Palin: Yes, she can!

Palin is up in the big leagues now, up there alongside Reagan and Clinton as the Great Communicator for our time.

Well, I guess Rich, you just don't know her. Now, I haven't had her over for breakfast, but she is my governor and I have heard her speak before AND more imorptantly, I've heard her DEBATE. That was HER!!! I was worried that once the McCain campaign got a hold of her, she would loose control of what SHE wanted to say, her style, what she hopes to do and what she believes in....that it would all be prewritten and pre-scripted! But that speech was absolutley purely Sarah Palin. She wasn't trying to be one of us and down to earth....she IS one of us and down to earth. She was completely true to herself and what she believes in down to the joke about the difference between bulldogs and hockey moms being lipstick. That by the way was a direct response to those Jack***** who have hounded and harrassed her family.

And did anyone see Piper licking her palm and slicking down Tripg's hair! How cute is that.

We in Alaska are just so proud and overjoyed. I was in the Wasilla Walmart today buying groceries and it was of course all abuzz with anticipation for Sarah's speech. We are just so so so proud.

Yes, Palin sounded impressive tonight.
Too bad for your side, and the country should he win, you're still stuck with McCain and Republican governance.

Okay, I will be the first to admit there are times I don't understand what the regulars here are talking about. I don't study politics, I haven't read those who have. But here is my SAHM Feminist mid-west perspective:

She introduced her family and some are upset about this. I am betting these are the same people who would have cried out that she was ashamed or avoiding the issue if she had not introduce them. Trolling- I get it now. It is like a few Dems staked out conservative sites where Palin would be well recieved just to bash her.
It would have been dumb, DUMB, for her to start talking about foreign policy. So she talks energy, something she knows a thing or two about, and f.p. pops up. Good move. It shows her brains without highlighting her weaknesses. As for her having a weakness...she is human, right?
I have been seeing and hearing all over the internet about her "lack of experience." So yes, she spent a great deal of time on it!!! Good move if you ask little old nobody me. She pointed out her achievements as mayor and governor, by using Obama's experience as contrast. I now have in my mind her responsibilities right up next to Obama's "organizing." This is politics. That contrast NEEDED to be made! Our #2 is more qualified than your #1; and all that.
Did I find her snarky, only once in a while. I don't study politics for a reason, I get sick of the negativity and personal smears. But I loved her comment about "organizer" with responsibilities. I laughed out loud a couple times too b/c I thought she had a good point. (Oh, but the sister licking her hand to slick down baby bro's hair!!! Loved it!) I liked her style; leaning into the podium and therefore "sharing with us", her smile that she uses to show she is about to say something sarcastic, she cadence was even and easy to follow, and though I know she was reading off a teleprompter it looked so much better than most of the others who were doing the same thing tonight!
Was the POW thing over-done? Yea, McCain take note. We appreciate it, we really really really do, sincerely...now tell everyone to focus on something else before we desensitize ourselves to vets.
I loved her one oblique comment about typical families in the beginning. Great way to handle all that.

I have never voted Rep. I have been praying for a Dem. who didn't support abortion to run for an office. Will I vote Rep. this year...I am seriously thinking about it; as much FOR Palin/McCain as AGAINST Obama.

"The speech was vapid and full of kitsch, one liners and personal attacks. Go back and look at Reagan's speeches and see how far the GOP has fallen."

There you go again..... :-)

Au contraire, the speech was eerily Reaganesque. It was full humor, wit, and policy. Her discussion of oil and gas and its relationship to foreign affairs was wonderfully crafted.

The family was extremely poised. The glow in the girls' faces was breathtaking. The pride that one saw i the women delegates got me choked up. This was one incredible night.

There were no "personal attacks." All the attacks were about her opponents' qualifications and record, albeit sometimes presented in a humorous way. (Don't forget that her qualifications were challenged the the libs; what was she supposed to do, sit pretty and take it?) The "community organizer" stuff was perfect. The two memoirs and no legislation line was very strong. Remember that Obama offers to the public his person and NOT his record, since the latter is very thin. So, attributes like character and qualifications have to come into play, and those things are by their nature about a person. But drawing attention to them is not personal in the sense of being ad hominem attacks. They are the data provided to us by Obama. All that Palin did was take his data seriously.

No, this was a great speech. She was in the Lion's Den and in the line of fire, and she pushed back.

I am amazed at the number of women who are buying into this drivel that just b/c Hillary didn't get her party's nomination now Palin is her cheap and obvious substitute. She is a woman I have never heard of...therefore she only got the job b/c McCain thinks women aren't bright enough to see the difference between the two? I would NEVER vote for Hillary. My dad the stonch Dem. who is a complete left-over hippie calls her the Queen of Pork. That doesn't sound like Palin at all! They are both women, that's it. Palin got the job b/c she was a woman AND she was good enough to qualify as a VP; the two go together. Funny to hear liberals complaining about affirmative action.

Midwestmom -

I had absolutely no intention of voting R this year either. But Sara Palin changed that. My wife and my 7 year old daughter watched her give that speech tonight. I specifically asked my daughter to sit on my lap and watch it with me because I wanted her to see what a great woman can accomplish in this country.

I am extremely conservative and, I'll be honest, some people would even think me a chauvinist (more than one female attorney has accused me thus) -- though I don't agree.

Nonetheless, I was as proud as I could be to watch Sarah Palin take on these scurrilous little chihuahuas and kick them to the curb with a smile on her face. I'm proud of my wife too, and her work (she works for the Church) helping young unmarried mothers. Sarah Palin reminds me of her.

I hope my daughter turns out to be like both of them.

Oh, is Obama running for the vice-presidency, too? Did someone tell Joe Biden?

Dick Morris: "When you are smearing a politician, make sure you wait until after they have given their introductory speech to the nation. If you strike before, she will wipe you out with her speech and you will be embarrassed by your accusations. That’s the lesson the Democrats are likely learning this morning."

Ouch!

And now that Governor Palin has cleaned her critics' clocks, isn't it about time the honest and intelligent parts of the blogosphere de-linked from the ridiculous and now-humiliated Andrew Sullivan?

Something is not adding up here. As Mayor, Palin fired the police chief for threatening to reduce the hours that bars are open in town, in hopes of cutting the amount of drinking and driving being done.

news.aol.com/political-machine/2008/09/03/palin-scandal-du-jour/

But as Governor, Palin fires the State Public Safety Commissioner for allegedly not doing enough to reduce alcoholism in the rural areas of the state.

news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080904/ap_on_el_pr/cvn_palin_troopergate

"At the time Palin fired him, the governor said she wanted the department to move in a new direction. But later, after Monegan said he felt pressured to fire Wooten, Palin at a news conference said Monegan wasn't a team player, didn't do enough to fill trooper vacancies and battle alcohol abuse issues in rural Alaska."

Somehow these two positions do not seem to square up. What gives?

It was a good speech well-delived for what it was intending to do. Of course this is an issue either way.

I didn't care for Obama's speech because it's intent is clearly things I don't want or believe in. If you believed in Hillary Clinton than Palin's speech was probably not a speech for you. Now if you voted for Hillary simply because you really dislike Obama then it may be for you.

It was a kind of "happy warrior" speech. So far as I could tell it was not self-pitying. It was not a "many of you don't like me and that hurts my feelings" kind of speech. It was not a liberal speech or even a moderate speech.

It was vice-presidential though as Vice-Presidents are traditionally to represent the Prez in Senate and frankly be partisan. It accomplished that. It had energy and wit. If you prefer the mould of a VP as quiet adviser than it might have been disappointing or aggravating.

That said I wish she'd moderated on the "Bridge to Nowhere" thing. She did kill it, but I think she should give a sense of "Yes I believed in it for a time, but then I realized there was better things we could do for our infrastructure" or something.

Lastly they did go on about his POW experience too much. Although she did a bit better than some by not singling him out as The POW by mentioning "and others went through" than naming one who was imprisoned with McCain. Still playing up the war-injury thing didn't really work for Dole so it might be time to chill a bit on that.

Notice how Democrats and liberals have to put up bumper stickers or aliases like "CHRISTIAN democrat" or "Proud LIBERAL American" "PATRIOTIC progressive" - it's an interesting phenomenon. I'll leave it at that.

In case you hadn't noticed, Rod's blog seemingly got "tagged" for some ritualized "comment" cultish activity from the Nutroots orcs. It is pretty evident, and frankly more than a little creepy. That is maybe the best indication about how defensive and urge-to-pee-pee frightened the Left is feeling about all of this. All of their assiduously laid plans are imploding.

A week ago, I told a friend I felt completely "anesthetized" about this election. I am now energized, excited and -- because of the media elite and Left's hateful reaction -- enraged. I will absolutely vote for McCain-Palin now because this is indeed a cultural war, and the Left declared it (shades of the communion host and PZ Myers come to mind).

I somehow suspect I am not alone.

I'll just head off some more of that good ol' Democrat mythmaking about how the big, bad mean Republicans stole the election of 2008 by saying this: You brought this on yourselves, you created this with your hate. No one stole this election from you. Willie Horton didn't steal the election from Dukakis. The Swiftboat vets didn't steal the election from Kerry. You blew it each and every time, while the GOP appealed to better angels of our citizenry's nature. Dukakis was a Stepford candidate robot who didn't understand the concerns citizens had about crime. Kerry was a patrician who exuded contempt. Care to make it a three-peat?

If the GOP wins this election -- and there is now a very good chance it can -- the Nutroots can look in the mirror when they say "sorry" again. They'll have no one else to blame, and they will have created a new political star in the process.

Sorry guys, she's no Dan Quayle.

As a community organizer for a faith based group in Minnesota, I found the frequent bashing of community organizers tonight to be really off-putting.

We are the backbone of the CBCO movement (that's congregation based community organizing) as well as the folks doing by far most of the work that privately funded non-prifits do to lift people out of poverty, help them get their lives together when a crisis pregnancy happens, etc.

Seriously. We are the grunt workers who make it possible for the Republican party to claim that charity is the holy grail of fixing America's social problems.

How do these problems get addressed? If government is not the solution, then it is neighbors working together. And who helps those neighbors get it done? COMMUNITY ORGANIZERS.

I am not happy to have my work tossed aside by the fancy-pants Mitt Romney. Nor by 'down to earth' Sarah Palin.

Sarah Palin is not Reagan.

In fact, no one is Reagan. He was one of a kind.

But what she is is Sarah Palin, and what that is, is rapidly becoming something awfully impressive. Maybe even (in her own way, her own style) as impressive as...Barack Obama.

I have to say that I'd become more skittish, more skeptical over the last few days as the media/nutroots bombardment hammered away. Maybe she'd decide it was all too much. Maybe there wasn't as much "there" there as I initially thought.

Well, whatever else is true, that was one of the most effective "big" political speeches I have ever heard. However much of it Matt Scully may have written, it was clearly her speech (and I can't believe she didn't contribute heavily to it). She knew it cold, she owned it. Even when the teleprompter apparently scrolled too fast, she didn't miss a beat. She's a natural. And she did what she needed to do tonight - and then some. A lot some. She dealt with the family issue deftly - even bringing them all onstage, including Bristol's shotgun-betrothed.

Of course, there's a lot more to campaigning, let alone governing. I don't expect skeptics to vote for her on just one great speech. But she's earned the right to keep making her case, to keep jumping more hurdles.

Indeed: the real danger now is that John McCain is going to have a tough time following this act.

It was an unremarkable, small-minded speech. Same ol' boring GOP culture war drivel.

What is remarkable is how contrived the whole Palin affair really is. 99.9% of you folks didn't have a clue about this woman less than a week ago and tonight she was given a rock star reception when she walked out. It's straight out of an Aldous Huxley novel. Very weird.

So what part do you social conservatives like best the parts where she repeatedly lied about Obama's record (no significant reform, uh other than the most sweeping ethics reform to pass in generations) No bipartisan acomplishments (really someone shoudl tell Richard Lugar that since he doesn;t knwo he isn;t a Republican anymore) and policy porposals (uh actually read his tax plans) or the parts where she lied about McCain's record (nvere changes his positions? This is the guy who is now against the bill that he co-wrote last year!) Or maybe it was all the lies she told about her own record (against the bridge to Nowhere and so on and so on, basically just about everything she said about her record actually)?

Oh never mind I know you don't care about all that, you just like that she is fully on your side in the culutre wars. We get it you really really don't like us coastal elitist liberals. Look we know you don't like us becasue of abortion, but really even community organizers are bad now? Helping the poor is liberal or something I guess? So that must be what you liked, just the overall condenscension and way that she and all the other speakers tonight made it very clear that this is your country and we don't belong.

This was nothing but Pat Buchanan's '92 speech with a pretty face.

And Rod still waiting for you to comment about all the things said at churches she attended. Now personally I don't hold her accountable for what preachers she was listening to said, I consider people grown-ups who are accountable for their own views and are capable of disagreeing with things their preacher or other speakers in their church say. I'm just taking the same position on her that I did on Obama and Wright. But I didn't write several days worth of blog entries expressing deep concern about what Wright's statements raised about Obama either.

Hrm. If you think an endorsement from Oprah is somehow a bad thing, you may be as elitist as you think the Democrats are.

"Hrm. If you think an endorsement from Oprah is somehow a bad thing, you may be as elitist as you think the Democrats are." Hodge

I might tend to agree. Oprah I think has many good qualities and I think her support of Obama is principled in its way. She's also popular with many ordinary American women.

Still I think it was just a flippant remark by that one person.

I didn't see the speech, so I can't comment. But... based
on the deranged comments I've been reading from some of the
left-leaning commenters here, it MUST have an excellent speech.
Otherwise, why would they be so freaked out right now.

They are especially desperate since they are trying hard to
pull out the personal attacks. Can't wait to see the speech!

- TT

Trust me, TimT. It WAS an excellent speech. And I think it's sad that so many readers here can't be gracious enough to admit it, but instead must attach links to the National Enquirer, etc. As Rod has said, there may be plenty of reasons not to vote for Sarah Palin, but that speech sure wasn't one of them! I was so proud of her last night. As someone who's been on the fence, I am now excited about voting McCain/Palin. Don't underestimate the number of people like me out there...

..."but instead must attach links to the National Enquirer, etc."

But, our host has said the following about the Enquirer's reliability.

blog.beliefnet.com/crunchycon/2008/07/media-bias-and-john-edwards-al.html

"The Enquirer is actually a more solid investigative outfit than many people think. After the O.J. mess, it got some real credibility among some reporters for the serious, if grimy, investigative work it did. You might not like what the Enquirer reported or the way it reported it, but often it's scoops were reliable."

Now, let's give this story time to develop and see what happens. If it is shown to have legs (and if I had to bet I'd say it will) we'll see what the campaign and the Palinistas do with it.

Maybe we have yet another Silky Pony in the race.

JamesM,

You reflect Obamianity quite well. Yet another reason to vote for Jesus.....

I think she's a breath of fresh air. The liberals are running scared.

I've really become disillusioned with this whole thing. The viciousness on both sides has been appalling, but the way things have been in our political culture for the last twenty years make this at least unsurprizing. However, based upon the stuff I'm seeing here over the last several days, the following points seem to be true:

1. Sarah Palin's actual record, no matter how questionable, seems to be totally irrelevant since she's "touchable".

2. Sarah Palin's speech is laudable because of how well she performed it, even though, unlike Obama, she didn't even write it herself.

3. It is all right to hound a Democrat who is no longer in the race over Enquirer allegations, but not a Republican who is actually running for office.

4. It is all right to go ballistic over a the statements of a Democrat's black pastor, but inappropriate to say a thing about the statements of a Republican's white pastor, no matter how wacko.

5. McCain could be Satan incarnate (humorous overstatement to make the point, people), but since his VP running mate is "touchable", it's all right to vote for him.

6. The Republican Party would never, never, ever manipulate its base with faux cultural populism, in preparation for another four years of (pardon the French) screwing them and the rest of us over.

I just don't understand people's thinking on this. I would like to see Rod post a thread on at least a couple of these issues (like, actual record, pastor, Enquirer), or to give an explanation as to why someone who will do nothing but preside over the Senate magically makes McCain suddenly OK, but I'm not holding my breath. No one else here who has jumped on the McCain bandwagon after the announcement of Palin seems interested in doing this either. May the best win in November, but I think it's a sad day when the electorate shows it's willing to throw out any substance at all for likeableness. Them's the breaks, I guess.

"Something is not adding up here. As Mayor, Palin fired the police chief for threatening to reduce the hours that bars are open in town, in hopes of cutting the amount of drinking and driving being done."

Oh, I dunno, maybe like because police leaning on businesses in order to effect "law and order" is an abuse of police power? Since when do police get to (legally) tell people what to do, apart from LAWS? In what non-banana republic is that not an abuse of authority?

The Lord called...

Abraham... who twice passed Sarah off as his wife
and slept with the maid

Jacob... who twice ripped off his older brother...
and later won a cheating contest with his uncle

David... adultery... murder... brutality... dysfunctional family...
Mafia godfather who order hits from his death bed

Ruth... who snuck into Boaz's tent and crawled under the sheets

Jeremiah... who was too young to need aftershave

Isaiah... who apparently had a dirty mouth

Tamar... an ancestress who found a very creative way to keep the family line going

Jael... don't go camping with her

Peter... big mouth, scared bunny rabbit when things got hot

Thomas... arrogant agnostic

Saul/Paul... scrawny organizer of an anti-Christian terror network

Mary... unwed pregnant teenage mother

Mary Mag... 7 times nuttier than the average mental patient, positively demonic

As you can see, I'm just fooling around here... kind of... and praying that whoever is elected, despite their foolishness, lack of experience, moral failings, and "flawedness"... inappropriate... mistakes... okay, I'm gonna say it, "sinfulness"... I praying that whoever is elected that God will do the "God thing" and work goodness despite the less than hoped for "raw materials". That's right... maybe God can use McCain, work through Obama, surprise us with Biden, or bless us through Pallin... not because of their "worthiness" but in spite of it.

That's my simple-minded, what do I know, orthodox, biblical history perspective...

Attacked people, attack people
Hurt people, hurt people, but...
Fed people, feed people, and...
Graced people, grace people, and...
Loved people, love people,

A Duh---------------------------sciple

As I said below, and will continue to repeat, "Snap out of it, folks." Let's try judging Palin on the merits, some good, some not so good.

If you are only able to support a politician after you've conjured up a halo for them, then you aren't mature enough to even vote, IMO.

Everyone who has gone after Obama's supporters for treating him like the Messiah, who are now hero-worshipping Palin should be ashamed.

Rod's liking this speech is about as predictable as the plot of an episode of Full House. She could have gone up there and done bird calls for forty-five minutes and Rod would have been impressed. You been played by McCain, man, all of you done got played.

"I may have gone to Cow-Pie University and was a small town mayor, but I'm not afraid of you, you ee-leet-usts!!"

This reveals such downmarket insecurity. Why would anyone who values competence and education and knowledge (and for whom 'elite' is not a bad word') want to vote for this Idiocracy crowd?

Rick, how do you manage to tax income received off of questionable, abusive, or unethical practices at a confiscatory rate, without punishing the ethically performed and valuable investment and production in the same sectors? Character references on the 1040?

It would be nice if we could use the tax code to make everything fair, but it seems like there are two options: encourage the genuine producers at the risk of letting people profit shadily, or punish people in certain sectors or at certain levels for too much achievement in order to make sure we get what's ours out of the shady folks. IMO, it's worse to punish the innocent and productive than to get the guilty go free inadvertently.

By Jove, I think she'll do.

Wasn't it downright unfair of Sarah Palin to mercilessly pillory Obama's role as a community organizer. That is after all the one job that is not above his pay grade. She should have been more clement with a callow political catechumen like Obama.

But she certainly pricked that pompous fainéant's hyperinflated resume. Two memoirs but no legislation! Parting the waters and healing the planet! LOL! Haul the Greek columns back to the studio lot! The presidency is not a journey of personal discovery! Great stuff. And she did it all with a winsome sense of humour, despite the savaging she's taken from the socialist elite media.

And then this: There is only one man in this election who has ever really fought for you... in places where winning means survival and defeat means death.

Lingle singled, Huckabee doubled, and Giuliani tripled. But Palin knocked it out of the park. Game on, indeed!

If I were Biden, I'd rent a suit of armor. Or better, call in sick.

I'm going to vote for McCain and Palin.

Twice.

"I'm going to vote for McCain and Palin."

The afterglow of a one-night stand.

The aurora of a new day dawning.

The realization you are actually in bed with George W. McCain and the bodies of 10,000 dead and dismembered American soldiers. A night with the Hockey Mom doesn't change that fact.

Rick @ 9:48 AM writes:

"I posted concerns about Gov. Palin on a few previous threads (Houghton, you may remember me), so let me say here: She hit it out of the ball park. Palin's demeanor, poise, and presentation were simply masterful. This hockey mom is an alpha. I always thought she was likable, but had concerns she wouldn't be able to project strength to other world leaders. Gov. Palin ran the gauntlet this week, head unbowed, and those concerns are now much diminished."

Her misconduct with regards to her family remains. Sarah Palin is still utterly unworthy to hold public office, regardless of how many pretty speeches she makes.

Your servant,

Lord Karth

Besides Sarah Palin is not running for religious office. She wants to be one step away from the Presidency. In that aspect, her "moral beliefs" won't trump her foreign policy, budgetary & legislative experience or lack thereof.

Daniel,

Exponentially more dead and dismembered bodies have accumulated in inner cities run by Democrats, like the one from which Barack Obama sprang, than all the dead and dismembered bodies that have accumulated in Iraq in the past five years -- and that's only counting the past five years. If one goes back to the marvelous 1960's that Obama so incessantly invokes, one can count the dead bodies alone up to a quarter of a million or more. This is not a conversation you want to have and I suggest that you end it now. I doubt that you will, but I am done. And, believe me, you don't want to get me started on how many unborn babies' dead bodies you have in bed with you.

Daniel: The realization you are actually in bed with George W. McCain and the bodies of 10,000 dead and dismembered American soldiers. A night with the Hockey Mom doesn't change that fact.

There are two Iraq veterans on my street. They have dead and dismembered comrades-in-arms. They were both local hockey players. They are staunch supporters of the work we are doing in Iraq and they say the Iraqis are as well. They've done their tour of duty and have no reason to misrepresent the situation.

I don't know what they think of the "Hockey Mom." I'll have my hockey mom wife ask their hockey moms.

I regret to have to tell you that obliviously prefixing "George W." to McCain's name in an incoherent and incomplete anacoluthic sentence is a startling symptom of intermittent synaptic failure. An occasional slug of dopamine may stave off the worst for the short term. My condolences on your diagnosis of dementia.

"Exponentially more dead and dismembered bodies have accumulated in inner cities run by Democrats, like the one from which Barack Obama sprang, than all the dead and dismembered bodies that have accumulated in Iraq in the past five years -- and that's only counting the past five years."

pathetic. guess what? more americans were killed in car wrecks than in vietnam over the course of that conflict. i guess nam wasn't so bad then.

"And, believe me, you don't want to get me started on how many unborn babies' dead bodies you have in bed with you."

pathetic. always with uhborshun, with you people, isn't it? what happens when roe v. wade is finally reversed? what ever will you freak out about then? probably birth control and condoms.

midwestmom: What do you think about the stance on drilling and the current environmental issues?

Hopefully Palin will convice McCain to drill ANWR. Maybe even to garrison the oil fields of Iraq to pay for the war. Ditto for Wahhabi Arabia.

Will Sarah have much to do in the administation if McCain is elected?

No. She will serve on the NSC and learn the ropes. She is bright and will rise to the challenge. She will be the nominee in 2016 or maybe even 2012.

What about this "victory in sight" talked about last night, do you buy it?

As I said, the aurora of a new day dawning. Read Spengler's latest for a review of Obama's character deficits.

As Palin said of McCain: To the most powerful office on earth, he would bring the compassion that comes from having once been powerless, the wisdom that comes even to the captives, by the grace of God, the special confidence of those who have seen evil, and seen how evil is overcome.

Even without Palin, what but blind socialist ideology would make one pull the lever for Obama rather than McCain?

Rick, how do you manage to tax income received off of questionable, abusive, or unethical practices at a confiscatory rate, without punishing the ethically performed and valuable investment and production in the same sectors?

Pentamom, in truth I don't see a maximum 50% marginal tax rate on the very highest producers as punitive, whether they earned their fortunes honestly or not.

After all: Even great entrepreneurs like Bill Gates and Sam Walton needed at least indirect taxpayer assistance to build their fortunes, in the sense that they disproportionately benefited from public investment in roads, schooling (for their workforces), courts and embassies (to protect their intellectual property here and abroad), etc.

I recognize that in a global economy countries must compete for transnational entrepreneurs, and this may argue for lower marginal tax rates than what is strictly just. Still: I don't think there is anything inherently unjust or punitive in a maximum 50% marginal tax rate on the highest producers...and this for me is especially true in a time when income disparities are growing, the national debt is soaring, and many huge fortunes are garnered in what I perceive as predatory if not illegal ways.

In any case, I offer this simply as the reaction of a Gen X urban college grad not committed to either party.

it figures. The culture war reignited and Rod's on board now.

The truth is had Gov. Palin been male and had all of these issues we would be questioning the choice.

The truth is had Gov. Palin been on the Democratic ticket with a child that is pregant we would be talking about the poor judgement of the parent rather than rallying behind the bravery of standing up for her child. If you don't think so please pull up the commentry from many including Bill O'Reilly and James Dobbson on Jamey Lynn Spears and compare to Bristol Palin.

I'm glad that Gov. Palin is better than expected for the culture warriors but for us libertarians she is more of the same. Distance from washington doesn't matter. Its what you do not where you live and what you say.

Oh and attending a Libertarian meeting doesn't a libertarian make.

I really question McCain's judgement. When someone goes to a casino with mortage money and bets on black and it happens to be black we generally let it slide but we don't congratulate that. But what happens if its red.

I think this shows that McCain is implusive -- not a maverick.

Maybe she doesn't grow her own veggies, but killing and dressing a caribou is crunchier than raising, oh, say .... chickens.
Posted by: Roland de Chanson | September 4, 2008 11:13 AM

How do you figure?

"They will enrage the most partisan opponents, but swing voters, middle America, and independents just won't care at all. They will judge Palin by what they've seen, and they are impressed by what they've seen so far."

how on earth do you know what "middle america" think of palin? it's been 12 friggin hours!

I would also be very grateful if someone, somewhere, would inform young Levi Johnston that while one is onstage at a nationally televised convention, in the company of a governor and U.S. senator, it is inappropriate to be visibly chewing gum.

Yeah, I noticed that too. He struck me as just the sort of self-confident, pretty-boy, privileged jock I couldn't stand when I was in school. Well, I think his charmed life is about to run out. I don't think he has the slightest clue about the steamroller that's about to hit him and change the course of his life. "Um, no, you can't go hang out with your friends, you need to stay home and help Bristol change diapers and feed the baby!" I almost feel sorry for him. Almost.

But for the sake of the child, I wish them well and hope that they are able to weather their difficulties, with the support of their families.

The wife and I tuned in and sat through an effective speech and certainly one that brought the crowd to their feet. Full of good red meat for the GOP faithful ( which is the intent during a convention ) and full of bluster against "elites", yet I felt uneasy. I did not hear invocations of Burke, Adams, or Kirk. The appeal for a limited government was lost amongst the mockery and the "ra-ra" war chants. As folks were swayed by Rod's book and whose background includes being an Army brat ( My father is a retired 1st SGT ) and my wife coming from "Eisenhower" republicans, we were aghast...

"As a community organizer for a faith based group in Minnesota, I found the frequent bashing of community organizers tonight to be really off-putting.

We are the backbone of the CBCO movement (that's congregation based community organizing) as well as the folks doing by far most of the work that privately funded non-prifits do to lift people out of poverty, help them get their lives together when a crisis pregnancy happens, etc.

Seriously. We are the grunt workers who make it possible for the Republican party to claim that charity is the holy grail of fixing America's social problems.

How do these problems get addressed? If government is not the solution, then it is neighbors working together. And who helps those neighbors get it done? COMMUNITY ORGANIZERS." --Ralf

THANK YOU, Ralf, for your comments--and for your work. It is funny thing indeed to see Republicans pay lip service to addressing the needs of the poor by private means (hello? Gustav?) while simultaneously dismissing a profession dedicated to the same.

At the same time, it is not lost on me that the same disservice has been done to the office of "small-town mayor" by Democrats--including myself. Let's all agree the community organizing and mayoral service, on a small scale at least, neither adequately prepare one for NOR impede one's ability to serve in the highest executive office. Both professions are a credit to the respective candidates' resumes.

What do you think about the stance on drilling and the current environmental issues?

I'm not too keen on drilling. I'm not convinced it won't adversely affect wildlife in the ANWR and we wouldn't be seeing anything substantial until 2030. Better to invest in nuclear and renewable energy.

What about this "victory in sight" talked about last night, do you buy it?

In Iraq, sure. There's a plan in place to start withdrawing troops. As for Afghanistan, we'll need to redeploy there to put down the ascendant Taliban.

More from Rasmussen today:

More than two thirds of voters (68%) now believe that "most reporters try to help the candidate they want to win." And by 49 to 14 percent, the public believes that candidate is Obama.

Fifty-five percent think media bias is a more serious problem for the electoral process than "large campaign donations".

And a near majority of all women (48% to 35%) think that media coverage of Gov. Palin has displayed a sexist double standard.

Again, all of the above before her speech.

I'm starting to wonder if Andrew Sullivan might not be an agent of the Evil Genius Karl Rove, brilliantly designed to revive the GOP campaign.

Well done, Simon!! There's nothing better than bringing some data to a room full of people just shouting their disagreements at each other.

Here's some more data, providing the reaction of a market to her speech. The Intrade contract on the Eagleton scenario has collapsed overnight, losing about 40% of its price since yesterday. To those of you who think Palin did poorly: put that in your bong and smoke it.

The appeal for a limited government was lost amongst the mockery and the "ra-ra" war chants.

The constant shouts of "Drill, baby, drill!" were what lost me.

I find that bashing community organizing laughable since the Republicans are all for people taking action and not expecting the governement to do everything for them.

Octopus, I'd say most of the "downtrodden" prefer not to have asbestos in their homes so they can get mesothelioma and die a protracted, expensive death in great agony. And they prefer not to have their kids eat old, flaking lead paint and poison their brains. They also like to have their trash regularly picked up, like other citizens, and they want their landlords to fix the plumbing and heating units. These are some of the nitty-gritty kinds of things that community organizers try to work on. It doesn't take an "elitist outsider" to impose the "liberal view" that even poor people would like some of the basics of a decent life.

sigaliris ,

I should been a bit more clear in my post. I meant to say that the GOP were using the term "community organizing" as code.

"They're frustrated by the idea that McCain might actually manage to sell a straight run for the base that elected Bush as reform."

I don't think I'm getting that, Hodge.

From Larison, via DailyDish:

With all respect to Gov. Palin, who delivered an effective stemwinder that had a number of amusing lines in it, the conditioned responses that conservatives are having to Palin’s speech is frankly depressing. For all of their complaints and criticisms about McCain’s deviations, conservatives are now falling into line even more pathetically than usual. Seeing this display, I am tempted to think that even Giuliani could have won the nomination, chosen a similar running mate and nothing would have changed.

I did not hear invocations of Burke, Adams, or Kirk.

Nor did I. Nothing at all like Jack Kemp's extended recitation of the poetry of Wendell Berry in San Diego in 1996, or even the parallels that in 1984 in Dallas Bush the Elder drew between the Cold War and the French Revolution, using "Letters on a Regicide Peace" as his rhetorical touchstone.

Fancy that. A vice presidential nominee giving a stridently partisan, non-nuanced acceptance speech. Unprecedented.

I'm a bit surprised at the TAC reaction (other than that of Michael Brendan Dougherty), and maybe it highlights a subtle difference between the TAC crowd and the traditionalist/paleo right. I will be interested to see the reaction of Fleming, Piatak, Williamson, et al. to Palin.

The reaction of the base highlights the beauty of the tribalism inherent in the GOP (or at least the modern GOP). Ideas are great and all, but principles are better. I have always been struck by Buchanan's comment in Right from the Beginning about Nixon, his loyalty to the man and the fact that Buchanan could not have acted otherwise. Nixon isn't all that conservative, so why is Buchanan such a defender? Because Buchanan's a conservative. The same principle is at work here where a hot, gun totin', baby machine who loves her man and hates polar bears, naughty books, and liberals, is one of us. Loyalty isn't an abstraction for the base, it's who they are.

It actually doesn't take much to appeal to conservatives. Lip service warms our hearts, not because we believe it, but because it doesn't offend us, which seems to be the only other alternative. Frankly, I would never expect one of us to end up at the top of the ticket. First, most conservatives would never run. And when a Buchanan, or Keyes, or Paul actually does throw their hat in the ring, they don't make it very far. So I'm just happy to have a presidential candidate who doesn't hold his nose when I walk in the room. Picking a red meat running mate satsifies that very low hurdle. Will Palin eventually disappoint? No doubt. But for the time being she blocks the Obamacaust and various other obamanations. And causes the elites to cringe.

I hope their ideology helps the TAC crowd feel better. As for me, just give me enough to assuage my conscience and I'll pull the lever.

Anonymous @ 6:10:

Do your last four bullets relate to the crazy state trooper who tasered his step son and threatened to kill Palin's pops, or someone else?

Bullets three and four or silly and unworthy of response, but the earmark issue is worth addressing. I'm not sure what to think about the earmark issue. My initial inclination is to assume that the Palin-critics are just lying because they hate Jesus and babies. But even if there is something there I wonder about two things. First, Alaska gets a lot of pork and I wonder how the post-Palin pork rates on a historic timeline. Second, when the federal government is filling up the trough what is the responsibility of persons representing their state? To turn their nose up at the goodies, or to get their constituents their share (or, better yet, more than their share)? A better barometer of Palin's fiscal bona fides is how she utilized the state tax money collected from her own citizens. Not how effective she was in getting her citizens more than their fair share of federal money.

I find it rather insulting to reduce the role of the Son of God to that of a paid political agitator, which is what a community organizer does.

Wouldn't want folks to get "uppity", now would we?

I can picture Palin both giving this speech with sincerity and raising her hands in worship at church with equal sincerity.

Obama or Biden or Hillary doing the same? NEVER.

Then count me with Obama, Biden, and Hillary. I've never liked all that overly emotional crap in church.

But I thank you for making me realize just what it was made me uncomfortable watching the convention last night (and much of the Democratic convention as well, to be fair): in many ways it was more like an old-time tent revival than anything else. Elmer Gantry lives.

***

Roland, I love reading your posts if only for your vocabulary! Seriously!

"phallacy". Oh, my goodness! That's just breathtaking! :-)

***

"I find it rather insulting to reduce the role of the Son of God to that of a paid political agitator, which is what a community organizer does."

Wouldn't want folks to get "uppity", now would we?

I don't care if folks get "uppity", Octopus, but I do care whether they're historically accurate. ;-)

***

Besides, given the image of Pilate washing the blood of the innocent off of his hands, I don't think the supporters of the most extreme pro-abortion presidential candidate ever, Barack Obama, should bring up the name of that particular Roman procurator. It isn't wise, all things considered.

"Let [their] blood be upon us and upon our children."

That's all I wanted to add. Now back to yer bubble.

Well, it's a pretty darn big bubble. Survey USA poll just released shows that independent/unaffiliated voters who watched Palin now approve of her by more than 2:1 (56% to 27%). The speech was watched by nearly as many Americans as watched Obama last week. Overall, 60% of voters give the Palin speech a grade of "A."

Most Americans also now consider Gov. Palin an asset to the McCain ticket, with only strongly Democratic voters dissenting from that view.

So the whole Palin-is-a-far-right-freak-with-a-weird-family thing is over. Palin won, the Nutroots lost. Deal with it.

And a fun little bonus: Andrew Sullivan's obsessive lies have managed to help generate broad public sympathy for Palin while destroying the last thin vestiges of Sullivan's reputation. Rod, it's time to permanently de-link!

No, not even close to an Obama. There's a key difference between "Yes We Can" and "Yes, She Can". You may not get it.