I heard them there funky-looking eyes of Cindy's is really robotic laser-beam eyes with which she can simultaneously shoot AND cook the buffalo.
Thanks for saying what I know many are thinking. I want someone smarter than me running the country with lots of national and international experience
"I want someone smarter than me running the country with lots of national and international experience
----------
then, i take it, you're NOT voting for obama?
obama and biden have certainly been fair to palin. her attacks were a bit much for the purpose and needs of this speech. she could've accomplished the same with less attacks. backed up with the cruel shock jock audio and the hillary whiner video these attacks will begin to show her nature. troopergate isn't a big loser unless it falls into a pattern of mean behavior. unlikely, but possible.
to top this off, palin may have to explain why she removed a library director in order to censor the library. not only, may this been seen as mean, but also this is another contradiction she may have to explain. how is censorship compatible with freedom? does she promote christian values or american values? are these values contradictory? if the press and america can answer the last question, then there is the slightest of chances we could end the culture war.
obama can easily get specific on two crucial points: his experience and his opponents contradictions.
mccain has the bar set high for him tommorw. and although, his election might not be slipping away, his campaign just might.
People have been dismissing Palin as a small time politician in over her head but I have feared this woman from day one. When I read she returned to work 3 days after delivering a premature baby with Down's Syndrome, I knew this woman had steel in her soul, and I don't mean that in a good way. ( I have a child with Down's Syndrome and have counselled other new parents, so I know how people react to the news. I'll just say her reaction is atypical.) I have read a lot about her personal life and her history as a politician. It may sound kind of far out, but the politician she reminds me of the most is Richard Nixon. (I'm old enought to have lived throught the Nixon Era.) Her demand for absolute loyality, firing those who dare disagree with her, a vindictive nature - sounds like a NIxon in the making to me. Troopergate may not be in the same league as the Saturday NIght Massacre but corrupt politicians all have to start somewhere and this is a woman who moves fast. Add to all that her belief she has God on her side.....t
the most scary thing is palin is today and tommorow's fight. she is dangerous. the dems problem is that they refuse to master marketing because its distasteful in some regards.
for example, experienced or not the republic surrogates, often young, attractive women smile blindly and don't blink and stick to sticking points. even the experienced ones. i'm using experienced in the sense of a politician. they are qualified spokespeople with a background in communications, journalism, public speaking, etc. palin is a blend. yes a dangerous blend.
watching larry king i noticed a comedian blink, a floridian representative blink, and a former clinton aide not blink. to many blinking is not only a distraction, but an implication of lying.
since i'm running out of words, i'll reply again here or to the next one.
second reply comment to the same comment.
the reps rationalize. how else do you think they can offer contradictory statements.
media demanding answers can overcome, but they won't do the dems job because they want to appear objective to get stories -- sacrificing integrity for lesser integrity.
the dems have to get way prepared with specifics to attack talking points. a little more interrupting would be helpful.
sara palin told them she didn't want the bridge.
no, she actually wanted it until it became unrealistic due to the environment in washington. after (date)
she's a real reformer.
no, she kept the money for her own pet projects so she wouldn't have to return (amount)
she cleaned up alaskan politics.
no, she took money from the improper scheme by the same oil company ted stevens is in trouble with. it was legal, but the process was crooked from the company. she was also on ted stevens 527 and he was in her campaign ad.
she taxed the oil companies and gave the money to the people.
she did tax the oil companies. we want to do it for america, mccain is opposed. it isn't hard to tax and distribute money. that's not a tough choice like those made in washington by obama and biden. she also perhaps gave too much back and underfunded the capital project.
no, that's not true.
yes, it is. she left her small community of 5500 at the time in 20 million dollars of debt. here's the
interesting. She really reminds me as a female George Bush. Under-qualified but self-righteous. Obsessed with loyalty rather than effectiveness. Very appealing to white working class voters.
A great response from "the media" to criticism that they've been too hard on Sarah Palin.
http://www
I would pay good money to have Keith Olbermann read this out on national TV.
Give him time ...
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