The Palin Speech

Al:

I couldn't agree more, objectively speaking. The thing is however, that many voters may see this and be enthralled by the attack formula that has worked for the Bush camp of the last 8 years.

Also I thought it was kinda foolish to repeat already debunked lies. Thoughts?

I was really surprised. She is an engaging person, but in her first speech of any magnitude on a national stage, she was so mean spirited. I can't see how the McCain campaign can keep up this "poor Sarah attacked by the evil media" line going.

McCain has obviously decided to go all in with the culture wars via 2004. I think the problem is that a good chunk of the culture warriors from that time have realized that it doesn't solve anything.

Obama has a ready made "more of the same" line thanks to this speech. I think they were trying to make him go on the attack against Palin, but I'll be money that both he and Biden are going to hang this speech around McCain's neck.

I thought she was great at riling up the Rep. base, but she offered nothing to anyone who tuned in to see what she stands for.  Instead of selling herself, she decided to try to bring down Obama.

So I will just share this. A friend of mine who tends to be pretty apathetic politically just told me that she is donating to Obama for the first time after tonight because "I will lose my shit if the Democrats don't get into office and start fixing the last eight years". I wonder how many others are thinking the same thing right now?

Al,

This seemed like the Zell Miller speech of four years ago, only with a smile and fresher face.

All they did was replace Kerry with Obama.

I thought Palin was snide, smug, utterly nasty.  She reminded me of the popular girls in high school.  The ones who made life miserable for those who weren't as pretty and/or well dressed as they were.

I think she played well to the religious right, but this reminded me of Pat Buchanan's angry keynote in 1992.  Perhaps not as over the top, but close.

I can't see how this played well to the undecideds, it wasn't a scary speech (turning Obama in to a monster), just mean spirited.

I am more motivated than ever in my entire life to ensuring that those smug, self-righteous bastards and bitches find themselves spitting out their teeth on November 4th.  I personally want to take a two-by-four to the faces of Rudy Giuliani and that horrible lying scumbag Sarah Palin.

The attacks on the noble cause of community organizing will not be forgotten.  Roland Martin on CNN was absolutely furious and personally insulted on behalf of his parents, community organizers in Houston, TX.  Jeffrey Toobin said the smug tone and partisan attacks mean that all gloves come off for the Democrats and they should attack Palin mercilessly for repeating her lies about the bridge to nowhere.

I not only want to win, I want to make sure that losing HURTS for the Republicans.

John Podhertz at Commentary/Contentions compared this speech to Obama's 2004 convention speech - which appalled me. Palin's speech was condescending, contemptuous and mean-spirited. And for those reasons, entirely unmemorable. Who would want to re-listen to it - as millions have with Obama's speech - as it doesn't uplift, it deflates.

For me, this speech laid out the plan until November: attack. There is no recognizable policy, the Republican brand is trashed, there is literally nothing to run on except drilling for oil, so they move to - surprise! - making it all about Obama. And it won't matter if they have to lie their way there - as was the pattern in all the speeches tonight. We have crossed the line into ruthless and unprincipled. Palin is a prop to obfuscate the tactic (pretty, smiles a lot, and sticks to the script).

I also noted just how much Obama has influenced literally everything about this election cycle. Palin ended her speech talking about hope and change. They've been forced to co-opt rather than innovate and inspire. Telling.

Will it play? For the guilt-ridden MSM, the answer is clearly yes. My own feeling overall was that this night at the RNC was just too dark and nasty, so I'm hoping undecideds are looking for more. And, at the very least, she energized the Democratic base. That's two weeks in a row for us!

She 'knocked it out of the park' for the convention and the base. But her speechwriters miscalculated. Her attacks on Obama, et al, were racist, unnecessary, and the replay is not going to garner the bump for the next week. Might for 2-3 days.

I can't put my finger on it, bit something was fundamentally wrong. Fundamentally off kilter.

She took a liberty with people's belief system that is not going to cut it. It was unseemly. I wish I was smarter and wittier, but I'm not. I just heard a clang in the middle of the speech and thought she was being saved by professional speech writers, and this is going to bite her on the ass.

The McCain team made one big mistake tonight: they put Palin on the attack at the same time that she was introducing herself to the nation. Stupid, stupid, stupid. That solidified the base.

I thought Palin's selection was primarily about solidifying the base. If it wasn't then I missed something.

But the GOP base won't be enough in 2008.

Yes...there is that...

I guess McCain didn't trust that his base would follow him, and Obama did.

I absolutely agree. She gave a good performance, but I don't think it worked as an introduction to the nation. Your "small not big" description captures it succinctly.

They good have written her a "small town hero with integrity speech," but instead she came off as a smart ambitious politician.

Josh Marshall has similar comments here:

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/213107.php

As he points out, a crucial strategic error was made as a result of Giuliani running on too long. So there was no time to play the introductory bio video of Palin.

They are trying to bait Obama/Biden into making this a 21st Century Culture War.  Stay focused on the issues, because the Republicans admitted tonight that they can't win if they talk about the issues.

mockery made my blood boil


I contacted the Obama office in Utah to increase my volunteer hours.
and I am speaking as a woman...women don't like smug, snide women...just sayin'

but I did see the Palin performance. I do think that she was a little over the top to appeal to many voters. That said, there's something that worked for the commentators and the delegates in the hall. They loved her.

I think that this diary ties into your earlier warning to the netroots not to lose it. Brian Williams read an excerpt from the Joe Klein blog and he's requesting that his fellow journalists stand tough against the Republicans in their quest to bash the media.

The Republicans are really looking for the ways to re-create the culture wars. This can distract people from the issues that really matter. It is up to the netroots to keep their eyes on the prize and focus like a laser beam on the issues that matter so folks can make informed decisions and participate in changing their country.

I think Palin's speech also fired up the Democratic base.  We don't need to hear that junk all over again. I contributed tonight.

What I don't understand is why the McCain campaign rolled out leading GOP women to defend Palin from sexist attacks.  Clearly, she's willing to play the bulldog role and can defend herself (at least with a teleprompter). 

I was worried at the beginning, once she got over her choppy start, that she would be able to seem sympathetic, down-to-earth, tough enough.  I liked her at the beginning, but then the speech shifted and morphed into Giuliani for awhile.  

By the way, Al, your message from a few posts back is just as accurate here.  Because Giuliani went long, they had to go straight into Palin without the introductory film.  No context for Palin other than the announcer's voice.  I was actually as worried, earlier tonight, about the film than about her speech. I wonder if they'll try to play it during primetime on Thursday.

To introduce yourself to the country and at the same time deliver a clearly canned speech that was full of mean, base, one-liners was beyond stupid.  There was no match between her demeanor and her words.  It was like watching a statue's face. No connection with the audience. The break between her autobiography and the attack on Obama was jarring.  They were two different speeches and two different personalities.  The attack on community organizing--then the audience laughter--was beyond strange.  It's as if the audience were programmed to laugh at anything she said even if it's unintelligible.  I found the whole thing creepy.  Outside the hall, I bet this speech will be remembered as a really bad mistake.

She failed entirely in terms of the question of whether she can fill in the role of President if needed.  She needed to convince voters that she could be Commander in Chief and she didn't so any of that.

The partisan stuff just shores up their base and she was only partisan tonight.

What reason does a swing voter or an independent voter have to vote for her or McCain?  She gave them none and she lacked the gravitas needed to be convincing as a candidate.

Yesterday, as I'm sure most have heard, Rick Davis (McCain campaign manager) said, "This election is not about issues. This election is about a composite view of what people take away from these candidates."  Wish I was making that up.  So it's not surprising that we heard so many attacks on Obama today and likely will hear more attacks as well as praise of McCain tomorrow.  You want to hear how they are going to fix things, or to watch another issues-oriented convention, but that's not the strategy as expressed by the guy who should know.  It's Culture Wars II.

I just don't get it.  People seem to be praising this speech, but I just didn't see it.  She was shrill and mean.  She didn't talk about a single substantive issue.  And the Republicans showed just how out of touch they were by mocking community organizers.  Middle and low income people know the importance of community organizers.  Rich, white Republicans don't.

As a woman I saw the "good" girl who does what is expected from her including being nasty when requested. Not an independent thinker. As a mother I saw a woman who is going to use her VP power to tell my teenager kids they need to use abstinence meanwhile her daughter seems to be exempt from that rule.

I thought Palin took an awful lot of shots tonight, and some of them hit home, but it was snide and sarcastic, and I also thought it was awful scattershot. I thought the speech itself had no flow, it was all over the place. Maybe I'm biased and just fail to see it when politicians I support do it, but there were so, so many straw men and flat out untrue statements used as attacks. She came off to me as the catty, vindictive 'hockey mom' that will dig at anyone behind their back, and not the sweet small town girl they were probably hoping for.

Mean, nasty.  Elitist, dare I say?  Only small towns grow good people?  Community organizing, i.e. spending time and effort to help the people around you, is worth a bucket of spit?  If the Democrats wanted to play the culture wars, she just handed them some ammo.

Sarah Palin FAILS focus group

http://thepoliticalcarnival.blogspot.com/2008/09/video-sarah-palin-fails...

wavering Republicans.  My dad has been wavering all summer, even toying with the idea to vote for a Democrat for the first time in his life, and he seemed impressed with her speech.  Not sire if it sways him entirely though, because though he liked her speech, his main issue this election is energy independence, and he doesn't seem to fall for the drilling rhetoric.  We will see.

It was a red meat speech, and I knew it would be.  I don't think it plays well with independants, and I think it solidifies some wavering Hillary supporters to the Obama side of things.  We will have to see how it plays out though.

Did I hear right?  I thought I heard MSNBC say that they had to spell some words phonetically on the telepromter for Palin.

My impression from tonight is that Palin is a scrappy street fighter who has no problem fighting dirty, which is pretty much in line with someone who would get elected mayor and then fire the people who had supported her opponent for mayor.  Not to mention that she plays fast and loose with the facts.  More of the same... it's not just a campaign slogan, it's the truth!

Here's the clip from Roland Martin on community organizing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGWthR7vdfI

I agree with Dona and Al. In particular, I'd like to point out that Al had a beautiful summary of the 20 minute Obama newsreel seamlessly rolling into the Obama speech. Mastery. The Palin speech; jarring was exactly the right word for the lack of transition. While some MSM will be impressed by the attack dog nature of the speech, Al is right: it will fall into Obama's description of "more of the same" politics. 

Just to clarify from the last thread, I agreed that the silly season on Palin had to stop. I simply observed that it would NEVER stop if the party roles were reversed.

And to Allan above, winning this Obama's way (relatively smear free and with, gasp, community organizing!) would be the sweetest revenge, and have the most lasting "hurt" on the repugs of any scenario I can conceive.

I thought she sounded like stiff comedian at a night club. Not much substance. Lots of one-liners.

Also she always seems to act younger than her age. People want an adult veep. That bubbly thing can be off-putting especially as she is not very uplifting or positive.

I was chicken-littling it, but I'm not any more.

Until tomorrow.

Otherwise the governor of alaska's speech did one thing. We've been working for months on this campaign with only two short breaks and were determined to keep a tight schedule for the next 60 days or so. Now this governor of alaska has provided everyoine in this house with a new dose of passion to go with the determination.

This speech tonight may have motivated more than one base.

The mark of the bush speechwriters is clear: A series of one liners, smirky, snarky comments, with no clear message or ideas. Plenty of lies / falsehoods that will be exploited in ads.

I understand that folks are concerned that the same sort of attacks that worked in '00 and '04, but it ain't 04. The electorate is tired of this. If this is "change" folks will reject it.They are fighting the wrong fight, here. Obama has set the terms, and although they bought themselves.... 5? days of respite, when the dust settles around the OMG THEY PICKED SARAH PALIN!!! the McCain ticket will be no closer -- in fact even further from even suggesting the sort of answers that... what is it... 7% of swing voters need?

I think that the only thing from this speech that will register with that remaining demographic is the same sort of Bush rhetoric that got us in so much trouble in the first place.

For what it's worth, the snarky attitude and picking a fight with the media just opened up a fight with the media and opened herself to whatever attacks she has coming. She declared war, and the narrative will be controlled by the media. She gave up her chance to control it in any way.

As I said earlier, I think the "media narrative' she didn't control was the meta-narrative about what kind of person she is. Like Al said, she introduced herself as a snarky, biting person unattached to any sort of policy. She had an opportunity here to tell her story, show some warmth, and talk about specifically, how their policies actually *help* people. In truth, every bit they referred to actually was against the independent voters they are going for.

What I honestly find so odd is that I'm cheering Debbie Wasserman - Schultz. Amen, for linking political appointments not focused on expertise to the FEMA appointment and the entire logic of Bush. That's what they're offering. The only soul searching I'm doing tonight is wondering on what planet I've agreed with Debbie for two nights in a row.

Also, in the spirit of Mr. Hunter S. there were some *really* weird images tonight on the telly, like Cindy holding the baby.

Has there ever been a family more exploited by a TV broadcast than the Palin kids tonight!?!  Started getting the chills at how creepy and blatant it all was.  Really feel for those kids.  Hope they come out of this OK.

Those kids were just minding their own business a week ago, and then their parents choose to thrust them into the middle, and on a pedestal, of a global media tempest?!?

Won't even get into the bizarro world of having the 17 year old's father of her child standing onstage as the Repub VP and Prez nominee accept their nominations (yes, John-boy's tomorrow).  Try to imagine for a moment if a 17 year old Chelsea Clinton was pregnant when Bill was accepting one of his nominations.  What would the BigMedia blowhards and Repubs be saying?

On a related note:  McCain replaces his campaign manager with Rod Serling.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzlG28B-R8Y

I don't know what speech the tradional media was watching, but I though Palin lost the Hall several times during the speech. She was getting polite claps for tax-cuts and naked appeals to terrorist fears.

I guess the MSM was played into a no win by the McCain campaign, and it's worth applauding their media savvy. Yet I came away feeling that she had come up far short in her introduction to America. 

Well, my take remains this: I have just heard the opening speech in Saruman's campaign to be Governor of Lower Mordor.  This sort of vitriolic, hate-filled nonsense means open season on Palin in the press, lots of fact-checks for the more obvious lies, and John McCain will be held hostage by the hard right.  My guess is a gain for Obama of 2-3 points in the polls, just from Palin.

This was straight out of the 1992 playbook, Culture War 101 stuff.

How many groups did she insult tonight while taking her swipes at Obama? I'm sure anyone who has respect for, say, Cesar Chavez just loved to here about how being a community organizer involves no responsibility.

I agree this is a 50 +1 strategy, but with a shrinking base it will be much harder to get to 50. So they'll slash and burn through the American public, scorched earth all the way.  But what I think Obama can do better than anyone is communicate how those slash and burn tactics are directed at all Americans, not just at him.

The case I hope to hear is simple -- Republicans run for president by slagging half the country, e.g. California (via S.F.) and the entire East Coast. They bash city dwellers and those who went to college.  They sneer at anyone who thinks that clean air or water or a clean planet is not a bad idea.  In fact, they bash anyone who disagrees with them.

And yet they want to lead all of us.

Obama would put it more artfully, in his More Perfect Union kind of way.  But he should shame them over how badly they disparage so many of the Americans they claim to want to lead. And then explain how that approach has led us into the ditch we're in, and how coming together is the only way to get us out of it.

Are we ready for that message after 16 years of culture war, plus 5 years in Iraq?  I bet Obama reads the Zeitgeist that way, and I bet he's right.

I suspect that's a reference to Russian action in the "caucuses"...

Al, fellow field hands:

I've been reading the blog on my google reader (too many political blogs to read!) so I haven't been over to the comments in a while.

I had the same reaction to the speech that all of you had. And my mother, who is registered republican (but voted for gore and kerry) said she thinks Palin is a good speaker who she would never in a million years vote for. But I gotta say, while I've been really good at keeping it in check, I am kind of chicken-littling out right now!

I spite of my years of speech writing and public speaking which tell me that sarcasm doesn't work on women, because it comes off as bitchy, I hail from South Florida (by way of New York) and currently live in Washington (I'm one of those elites Romney-of all people-was bashing tonight) so I'm not really tuned in to the people this speech was aimed at. I don't know how that "tough, bulldog with lipstick" schtick is going to play.

I am going to comfort myself with the knowledge that she lied every thirty seconds in that speech, and spoke down to Obama in a way that even people who don't support him will find disconcerting, and that Biden will totally blow her away in the debate (and I hope she brins that attitude, because then Biden won't have to worry about coming off as a bully) and gave the Obama campaign enough material for 10 30-second ads all while raising the bar to heights McCain won't possibly be able to reach (but which Obama could easily surpass).

I will ultimately comfort myself with my fervent hope and belief that my fellow Americans are much smarter than the Republicans hope we are.

If they'd led in with Huckabee (and even Romney) and trimmed her down to 20 minutes, it might have been different Instead, they packed in a Rudy who overran, had to skip the introductory video that would presumably soften her, and had her playing to a room that wanted nastiness. So the nastiness shone through.

My gut feeling is that many primetime-only viewers were creeped out by that hour. That the Democrats watching were sufficiently alarmed and offended to open their wallets

I also think they were trying to bait Obama, which is a silly tactic, but a dangerous one if you take the bait. There's been a precision and a certain amount of grit in his economy-heavy speeches these past few days. He just needs to keep doing that. The base ain't that big any more.

If the Obama camp is on it's game, it will start with the little things, the gifts she took as governor, the traffic tickets she got fixed as mayor of Smallville, and build up to the cop she's trying to get fired in retaliation for divorcing her sister, regardless of that cop's character — all divorces are messy (and that story does have legs). Then onto to her special interest affinities (lobbyist kiss ups) and ethics compromises as governor -- and they almost certainly do exist unless she's a saint, and that didn't appear to shine through tonight.

A wise cop once told me that the path to corruption is all about the threshold of conscience. Once you can rationalize petty corruptions, you have opened the door to the big stuff. It's a natural progression, with it becoming more difficult each step along the way to turn back and go clean.

By the end of it, she'll look like another typical politician and lack any credibility to attack from the high ground. And it's all fair game.

I'm not talking about destroying her or her family. I'm talking simply about taking away the strategic advantage she has as newly annointed public figure. She herself said she's a "pitbull with lipstick." Wipe off the lipstick, and you're left with a mean junk yard dog with no inclination to share the yard, which is something most people will want to avoid, particularly in the ballot box.

I was following one of the Alaska blogs during the speech, and I was amused to find that about every fifth or sixth person after expressing dismay at a particular statement, would say "there, I just made another donation to Obama!" It will be interesting to see how much is donated to Obama during the RNC. I think Palin's speech energized folks in ways unexpected by Mccain and company.

She gave their base the same smug smile she had on her face; they needed that, they've had a rough run, and that will be enough for most of them. She gave OUR base a great kick in the ass--WE needed that because things have been going so well, and complacency can set in easily. Tonight will prove to be one of Obama's single best fundraising nights.

As Roland Martin previewed, some of the attacks, such as those on organizers, will go a long way towards firing up an already fired up base. She did more for us than a wan, tired McCain speech could possibly do. Thanks, Sarah. 

(Note from Al: This comment was edited for what was either an embarrassing typo or a gross display of misogyny.)

Yesterday I heard Lieberman pitch the pumas and other cross-over voters, but they can solidly forget about that after this performance - and the other ones tonight. She's just the latest in a parade of mean-spirited wingnuts. It's like Al says, it rallies the base but nothing more than that. After 8 years of Bush/Cheney (who weren't mentioned ONCE this night) this scares voters away. She's arrogant, coming from Whateverville in Alaska sniping away like that. She set off all my Canal zonian alarm bells.

And as far as getting the media to behave itself, they've just done the equivalent of spraying a bushfire with gasoline. This will be all out war.

"I thought Palin's selection was primarily about solidifying the base. If it wasn't then I missed something."

It was about two things:

1) Getting the "religious right" on board with another holy warrior who will stand for ending Roe v. Wade and making sure the gays have to go back into their closets, and

2) Pulling in disaffected Hillary voters because of the presence of a woman on the G.O.P. ticket.

It sounds to me like they're 1-for-2...but, the problem is, the second item is far more important in terms of getting to 270 EV.  In fact, one of McCain's own spokesentities all-but-confirmed it when he explained that it was all very simple:  they get the Hillary voters and win, or don't and lose.  Personally, I don't see a snowball's chance in hell that they can accomplish even the slightest amount of goal number two after tonight.

What was my reaction to Palin's speech?  Let's put it this way:  I'm a female, 51, and while I've always voted Democratic and followed the news, that is about all I've done.  Tomorrow, I'm volunteering with the Obama campaign and twisting the arms of my adult children until they volunteer also.  He MUST win this election.  I don't want to spend the rest of my life under Republican divisive tactics and destruction.  We need to heal and these people are the antithesis of that.

that actually reinforces Al's argument about understanding the Republicans and the Palin nomination.

The Palin Choice: The Reality of the Political Mind

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2008/09/02

It sounds like a reference to this:

Palin also showed a little President George W. Bush—although inadvertently. In the prepared text of the speech “nuclear”—a vexing word for the president—was spelled phonetically as “new-clear.”

“Starting in January, in a McCain-Palin administration, we’re going to lay more pipelines and build more new-clear plants,” the text stated.

The subject is a video of Roland Martin from CNN defending his community organizing parents.  I think all of this belittleing community organizing might come to back fire on them in a very bad way.

Like I say someone say in the discussion thread MLK Jr. was a community organizer, Ghandi, even Jesus.  Not a good idea to attack figures such as those.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/4/0829/95775?detail=f

and Palin's mockery of community organizing and Julia said

"She's the Marie Antoinette of the 'you're on your own society,'
—'Let them eat cake . . . it's all in their minds'."

"The Party of Greed and the torpedo beehive hairdo."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-nrjvsETQU