...when I said Sarah Palin was the best choice John McCain could have made?
If you didn't watch her speech at the RNC, you really should have. Anybody who underestimates this woman is a fool, she's amazing.
But then I already knew that.
Agree with her or not, I suspect that Sarah Palin will win the Presidency for John McCain.
You know, I thought she did pretty well.
ReplyDeleteShe certainly delivered with flair and panache - and it had to have been one of the most important speeches of her political career. She showed no signs of knocking knees or timidity, but completely went for it. She didn't back down from the aggressive comments, did well with the personal humorous asides, and worked the crowd like a champ.
I was impressed with her speechifying abilities. I just wish she'd change her mind on a plethora of political issues. ;) Given her record, there's not much chance of that.
One curious note - any idea why her eldest was not in uniform? You'd think both the military and the RNC would have wanted that.
By regulation military generally are not allowed to attend partisan political rallies, protests, and such in uniform.
ReplyDeleteI said this to Becky and Beastly during the speech - about the only way a Soldier within two weeks of deployment is going to get out of pre-deployment training is to be the son of the prospective Veep.
Frankly I thought she did fantastic - everybody who was expecting a scared little beauty queen got to meet the barracuda. Again, I don't agree with everything she stands for, and especially everything the GOP stands for - but damn, she has got charisma and then some.
"I was impressed with her speechifying abilities. I just wish she'd change her mind on a plethora of political issues. ;) Given her record, there's not much chance of that."
ReplyDeleteI'm seconding Jeri on that. For a rookie in that arena, she did well. But I still shudder to think of her at the Naval Observatory.
She has presence to spare, always has. I find her cult of personality followers creepy. I also find Obama's cult of personality followers creepy.
As far as I'm concerned, making snarky comments about Obama's concern about whether or not alleged terrorists had been read their rights demonstrates that she'll abrogate that core part of the oath of office - protect and uphold the constitution. I expected better of her. I did.
Why? Because of the BS her family has been dealing with with the ex-BIL that is a Trooper. You'd think that someone that is dealing with the thin blue line would have a better appreciation for how the rule of law should be applied to everyone equally, no matter their station.
But sometimes I'm a silly idealist. Sigh.
Of course I still doubt her, Jim. And, after a second Bush term, I have no doubt of my fellow Americans' ability to elect someone who isn't going to represent them or lead them well. Senator Obama may lose because Americans just love hearing Governor Palin talk about her family and how she looooooves America thiiiiiiiissss muucccch. Or he may lose because Senator McCain was a prisoner-of-war. Or because he's black. Or because he's a Muslim.
ReplyDeleteSenator Palin's speech was well-delivered, but then again, expectations were so low that she would have had to fall down onstage to "fail." For my part, I heard whole lot of cheerleading and pretty typical Republican vagaries. A lot of the same talking points we've heard this campaign about how Obama is only interested in himself. The same kind of talking points we always hear from the Republicans about taxes bad. The same kinds of insinuations about American "pride" that remind me (as the Republicans so often do) of Ambrose Bierce's corrective to Samuel Johnson's famous aphorism: patriotism is the first refuge of a scoundrel, not the last.
I also can't help remarking, in spite of my own personal utter lack of interest in her family: if she's going to spend so much time talking about them, can other people? Or is this the usual Republican thing where people can say all the nice things they want about the Palin's but heaven forbid they say something the least bit critical? (That being, of course, the Republican prerogative: they tend to be remarkably unoffended, I seem to recall, when someone has something nasty to say about Amy Carter or Chelsea Clinton; no, nevermind--I'm being petty, aren't I?)
Yes, Jim, I still doubt her. I read the transcript of her speech and watched about nine minutes on YouTube (I could stand that much for my duty to country as a somewhat-adequate citizen). I respect that you think highly of her; she may be a good Governor and a good neighbor, and a really nice person. I have yet to see anything that convinces me her politics would be good for my country. I hope for everyone's sake that you're right about her and then some, and that I'm wrong, wrong, wrong. If her running-mate wins, it may well be your "I told you so" moment. I reserve the right to have mine later.
(Please pretend any misplaced apostrophes aren't there, and any other errors of grammar, syntax or spelling aren't there, either. English is my first language, as hard as that can be to believe sometimes.)
ReplyDeleteTania, I find her cult of personality followers creepy. I also find Obama's cult of personality followers creepy. Oh, hell yes. Creepy is exactly the word. You should have been at the AK State Fair - all they needed was some white robes and a fist full of daisies. Weird and creepy, in a kind of glazed eye way.
ReplyDeleteFunny, Tania, the part about "reading them their rights" was exactly the part of the speech I took exception to - and was appalled to hear the enthusiastic applause in response to that comment.
Eric, you misunderstand me. I do think highly of her as a Alaska's governor - but that's because you don't know the last governor we had, and she's done a good job here. Do I think that she'll be the kind of VP I want? No.
However, her speech was excellent as showmanship - it touched on everything the republicans hold as core values. It galvanized the convention, even McCain himself was spellbound. She didn't stumble over a single word, she sounded as if she wrote that speech herself. A lot of neocons who doubted her selection, don't anymore.
She's attractive, assured and self confident, dynamic, and charismatic - these are powerful, powerful forces in politics. As I said, she may very well win the White House for John McCain - do I think that's a good thing? No, and I've said so elsewhere.
But, damn, you've got to admire her style.
And by best choice, I mean best choice for John McCain.
ReplyDeleteShrewd, actually, more shrewd than I would have given him credit for.
What I liked best about her speech was her description of what she's accomplished in AK. The two problems I saw were that her parroting of Republican talking points (with the usual avoidance of alternatives -- ok, no increase in taxes, great. How are we going to get out of debt exactly?) kinda demolished my impression of her as someone who thinks for herself and isn't in lockstep with the establishment. The other thing was the fact that the Republican platform said very little about what they are going to do differently. They can snark up one side and down the other about Mr. Pie-in-the-Sky Obama, but have not substantiated thier plans for us.
ReplyDeleteFor me, the negative attacks didn't play well (especially since that was the majority of their speeches), but I doubt very much that the Democrats didn't come out swinging during thier VP speech too.
She is an admirable woman, but I have doubts now that she could break the chokehold that the GOP has on decision-making in the White House. Yeah, she's a barracuda, but she's playing with the sharks now.
I thought she was as awesome speaker, I just didn't agree with the content of her speech.
ReplyDelete"Agree with her or not, I suspect that Sarah Palin will win the Presidency for John McCain."
Unfortunately, I fear you are correct.