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September 04, 2008 04:19 AM UTC

RNC speech open thread

  • 136 Comments
  • by: DavidThi808

I’ll post videos here when I can find them. Romney, Huckabee, Palin – a virtual plethoria of uplifting speeches in support of failed ideas…

Romney Speech

Huckabee Speech

Rudy GiulianiSnidely Whiplash Speech (who is Snidely Whiplash)

Sarah Palin Speech

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136 thoughts on “RNC speech open thread”

  1. Maybe he was just off tonight but that was a really lackluster speech. The audience there was having trouble just staying interested for most of it. Awfully generic too.

    I compare that to Hillary’s speech – both the candidate who came in second, and Romney’s speech was just terrible compared to the job Hillary did carrying the audience with her.

    1.    I only watched the first few minutes of Mittens’ speech.  Flat opening.  Probably still wallowing in bitterness because he’s not on the ticket in either capacity.

        Then he was ranting about liberals that have been running amok in D.C.  Exactly which liberal has been in the White House for the last 7 1/2 year?  And which liberals were in the majority in the House and Senate for six of the last 7 1/2 years?

        If he’s planning on running again in ’12, I would have expected more from speech tonight.

       

      1. Brooks, surprised by Romney’s speech, essentially said that Romney has gone from being a onetime moderate to delivering one of the most right-wing speeches he’d ever heard at a convention.

                2. mixed in with a shot at Romney’s religion unless I’m mistaken.

                  During the primary Obama said people are “bitter” (which is true) and some “cling to religion, guns, etc.” so after Hillary made his comments a campaign issue the right-wing has been using her strategy (how ironic) to try and paint Obama as an elitist.  

                  1. It’s completely accurate.  The “bitter” comment, the “proud” comment by his wife, all those things will be in your lap and on TV for the next 61 days.

                    I’m excited for the first time in a long time about this election.

                    Olberman looks like he ate a turd.  This is priceless.

                    4. You’re excited about a campaign that will have absolutely nothing to do about the issue but rather misleading attacks?

                      Obama earned his money the old fashion way, working for it. McCain married a trust fund baby.  

                    5. You are saying that obama “earned” his money? By what? Publishing two autobiographies about his lack of experience? Come on!

    2. I’m not a big Romney fan, but he gave a very good speech that laid out the issues.

      Huck talked about Huck, got a few laughs, and set himself up for 2012.

      Rudy gave the best of the warm up speeches with strength, conviction and humor.

      Palin simply out Obama’d Obama. A new stary has been born, and patriotic hockey moms and dads will love her.

      On a scale of 10, Palin 10, Obama 8, Biden 4.

      2. As I told LB, for lack of substance on herself and the issues I’d give her a 3, but for effectiveness of an attack dog she gets an 7. Overall, since she’s running for VP and not Sean Hannity’s sidekick, I’m giving her a 4.

  2. Boy is he good. I’m glad he didn’t win because I think he could have beat Obama. He had the crowd going.

    Interesting speech – a lot of it was about how America is great and why. There were some hits at us Dems but it was more just about American being great and riding that meme.

    He also sold McCain at the end as a person who gave a lot for this country and therefore deserved to be president. That is one of the main thrusts of the campaign but it strikes me as an insufficient argument. He never ties McCain to being the one to solve the problems we face.

    So good speech, but it isn’t a closer.

    1. What was with Huckabee claiming FDR as one of the 3 heros? Did he really just call the longest serving democrat in history a hero?

      And what was with the outright lie about Biden? How can a mayor of Wasilla get more votes than Biden got during his campaign?

      1.    Where he finished fifth or sixth (with a few hundred votes).  She was re-elected mayor with about 800 or 900 votes?

          As for which of them got more votes running statewide, that’s anyone’s guess. Do not Alaska and Delaware have comparable sized populations?

  3. Watching the Lingle speech. This is interesting – she is normally a very very good speaker. But she is also a very moderate Republican. My guess is that what she is saying is way outside what she would normally say and as such her heart isn’t in it.

    Mostly a generic message of support for Sarah Palin – nothing terribly specific about why though other than she’s a mayor, she’s a governor, and she’s a woman.

    The thing is, Lingle is all of that too and is a much much more qualified candidate. It must grate on her to have to make that speech.

      1. Executive experience, successful popular governor, female, and had won very very tough elections, repeatedly – then Lingle is far more qualified than Palin.

        However, Palin had one attribute that trumped all of Lingle’s advatages – Lingle is pro-choice.

      1. First all the talking heads said it was going to be Rudy and Hillary.  Everybody else could just hang it up.  Hillary almost proved them right but Rudy fizzled so fast, he’s been a non-factor for so long, nobody even mentioned him for possible VP.  So he may have made a big splash with the base at the convention but that’s going to be about it.  

      1. He landed a number of good blows as an attack dog. Some fair, some unfair, but good blows. And he delivered it well.

        He dilutes it though with the Snidley Whiplash chuckle after the best ones. That will turn people off a little and it changes the focus a bit from the attack to how clever Rudy is.

        I also thing the “ZERO ZERO” thing won’t work well for them. First it’s the combined McCain/Palin executive experience, which actually is the Palin executive experience (McCain’s command experience is so very long ago, it doesn’t count for much). So when it’s Obama vs McCain, ZERO doesn’t make much sense.

        But it’s also disrespectful. Voters do seem to want a level of civility in this campaign as shown by both candidates saying nice things about the other. Calling the other a zero could easily backfire.

        All in all though, Rudy was effective. And I loved his nasty chuckle and just wish he had a mustache he could twirl while chuckling.

        But in terms of affecting the race, I don’t think he offers much.

    2. misleading attacks are so “awesome.” While Obama gave a keynote address in 2004 to unite a red and blue America… Rudy gives zingers and one-liners to divide Americans. What a hero.

      Oh and the fake outrage must stop.

        1. Someone is stoked about this convention! Hey, you see all those empty seats? Id say about… 1 in 10?

          Seriously though, between Rudy and Palin… what do they offer? Not much other what to fear and who to blame.

          1. and get some rest.  This can’t be enjoyable for you.

            Palin is tougher than you thought, eh?  Wow.

            “We prefer candidates that don’t talk about us one way in Scranton and another in San Francisco.”

              1. the Biden and Obama family will certainly stack up favorably.  Also, her tough  persona solves any perceived problem about attacking a woman.  And all the whining about how the media is unfairly attacking her when they simply report all the hard to ignore stories that are popping up every day (trooper gate, library-gate, pastor-gate, secessionist-gate, putting her little town 20 million in debt, etc. etc.) is just ticking  the media off.  

                One of McCain’s great assets has always been the love affair he’s had going with the MSM and he’s throwing it all away to appeal to the MSM hating base without any thought for what comes after the convention.  

                Enjoy the convention, LB.  You may not enjoy the rest of the election nearly as much.

                    1. She’s can read a speech written by Bush’s staff but she can’t answer questions from the press. She’s not that tough.

                    3. Where did the black thing come from? Surely not Obama, I recall he is 50% white, 12.5% Arab, and 37.5% African.

                      Biden is your attack dog, doubt he’ll be a victim he can take punches. Remember though, Biden|Binladen is soft on Iran and Iran is the funder and promoter of the ‘lets destroy Israel group’.

                      We’ll see how Governor Palin handles Meet the Press as the VP nominee. It will be another opportunity for you hope she becomes a victim.

                    4. By your defination, meet some other people who are not Black:

                      Mariah Carey

                      Halle Barry

                      Vin Deisel

                      Rosaria Dawson

                      Derek Jeter

                      Tiger Woods

                      Jason Kidd

                      The Rock

                      Dave Justice

                      Jennifer Beals

                      Thandie Newton

                      Shemar Moore

                      Lisa Bonet

                      Jasmine Guy

                      Bob Marley

                      Jimi Hendrix

                      Lenny Kravitz

                      Mya

                      Sade

                      Tina Turner

                      Frederick Douglass

                      Booker T Washington

                      W.E.B Dubois

                      Adam Clayton Powell

                      Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.

                      Crispus Attucks

                      Solidad O’Brien

                    5. I would encourage everyone to refrain from replying to this piece of crap and maybe it will slink away.  

                    9. I did not introduce the racial comment, that was Go Blue.

                      Was I out of line to call Biden “Binladen”? Yes, That was very low. Senator Biden is a fine American, just soft on Iran.

                      Was I out of line to repeat what I read of Senator Obama’s lineage? Yes, I took the low road after being called out (out of the blue) as one who hates blacks.

    1. Laughing Boy is saying she knocked it out of the park, and that Obama – who for the first time has reached 50% support in the Gallup Poll AFTER Palin was chosen – is in deep doo-doo.

      Gosh, who’s correct?

      1. I honestly didn’t like it. Not just because of all the misleading attacks, taking the low road attacking Michelle, and questioning of other americans patriotism, but because she really didn’t offer anything else.

        But listen, I’ll leave you to enjoy tonight.  

          1. why does she hang out with secessionist traitors?  Why is she married to one?  Palin may not have to explain herself to the Republican base but as soon as  the convention is over she will have PLENTY of explaining to do, the same kind of explaining that the right has constantly demanded of the Obamas. And if the first few days of her new position as McCain’s VP are any indication, she has an almost inexhaustible supply of things to explain. You think we’re scared of her?  We are LOVING this.

      2. but all the Dems that expected her to strike out are looking really dumb right now.

        Olbermann is squirming…just trying to find some way to belittle her…it’s not working  😛

        Really good speech…hard to deny that…unless you just weren’t paying attention…

        1. you’d notice no substance and a mean streak a mile wide that will make it easy to attack her and hard for her to play the victim. Already the media has had enough of the constant complaints that their reporting legitimate breaking stories constitute unfair attacks or attempts to belittle her.  

          1. It got McCain nominated, elected W…

            and if you’ll recall, it helps us Dems at times as well.  ’06 midterms (and exit polls) ring a bell?

            Anyway, that’s not really my point.  Palin gave a good political speech.  She wasn’t supposed to give a 10-point policy speech for fixing government or something.  Obama didn’t do it last week, neither did Biden…and McCain sure as hell won’t do it tomorrow night.

            She gave a fine “Me good, they bad” speech and showed she can attack Obama and Biden.  That doesn’t take substance…

        2. Really good speech…hard to deny that…unless you just weren’t paying attention…

          As my mom wrote in an e-mail to me last night, the McCain campaign has good speech writers and Palin delivered it.

          Doesn’t mean she changed my mind or moms …

          1. 4 women and three men.  All three men repeated the pro-Palin talking points.  All four women, one a self identified Republican, the others not saying, said basically that it’s nice that a woman was picked but they weren’t going for this particular woman. All four said she was too extreme right.

            And while you’re right about Rs doing well by being short on substance, my point is that her nasty, pit bull tone spoils the credibility of the Republicans  yelling “bully” every time a Dem criticizes her from now on over things like lack of substance and stands on issues. It will go over only with those who would vote R anyway.

            Last, the decision to attack the media makes sense for those not popular with it but McCain wouldn’t be where he is today if not for the fact that he’s been a media darling for many years. The media made him a celebrity maverick Senator.  He’s made a strategic choice to turn on the media to please the base. They get  most of their info from Fox and Limbaugh anyway.  The middle still pays attention to the MSM  who are increasingly ticked off.  Look closely and you can see normally Republican leaning pundits like Andrea Mitchell, who used to be charmed by McCain, seething.

            Don’t underestimate the MSM.  The MSM’s clear preference for alleged regular guy Bush colored coverage in 2000 which often made fun of Gore’s stiffness and consultants dressing him in earth tones, as did their failure to warm up to Kerry in 2004 in spite of widespread criticism of Bush on policy.  McCain was definitely better off with them than he’ll be without them except with the “liberal media” hating base.  The question is, can he succeed in firing up enough enthusiasm among the base to make up for what he is sacrificing and counteract the  surge in voter registration which , for a change, really  did make the under 35 vote a factor in the primary season in Obama’s favor.

    2. http://www.washingtonpost.com/…

      New Emails Suggest Holes in Palin’s Trooper-Gate Story

      By  Zachary Roth – September  3, 2008,  8:49PM

      Don’t look now, but on the night of the biggest speech of her life, Sarah Palin’s story on Trooper-Gate may be in the process of falling apart.

      The Washington Post has obtained emails sent by Palin to then-Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan, which show Palin complaining about the fact that trooper Jim Wooten —

      who was embroiled in a family dispute with the Palins — was still employed. The emails don’t explicitly show Palin pressuring Monegan to fire Wooten — but they do appear to undercut Palin’s claim that she only ever discussed Wooten with Monegan in the context of security concerns for her family.

      Here’s the Post’s description of the key emails:

      “This trooper is still out on the street, in fact he’s been promoted,” said the Feb. 7, 2007, e-mail sent from Palin’s personal Yahoo account and written to give Monegan permission to speak on a violent-crime bill before the state legislature. “It was a joke, the whole year long ‘investigation’ of him,” the e-mail said. “This is the same trooper who’s out there today telling people the new administration is going to destroy the trooper organization, and that he’d ‘never work for that b****’, Palin’.)

      This isn’t the first time that events have appeared to contradict Palin’s story about her role in Trooper-Gate. Palin at first claimed that her administration did not put pressure on Monegan to fire Wooten. But after a phone recording surfaced in mid-August of Palin aide Frank Bailey raising the issue of Wooten’s employment with a trooper official, she was forced to acknowledge her office’s involvement, though she has continued to deny her personal role.

      1. She’s already a sympathetic character for firing a douche that would taser an 11-year-old kid.  It’s a non-starter.

        Her speech tonight was the best speech of either convention so far.  

            1. But I find it hard to believe that someone as intelligent as you, LB, actually found that speech to be so damned excellent.  Effective, OK, but a great speech? I can’t believe YOU believe that, LB. Next you’ll be asking us to believe you think she’s  as inspiring as Churchill, MLK and Kennedy combined.  

          2. The crowd in Xcel loved it before it started, during and after.

            We’ll have to wait for tmrw’s polls and slept on pundit opinions.

            I was really suprised that Pelosi didn’t have an attack dog to work the spin room.

            Knowing Obama’s pledge not to attack, I can understand why he did not send in Biden or the Biden proxy.

            1. The loved it before it started.  What’s to sell?  She didn’t flop – I didn’t think she would, not with the base.

              It was, honestly, only inspiring in small sections.  I think she hit a good line with the phrase reversal on career vs. change – good sloganeering and best line of the speech (the crowd agreed).  It also had some really cheap shots that may come across as mean (or, given the TradMedia’s propensities, “catty”).  And while I’m on that subject, I have to agree with BlueCat – telling the media they’ve been mean isn’t going to get the media to back down.

    3. Not only did he manage to lose every one of his own presidential campaigns ignobly … now he gets to lose Barry’s in the same way …

      On with the VP debates!  

  9. One really good item in the speech – she will pull in a number of votes from parents of children with special needs. That was powerful and for those parents, that is a very compelling argument. Regardless of her and McCain’s voting record on this vs Obama/Biden – that was strong.

    The rest of her speech was good, but not great. She can deliver the lines. And her pacing and presentation was good. But I really got the feeling that she had been wound up and delivered the speech she had been given. Sort of like Paris Hilton did with her video.

    Aside from the parent of a child with special needs and occasionally when speaking to her experience as an executive, I didn’t get the feeling that it was from her, and I didn’t see the delivery coming from her.

    So on a prepared speech, I think she can do well. But when it comes to debates, press interviews, etc., who knows.

    On the small town girl with some executive experience schitk – I think that backfired big time. We need to wait a couple of days to see but my focus group’s (my wife) response was that no way no how is she qualified. It’s a great story for a movie, but it reinforced the narrative that she just doesn’t have the experience to be a V.P. and definitely not to be president.

    And finally, and this may be just me, but when her family came out at the end, she treated tham like props. When Obama’s family come out he is holding their hands, hugging them, clearly giving them time and attention. And Biden and his wife are apparently incapable of walking together without their arms around each other. Clearly they all care for each other. I don’t think Sarah Palin even touched all of her kids.

    1. Except for maybe this, and glad you brought it up:

      One really good item in the speech – she will pull in a number of votes from parents of children with special needs.

      While they may identify with her to some extent, I’d think parents of children with special needs would be more inclined to vote Democrat. What’s Palin going to do for them? Give money to her own favorite charity? I’m not sure that’s going to go over with every mother who has, say, a ten-year-old child with Down’s syndrome.

      I’m perfectly willing to hear how wrong I am in my assessment — especially from any parent of a special needs child, in particular. In other words: Will cutting taxes cut it for you?

      1. Why do African-Americans vote for African-Americans. There is a strong belief, and it has validity, that a person in the same situation better understands what is needed and will be more driven to solve the problems faced.

    2. Parents with a developmentally disabled child (downs, cerebral palsy, etc), are pretty religious to begin with (pretty religious meaning very fundamentalist and very anti-choice).  

      1. Considering that the main causes of cerebral palsy are premature birth, trauma at birth, infection, etc. There aren’t any positively known genetic risk factors for it, and it usually isn’t detected until well after birth.

        1. And I didnt mean to equate the two, except to say that both cause developmental disabilities. Also, parents that I have met who have a child with a developmental disability are very religious. Something that has sprung out of their faith is a strong anti-choice belief.  

    3. Clearly they all care for each other. I don’t think Sarah Palin even touched all of her kids.

      David, I’ve seen you post some stupid things on this blog but this is tops, stupid and hurtful at the same time.  

        1. There’s nothing in SR’s statement that even remotely resembles misogyny.

          Palin’s speech didn’t “hit it out of the park”, plain and simple.  Not only wasn’t it “out of the park”, it didn’t make it over the wall.  It did what they needed it to do, a solid base hit.

          How did I judge that?  Reaction from the Left.  The major speeches at the DNC received lots of almost gushingly positive comments from the Right; commentary from the Left on Palin’s speech – at least those not trying to pan it outright – was lukewarm, along the lines of my commentary below.

          Given that (admittedly biased, though attempting to be honest) note, the only way Palin “hit it out of the park” would be if someone moved the fence inside the base line.  

  11. Or, if you’re a Dem like me, the best part. The absolutely incredible image that did more damage to McCain than all the positives of the evening. The glorious finish.

    When McCain walked out and it looked like Grandpa was joining the family. The age difference from the infant up through McCain finished out the evening with a visual of McCain is too old and Palin is too young.

    I think this age difference is going to be a negative for the rest of the election. Hopefully they keep putting them on stage together.

  15. to Obama/Biden.

    Previous Gallup analysis has suggested that McCain’s selection of a woman as his vice-presidential running mate might have the most impact on independent white women, who before the Democratic Convention were essentially split down the middle in terms of candidate support.

    These data show, however, that at least initially, McCain has lost ground among both white independent women and white independent men (and among Democrats of both genders) since the convention and his vice-presidential selection.

    Instead, the data suggest that McCain has in essence fought a rear-guard action of sorts among white women of his own GOP base, building their support to a degree even as he was losing support among independents and Democrats of both genders.

    It is possible, but not provable with these data, that McCain’s selection of a woman, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, as his vice-presidential running mate may have had the effect of solidifying support among women of his own party.

    The Republicans no doubt hope that this week’s convention, and in particular Palin’s address on Wednesday, will help them make inroads not only among white Republican women, but also among independent (and perhaps Democratic) women.

    Like I said, she’s great for the base of the party, which loved her tonight, but she’s not going to help McCain with anyone else.  

      1. since Palin is running back to Alaska. I’d like to see her out on the trail with McCain not giving the same speech for the third time. The overwhelming majority of Americans (including McCain) haven’t a clue who she is.

  16. Sarah Palin pounded repeatedly her executive experience, her work, her decisions, her accomplishments. Prior to this Obama/Biden had to be very careful how they attacked her to make sure they weren’t viewed as beating up on a woman.

    But now they can just reply to her speech and tear in to what she has and has not accomplished in her short time in office. She put it out there.

        1. Let her hit a couple of more times. First, if it’s not responded to she’ll get meaner and be clearly enjoying it more. Second, she’ll get used to not having to defend.

          And then when Obama/Biden do hit back, they will be viewed as truly being forced from repeated hits. And she’ll handle it badly.

          Rope-a-dope

  17. I think major kudos are due to the McCain campaign – I did not catch a single comment that could be construed as racial. Not even any coded words to say don’t vote for Obama because he’s black.

    This is major progress and we should recognize that.

  18. And this is interesting because I think it does show two big weaknesses McCain faces:

    1) G.W. Bush – never mentioned.

    2) Abortion, gay marriage, etc. – never mentioned.

    But like it or not (and clearly the answer is not), McCain is tied to both of those.

  19. they like sarah because they think she is like them.  For those for whom she is not like them, not sure if she hits it.   No mention of content.  Also, noticed a very white crowd, and the sarcasm was a bit sharp and mean spirited sounding, and I think a woman will be judged more harshly by that.  

    1. So the woman is attacked by Obama plants “leaking” things to DailyKos.

      They claimed she was chosen just because she was a Republican woman that was a “desperate” attempt to pick up ticked off “H” voters.

      They claimed she was inexperienced until they noticed she had more executive experience than Obama. They tried to create “troopergate” only to find out that by demonizing her, they must defend a man who tasered his own 10-year-old stepson. They tried to say it was irresponsible for a woman with five kids — one a special needs child — to run for vice president. That goes directly against what the “liberal” woman’s movement has been fighting forever.   They tried to claim that the her special needs child wasn’t her own and that was obviously a lie. They tried to attack her daughter for having a child out of wedlock yet have been promoting the “right” of 13-14 year old children to have abortion on demand without their parent’s knowledge.

      This woman has every right to come out swinging — and you want to demonize her for that too.  I thought the democrats were for women’s rights.

      We’ve heard Obama attack McCain and Palin for days (and months for the former) and the minute the other side of the ticket strikes back — its condesending?

      Get over it.

  20. … and let it sink in for a few minutes.

    First, she definitely got in some practice time.  Compared to her announcement speech, this one was about 85% better.  She still slipped into that half cheerleader, half “I can’t believe I’m here” over-perky mode a few times, but they were brief.  I was more distracted by the condescending attitude toward the end of the speech; it reminded me of Al Gore’s “mood swings” back in 2000.  Also, belittling grassroots organizers as not having real responsibilities was crass and off-putting.

    Content-wise, I think she got the job done convincing the convention-goers and hardcore Rs watching from home that she’s ready to go.  She may have made an impression on those who weren’t also watching the DNC speeches.  But anyone seriously watching both conventions got to see her telling tall tales tonight.

    I do hope the Democrats use some of her attack lines against McCain in the coming weeks.  Palin makes bald-faced lies about Obama’s legislative record; Obama far outstrips him in introduced legislation for the past two years at least, and his record in the IL Legislature is similarly profuse.  Palin charges that a true leader knows when to campaign and when to work for change; McCain has been absent for 90+% of the votes in the Senate this year.

    Oh, and John McCain is apparently a POW.

  21. As a moderate who leans conservative, I was not excited about voting for either candidate. The more I look at Sarah Palin and the more I hear from her, the more excited I get to vote this November. We can attack each other as red state / blue state. We can take jabs at someone because they aren’t in “our” colored viewpoint, but I’m actually very happy with this choice.

    The more the media bucks at her, the more I find myself intrigued by her. The more Obama get’s hugs from the in-the-tank MSNBC hacks, the more I like her.  

  22. The scripted before, after, and during Palin’s speech attack on the “left wing elite MSM and blogs” had a comic strip flavor….but, I think we are in the mix, gang. Except for Laughing Boy, et. al, of course. Will we all be audited if she wins?

    But seriously, I know something about “change,” having been a so-called change agent in South America eons ago, and having studied  “change” and its consequence ever since, there are some real questions about what is happening in Alaska-

    1) A change has to be protected or it will “blow back”..so, how will she protect what she has done in Alaska? Does she plan on using whatever power is in the VP office to protect her friends and punish her enemies?? Or what is the plan?

    2) What about unintended consequences? The budget is cut, at what cost?? Alaska has a very interesting public infrastructure.  There is  the military establishment. There are federal lands and native population.  

    Unrelated to her actions, but we need to hear the impact of the melting Arctic ice pack on her state. What climatic impact is projected?  How is Alaska state government prepared for potential changes.

    Finally, and a observation, the infant is always sleeping. He never reacts to the loud noise of the crowd.  Is there anyone with clinical expertise who could comment?

    1. Finally, and a observation, the infant is always sleeping. He never reacts to the loud noise of the crowd.  Is there anyone with clinical expertise who could comment?

      Also, this was the first shot I’ve seen of Palin’s husband holding their youngest child. Any images/videos I’ve seen for the past several days the youngest was always held by one of the daughters.

  23. the size of Alaska.

    Palin did a great job of portraying the issue as rural America versus urban America.  Aunt Bee versus the Rapper.  Definitely a game changer.

    The big BIG BIG Achilles heel for the Republican Party is that none of the Republicans spoke one sentence about the federal deficit.  Not one sentence.  They are going to wage endless war with tax cuts without borrowing money?  Our deficit doubled in the last eight years from five trillion to ten and they don’t speak one sentence about how they are going to reduce the deficit?  This is the cruel joke of their narrative.  “We can wage open ended war with no taxes but don’t ask us why we are borrowing a half a trillion dollars a year”.  Ron Paul has to be furious with his party that they blew off his entire campaign and his 3-5 million supporters.  Talk about disenchanted Clinton supporters.  Bob Barr has an wide open opportunity to attract Ron Paul supporters after such a disingenuous extravaganza.  “Yes sirree folks. we can drill our way to heaven and we’ll repay our trillions in borrowed money with tax cuts”.  Stupid economics lives in the Republican Party.

    It is going to get exciting watching the interplay between the two campaigns.  This was tame stuff compared to what they did to Kerry or what they would have done to Clinton.  It will be interesting how the Obama campaign responds.  Palin is in the big leagues now, so her “inaccuracies” are going to come back at her.  We now have something to look forward to with the debates.

    Now on to John McCain.  Definitely the biggest speech of his career.  If he delivers then the race is close.  Palin stopped the slide in conservative support.  McCain has to back it up with a good speech.

  25. The nation’s experience with budget cuts shows that they can result in bridges that fall apart and kill people, and cancer research that never happens.  I agree with Rs that government is not the answer to social problems and dependency on government is a bad thing.  But our infrastructure is in a world of hurt, our service personnel need our support, and our education system need shoring up, if we are to compete internationally.  Budget cuts in light of these very real spending needs don’t make sense.  Yet the Rs abstractly, always aplaud them as if they are always good.  I hope the American people are smarter than this rhetoric, and I hope the Obama camp can help folks see that there is a legitimate role for government.  Ronald Reagan is to blame for making so many people believe government is inherently evil.  It isn’t.  It can be inefficient and needs to be carefully watched so that it isn’t.  

  26.    She gets a B+ for delivery.  She didn’t stutter or mangle any of her lines.  Admittedly, I was expecting something along the lines of Dan Quayle.  She’s clearly much more presentable than that.

      She gets a D for content and substance.  It was watered-down wing nuttery with a human side to it.  (Had she delivered Pat Buchanan’s ’92 convention speech, she’d get a F- in my book.)

      And she gets 2 points extra credit for her crack about “after the Styrofoam columns are put in storage. . . ”

      Overall grade:  C+.

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