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

Note that the person auditioning to be next-in-line to the most powerful job out there needs to have Nuclear spelled out phoenetically in her text.

http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_stump/archive/2008/09/03/the-phoenetic-sarah-palin.aspx

"many voters may see this and be enthralled by the attack formula that has worked for the Bush camp of the last 8 years."

I'm going to disagree. This is NOT the attack formula that worked for the Bush camp. The reason that the 2000 and 2004 RNC attack formulas were so effective was because they were focused and relentless. Each speech reinforced the central attack narrative they were pushing, and they effectively defined their opponents. For example, in 2004, they painted Kerry as a weak, vacillating flip-flopper who couldn't be trusted to be strong against terrorists. Every attack and every speech hammered this message home, and contrasted the strong, steadfast Bush who would save us from the heathens. It didn't matter that they sounded vicious as long as the central theme was driven home. And it was.

This year, their messaging is all over the map. Obama is a celebrity, no he's a flip-flopper, he's elitist, he's inexperienced, no he's an insider, he's a liberal, he's unpatriotic. But it's not sticking because they can't settle on a narrative. To boot (in yet another 2004 parallel) McCain can't seem to come up with a reason why we should vote for him. 

Meanwhile, Obama has defined himself as the change candidate, and for once it's OUR message that's focused. 

+++

I think she fired up her base in the sense that a party feeling behind likes to see its standard bearer fight and not fold. There was no doubt she'd gotten a beating in the press--though most of it was deserved--and I think folks of many stripes were pleased she came back without falter.

---

Not one thank you to Obama for standing up for her kids as off-limits? Appalling, insecure lack of gratitude. Exploiting your own kids/ family after crying sexism and asking for privacy all week? That attempt to keep the press off her back will not succeed after this speech.

Media is afraid to criticize her right now since the feeding frenzy created some backlash. But with Noonan and Murphy caught telling the truth, they should be emboldened to critique fairly.

So were the Apostles.

Paul Revere was a community organizer.

Martin Luther King.

Sam Houston.

Andrew Jackson.

Just sayin.

Ken in California

I predict a 17% bump up for McCain in the polls by this weekend.  Anything less would be disappointing.

Three things stick out to me:

1. The pandering to the families of special needs children now having a friend in the White House. I wonder what she had done as Gov. for Special Education in Alaska. Ted Kennedy - and all the Kennedy's can spot stop her there.

2. The statement the she is going to Washington, not to please the media, but to fight for the American people. Is she so ignorant that she does not know a politician needs the press to get the message out?

3. My gut feeling is that the attack on Obama is not just a culture war - but a insidious racial one. That is intolerable.

The GOP base, and the Dem base. What TrueBlue said.

Also, given the simultaneous revelations about her emails re: Troopergate, about lawyering up on investigations, about putting off her deposition, about bringing about "reform" when stuff emerges re: her hiring a lobbyist to get earmarks for Wasilla,  today's Schmidt's "The Press Is Evil" throwdown should be restated thus: 

"How DARE you attack her for her lies and covering up and her claim-one-thing-when-you've-done-another?? That's so completely sexist!"

Nope. It's equal-opportunity politics, no affirmative action needed here for her to cover up and continue misstatements. Thus far, this bright young star shows that she can do the questionable pol thing just like the boys.

Like I said in the other thread, she didn't tell us a single thing about herself that she hadn't already told us when her nomination was announced 5 days ago.

Now that I've calmed down, what that tells me is: they've already shot their wad on her positives.  Everything that's left to come out is probably going to be unhelpful.  I very much doubt that there will be some sort of major scandal that will force her off the ticket, but I think the trickles of news will wear her down slowly.

Notice that, even to a fired-up, hard-core, largely religious-right-skewing crowd craving red meat, she didn't get specific on any culture war issue.  I think she only made a single reference to abortion, and that's a signature issue for her.  She didn't say anything about gays and lesbians, judges, porn, sex ed, school prayer, faith-based initiatives, the Ten Commandments, stem-cell research, any of that stuff.  The GOP wants the Christianists kept happy, but they really don't want to have to talk about this stuff in public.  I'm very glad to see that Obama is now going on the offense on abortion in his advertising; the more this stuff is forced out into public view, the better it is for us.

2 quick comments...

McCain may like Palin, but I don't think Palin likes McCain.  I first noticed it in the (creepy) video of McCain looking at Palin in her first speech after they announced her as the pick, but I have noticed it every time I have seen them together.  Has anyone else had the same thought?

Here's the link to the "open mic" incident with Peggy Noonan, Mike Murphy and Chuck Todd.  Hearing the short conversation warmed my heart.  Almost 500,000 views already!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrG8w4bb3kg

Barack has been attacked by much better, stronger, far more experienced and fearsome opponents and he rocked them all. I am not in the least bit concerned about this little distraction in a Vice Presidential Nominee's disguise.  She is unworthy  to be mentioned in the same breath , but she will join his more seasoned opponents in short order.

She has proven useful to us.  I am happy about the way she seems to be stirring the passions of the Democratic base and reminding us and those who have joined us because they are deeply disturbed by the direction the GOP has taken our country, why we absolutely must win this fight.

Let's keep our noses to the grindstone and not look up until November 5th.

Peace

3 tasks, not 2

1) energize the base - she's got it in spades

2) grab HRC voters - this speech probably hurt this goal

3) the age old "do no harm" - the speech helped, but didn't take it off the table

I think this speech managed to do 1.5-2 out of 3, but I don't think Gov. Palin gives McCain a serious chance without doing all three.  I don't think it happened.

In 2004 I hoped Bush would win. Not because I liked his policies, but A) because he should have to deal with the mess he created himself; B) because Kerry would have had an impossible task dealing with what Bush had created and be booted now because of lack of change and C) because I thought that America needed much more misery and mismanagement before an authentic call for change would resonate - and it's still a close call as the polls show.

But it resonates alright, and the old Republican tactics won't work as they used to in 2004 with two fresh wars and 9/11 still a recent experience. From what I hear and read, the effect of tonight's strategy is "oh no, not again" among moderate Republicans or independents.

You wondered what she did for special education in Alaska? She cut the funding in 2008 and 2009 by 62%!!! 

Palin Slashes Special Ed Budget

I think I am disagreeing with most folks here this time. She struck me as a natural politician who (if you ignore the actual content) delivered a great speech. Like Obama she's climbed the political ladder (admittedly she was pulled up for this last step) quickly and I think there's a reason for it and it's in her delivery and her ability to guage her audience. She was lying to the nation's collective face, taking cheap shots, and it was all smooth and natural. In many ways we're up against a Bill Clinton type of politician here.

I don't think this was their initial plan per se, but here's how I anticipate this thing playing out. McCain has been itching to be the maverick again since last year, but his advisers keep convincing him that he has to go back to the base. The base that hates him, but would have still voted for him (assuming they bother to show up at the polls). That base is killing him with the rest of the country. You know the part of the country that has realized that these crazies are why we're in the mess we're in.

Palin didn't win over independents or swing voters (at least in numbers greater than she lost). What she did was sell McCain to these base voters so well that they all are going to leave this convention thinking that McCain was their idea in the first place. McCain will then push hard toward the center putting Mitt Romney to shame with his flip flopping.

Meawnhile Palin won't be available to the normal press, but she'll be on Rush Limbaugh, James Dobson, Sean Hannity, and all the other right wing radio. She'll be hitting up fundraisers and churches. Her job is to get the Republican machine up and moving again. This woman can really sell McCain to this audience and this is an audience that's used to candidates saying one thing to the nation while winking to the far right. Before Palin, they wouldn't believe McCain's tack to the center was anything other than McCain reverting to being McCain. Now he can shift while Palin does the winking for him.

Meanwhile the normal press, the moderates, and the left are going to hate her. That will only make her more effective with the right. The McCain team is counting on three things: 1.) Most undecideds haven't made up their mind because they are not tuned it and they'll barely notice the new McCain 2.) Most undecideds won't care much about anything except the top of the ticket 3.) McCain can get away with flip flopping to being a moderate because most of the country thinks he's faking the traditional Republican thing anyway. If those stars align just right, he might have a shot at winning.

This isn't the winning hail mary pass that McCain was looking for, but it might be just good enough to bring the game back to a tie.

Sarah Palin is dangerous because she frees McCain from his base and cranks up the GOP machine. Attacks on her will only make her stronger in that regard. This election will have to be won as a referendum on Obama and McCain or Obama/Biden vs. McCain. We should not allow McCain to free himself from the Bush term 3 label. I think trying to look like he's independent of his base will be his next tactic.

and I will also have to miss mcCain's speech tomorrow night.  But I have been to several blogs and gotten the gist.

And my conclusion is that it is ad news for the Republicans that she came before McCain and not after.

People tend to resonate or not with what they last perceive, so the overall perception will come from his speech, not hers.  In situations like this he tends not to shine andhe may well lose any good that she provided tonight.

Anne - I caught the special needs remark when I was listening on NPR.  I read today that she cut funding to special needs education by 65% last year.  Advocate indeed.

Ken mentioned way upthread about this being a change election.  Yes, culture war redux pisses lots of people off.  This includes my staunchly Republican dad.  He thinks Obama is a socialist but is sick and bloody tired of the divisive politics of our time.  He was already leaning Obama...I'd have to believe this steers him more towards that.

That footage from the focus group is quite interesting.  A good number of leaning McCains who are not at all happy about Palin and are now really looking at Obama.

Thanks for the link to answer the special needs question. Down in the comments is a rebutal, suggesting it was not 62% but a changing around of line items. Too late to dig further tonight.

1. A positive point, I think her one genuine moment was her assertion special need parents would have an advocate in her in the White House. If you didn't know her track record of cutting government programs such as these, watching you would admire her.

2. Negative, kudos to dKos diariest who nailed the tone, close your eyes and think Dana Carvey's Church Lady, snide, dripping condension and NASTY.

Color me shocked how negative and attack dog she went for a newbie who hasn't established good favorables yet. She really raised her negatives tonight I suspect. McCan could get this negative, b/c he could start from you all know I'm American Hero and have the gravitas to be this cutting and not totally kill my favorables. Obama last week struck blood with his forceful attacks on McCain but ironically his attack was so UNLIKE his brand, he got away with it without raising his negatives.

Palin's first national introduction and she comes across as Bush III, snide, smirking, lying right wing fanatic.

Obama's next ad should use footage of McCain echoing Bush, then Palin's smirking lies next to Bush's similar BS. Really killer line, in TWIN CITIES GOP ticket are BUSH TWINS.

The hardest thing for me has been the universal acclaim for what I found to be a mediocre speech and presentation. At the end of the day whether or not the MSM narrative about tonight sticks or not, what we must take from this is an impetus to re-double our efforts to elect Barack Obama.

It is indeed possible that for all the lack of vetting and the candidate's bizarre biographical details, McCain's gamble may indeed pay off big and allow him to tack to the middle while Palin holds the base and maybe brings in some indy women. I think we must assume this possibility to be true and prepare as such.

If the peccadilloes in Palin's past rise up and bring her down then we'll be all the better off. I will not be able to look myself in the mirror if I continue to coast on the sidelines and allow Rudolf Giuliani to become Attorney General of the United States. If the Republican Convention is useful for anything it's to remind us of what we're working to prevent.

I can see that to some on the right Palin represents the same shining figure that Obama appeared to us. It's not worth getting into all the myriad ways the analogy does not hold and think about the ways that it does. They are going to be revved up in a way they never would have been just with McCain. They are going to be able to command a spotlight which may obscure the underlying truth(s) of the race.

But I call on myself and all of you to not get angry or frustrated with the cruel vicissitudes of media narrative, and focus instead on the task at hand. Let's get people registered and get them to the polls. I hereby pledge a week of my time in Colorado, Nevada or New Mexico to help get Barrack elected. I hope you'll think about making a concrete pledge in the same way in whatever commitment level feels right.

@ Eric

On the mark, Eric. This is reminiscent of 1992 and the culture wars. The Rs didn't have anything to offer for a miserable economy, so with Pat Buchanan they declare the culture wars and painted themselves into an extremist corner. Replaying the culture wars is a loser.

@ Al

Also on the mark. The one chance to introduce herself and form a bond with the American people and she turns into an ugly pit bull. Yes, gets the right wingers all juiced up, but the indies and the moderate swing voters will be repulsed with the divisiveness and nastiness of it. It's just flat ugly, and turns the swing people off and fires up the Dem base.

I think it was half attack Obama and half lying through her teeth but she is attractive and articulate. No that speech didn't appeal to us. It energizes the Rethugs. It may appeal to a lot of voters who were on the fence. Sorry but a lot of people are just...simple-minded. They'll take her at her word even though she cut funding for special needs kids and homeless pregnant teens. She is a Trojan horse. Obama does not respond quickly to direct attacks from female candidates. The mistake would be to assume people are going to take the high road and see through the BS. He needs to respond appropriately. He needs Hillary and God only knows what she's gonna want in return. Otherwise she's prepping for her 2012 run. I hope you are correct Al. This election is going to go down to the wire.

I think Aranae's analysis is quite shrewd. Two elements to consider though. First will Obama (and the rest of us) for once be able to will the ground game in a highly polarized electorate. Second, will Palin's presence combined with McCain's age make it harder for McCain not to have her rallying of the base turn off independents in higher numbers than is typical. If the first issue predominates we have a rerun of 2000 and 2004. If the second does, it might be more like 1980 with independents breaking (for Obama) in the closing weeks. My bet, unfortunately is that it is more like 2000 and 2004 which means we had better work harder and smarter than we have in the past.

Al

When Sarah Palin talks about winning is survival and losing means death she should talk to Sarah James the Native Activist from Arctic City a small village on the edge of the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge.

http://www.grist.org/comments/interactivist/2006/12/11/james/index1.html

Fun and James
Sarah James, Gwich'in activist and environmental prizewinner, answers readers' questions

15 Dec 20

How is your organization planning on compensating for the lack of job opportunities by not allowing the oil companies to drill?
-- Mark Schroder, Madison, Wis.

There never are jobs for us. We hear the same story, the same thing. When they were going to build the pipeline, it sounded like there would be jobs forever, but very few got hired, and when they got hired they got low wages. A lot of outsiders got the jobs. Our fuel prices never went down. What benefit we get in Alaska is very small, yet the oil companies get all kinds of financial breaks.

Don't tell me that things will change for the better if we go for development; that's not going to stop, because they are in control. The jobs would be a short-term benefit. The promises of jobs are rarely fulfilled. For example, at Nuiqsut there are only two or three people from Nuiqsut working at Alpine, which is directly in their backyard. Section 29 of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act promised jobs too, but what we see is that Alaska Natives are not hired. It's a false promise. Alternative energy will get far more sustainable jobs in Alaska and throughout the country -- even Wisconsin.

SHE CUT THE BUDGET FOR SPECIAL NEEDS CHILDREN BY 62%

62%

Don't let her get away with that LIE.

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/samgrahamfelsen/gG5r4m

Dear Friend --

I wasn't planning on sending you something tonight. But if you saw what I saw from the Republican convention, you know that it demands a response.

I saw John McCain's attack squad of negative, cynical politicians. They lied about Barack Obama and Joe Biden, and they attacked you for being a part of this campaign.

But worst of all -- and this deserves to be noted -- they insulted the very idea that ordinary people have a role to play in our political process.

You know that despite what John McCain and his attack squad say, everyday people have the power to build something extraordinary when we come together. Will you make a donation right now to remind them?

Both Rudy Giuliani and Sarah Palin specifically mocked Barack's experience as a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago more than two decades ago, where he worked with people who had lost jobs and been left behind when the local steel plants closed.

Let's clarify something for them right now.

Community organizing is how ordinary people respond to out-of-touch politicians and their failed policies.

And it's no surprise that, after eight years of George Bush, millions of people have found that by coming together in their local communities they can change the course of history. That promise is what our campaign has been about from the beginning.

Throughout our history, ordinary people have made good on America's promise by organizing for change from the bottom up. Community organizing is the foundation of the civil rights movement, the women's suffrage movement, labor rights, and the 40-hour workweek. And it's happening today in church basements and community centers and living rooms across America.

Meanwhile, we still haven't gotten a single idea during the entire Republican convention about the economy and how to lift a middle class so harmed by the Bush-McCain policies.

It's now clear that John McCain's campaign has decided that desperate lies and personal attacks -- on Barack Obama and on you -- are the only way they can earn a third term for the Bush policies that McCain has supported more than 90 percent of the time.

But you can send a crystal clear message.

Enough is enough. Make your voice heard loud and clear by making a donation right now:

https://donate.barackobama.com/fightback

Thank you for joining more than 2 million ordinary Americans who refuse to be silenced.

David

David Plouffe
Campaign Manager
Obama for America

I'll again be at the Convention exit....

Your Party is sooo over.

Democrat for US Senate (Wisconsin 2012)

delivered in snarky high school tones. I totally agree, as do many of the pundits on TV tonight, that sarcasm was entirely the wrong tone for her to take in her debut, and that it definitely alienated independents and other voters in the middle. Clearly written by the Rovians in the McCain camp. What a miscalculation. Their only purpose could have been to rev up the base. But I think they lost as many voters tonight as they gained in right-wing turnout. Also, there was NO policy prescription except for domestic drilling. And how did she have the nerve to lie about opposing the Bridge to Nowhere when this has been debunked? I guess the speech must have been written before that news came out.

They pounded him on that.... Romney, Giuliani, Palin. esp the latter two. Sneering at community organizing.

Let's reframe what has been going on in Iraq -- the effective community organizing part -- as the work of community organization, done by the troops, for goodness sake, and give it right back at her. To reframe what the think is A Very Good Thing in terms of Obama's experience is a good way to neutralize a lot of the Obama mockery.

What is the surge on the working with the local community level but community organizing? Do they chant "zero zero zero zero" to what the troops are doing in Iraq? Do they chant "zero zero zero zero" to what General Petraeus is ordering the troops to do?

If Track Palin is assigned to a group that's going to be doing community organizing in Iraq, will Mom feel any differently about the resume of "our opponents"?

...is just how mean and mocking the tone was.  I can't recall hearing even one speech at the DNC that was anything close to this - I mean, the audience was visibly cackling like hyenas while Guiliani and Palin made fun of Obama's considerable accomplishments.  At the DNC, speakers went out of their way to say that McCain was a good man, their friend and so on, but they just simply felt he was wrong on the important issues facing the country.  I mean seriously, the comments ridiculing Obama's community organizing would have been equaled only by someone ridiculing McCain's struggles in Hanoi, which obviously did not happen in any way, shape or form.

Saw this over at Sullivan's blog about Romney lol - that guy really is on another planet:

"Mitt Romney seems to use the word "liberal" in a randomly perjorative fashion.  I half expect him to say "I was eating breakfast this morning, and my hash browns were all liberal.  I sent them back and told the waitress to bring me some good, conservative hash browns."

McCain/Palin are truly missing the big picture.  This is not an election about the character of the President/VP.  This is an election about the relationship between the governed and the government.  McCain/Palin are asking voters to turn their trust to the top two and let them decide what's best for the country. How do mavericks govern?  How do mavericks lead?

Obama/Biden are encouraging participation and change from the bottom up. They are getting more citizens involved and REGISTERED.  The disdain shown tonight towards community organizers reveals a complete lack of understanding of how societies truly change and adapt.

In most elections, the race is to secure the base and fight for undecideds. This is not most elections.  Despite the glowing views of some reviewers on the power of tonight's Palin speech in reaching the convention audience, the impact on unregistered voters has yet to be seen.  I think this speech will result in a surge of new Democratic voters.

a forgettable speech ... Yes I also thought it  it came across as mean-spirited  and nasty..

she is a pit-bull .. she said she was , and she is.

this is all about playing to the Religious Right .. and picking up a  women voters and independants .

she has got the Religious Right .....but personally I believe she will turn  women voters off .

the family are props.. I really feel for those people.. sacrificed on the alter of her ambitions..and I can't stand her voice!.. it is shrill and unattractive  , like a cartooon character... it is a shame for her because she presents well otherwise ..

angry , oh yes I am angry .. at the attacks on Obama , and our intelligence..

but I have to say , let them have this night... we had ours.

this was to be expected..

Sarah Palin, isn't going to save the Republicans..with this pathetic cultural war stuff... it is like throwing feathers at a lion..

I should think Obama will rightly  ignore this 'ignorant nobody'..

and just brush her away with a smile ,..like he was  squatting a pesty fly ..

Palin is going to work in our favour...

and we haven't had an intelligent conversation  from her yet!

and the media  has yet to vet her...

she is a diversion...  they are running scared and desperate..

the Mc Cain campaign is in  a mess...

I am certain now.. we are going to win this election...

This isn't campaign-as-soap-opera, it's campaign-as-reality-TV.  Yes, it momentarily motivates the audience, but does anyone really take the contestants seriously?

No, I really have developed an antipathy for Palin,  and I couldn't watch this.  However, I saw Romney, and this convention is pretty bad.

As some have described it, and as I can imagine it to have been, the speech bombed, and here's why:  she already had the Republican base, and her red-meat, bloody, snide attacks on Obama and 'community organiizing' signaled that the home-stretch of the campaign will be, not about policies and ideas, but about character assasinations of Obama.

Did she even mention Biden?

More, playing the little 'I am a hockey-mom being attacked by the mean liberal media" victimhood meme won't play well after coming out on such a negative note.

Indeed, Obama needs to stay above the fray and not respond to this air-head, troglodyte trollip.   Nothing classy about the woman--she just snuggles up to centers of power and does their bidding in order to rise higher up the career ladder.    All she can do is ape Republican, rightwing, red-meat talking points.

There are no policies and ideas coming to the forefront from this convention--just Bush's third term and endless tax-cuts for the corps and the super-wealthy.

The 'reformer' meme is an effing joke.

Can't wait for the debates--that I will watch.

(Allan, man!  I wouldn't want to be a 'log cabin',  pro-Palin guy that you run into in a dark alley after youv'e tossed a couple of drinks back on a Saturday night. LOL)

As far as pandering to special-needs children....gimmee a break!

That can be disabused with one commercial showing how rightwing budget cuts backed by McLame and Palin have caused hardship.

These folks are so effing fake--patting themselves on the back for 'supporting life' while kicking people that are struggling in the face.

I have seen a former senior executive from Hewlitt Packard and another from E-Bay touting the chief executive experience of Sarah Palin. 

I think a very basic question to ask these two executives would be: Would these executives put their credibility on the line by hiring Sarah Palin as CEO or President of a company they had a financial stake in?

I missed some of the actual speech (I had an honest-to-goodness PTA meeting), but I saw enough of it to say this:

I think we know what that working the refs/sexism stuff yesterday was all about.  It was soleley designed to make sure that words like angry were left out of the analysis and reviews of the speech.

I feel like I've been time-warped to 1992 with the culture wars.  I just don't think those people realize that most people have progressed in their attitudes.  And, anyway, look who won in 1992.

Did you know Sarah Palin was a community organizer?

That's a link to a great little diary on DKos (not mine) re the founding of the PTA.

I went to the PTA legacy site, and OMG! there's such radical! activist! stuff! scary. People involved in advocacy! for children! OMG. This is radical, and must be stoppe-- 

Oh wait.

Um.

Okay, here's the PTA Legacy page, which oughtta aid us with our mockery of the R veep's mockery of community organizing. (OMG scary emphasis mine)

Alice McLellan Birney and Phoebe Apperson Hearst founded an organization—a nationwide movement—in a time when social activism was scorned and women did not have the vote. Believing that there is no stronger bond than that between mother and child, they felt it was up to mothers of this country to eliminate threats that endangered children.In 1897, they called for action and more than 2,000 people responded—many were mothers, but fathers, teachers, laborers, and legislators also responded. Support grew from that first meeting in Washington DC. Problems were identified and strategies devised. Through consistent hard work, sometimes after years of perseverance, the dreams became reality....

Palin's guilty. Not vetted enough. SHE is a community organizer.

(P.S. Is this what was meant by ridicule as an Alinsky tool?)

Remember when some people were getting more and more impatient with the Democrats for being too nice to the Republicans at their convention? Remember all the cries for more red meat? Remember the Chicken Littles screaming that they had just lost the presidency because there weren't enough attacks on McCain and Bush?

This is what a convention looks like when it consists entirely of red meat. And it might be satisfying for a few days, but after a while the public is going to start demanding some variety and some real nourishment. And I for one am glad that Obama didn't listen to the armchair critics and offered us a balanced meal.

Breathe deep, folks, and remind yourselves that the right wing is going completely bonkers over someone they were just introduced to six days ago. That should say it all. These people were desparate for something to grab hold of and the McCain campaign gave it to them all dressed up as Sarah Palin (the speech belonged entirely to the McCain camp). But the whole farrago of resentments that made up her speech and, now, her persona, is based on not much of anything. She's just becoming the Republican base's hate-filled cuddle doll, the new Queen of Mean.

My advice would be to stay focused on the litany of hate that was the RNC last night. It's a winner.

What say you, Al, for next steps?

She did solidify the base that she was placed on the ticket to please. In a freakishly engaged delivery. The boos and cheers showed us that this crowd was entertained. Their appetite was whetted. They were like Romans in an amphitheater watching gladiators fighting to their deaths with swords and wild animals killing or being killed. I honestly believe that it will have a galvanizing effect on the democratic party. This is critical because historically, Democrats don't fall in step to march behind a candidate as quickly as Republicans do. Her nasty, aggressive and misleading pitches may have unhinged a common outrage. This may be just what we needed to bridge us back to the Hillary supporters. Palin just drove the first nail into her very own bridge to nowhere.

"The attacks on the noble cause of community organizing will not be forgotten."

Indeed. I just pitched in $25 to Obama that I hadn't planned on giving right now just because of that line. 

The McCain camp is scrambling to bury the news that a growing number of Republicans, particularly former and even some current top-level McCain backers (Peggy Noonan, Mike Murphy, Laura Schlessinger, even the McCain camp's own Meg Whitman) are not exactly thrilled with the Palin pick.   To do this, they're using Palin's kids (and soon-to-be shotgun son-in-law) the same way McCain uses his POW status to try and zap anything the least bit unfavorable to him.

Just remember:  The guy who now officially deplores people allegedly picking on the Palins is the same guy who's been telling crude and vicious jokes about Chelsea Clinton for over a decade.

I mistakenly said in the last thread that she took a partisan dig at Daschle... actually she mentioned Harry Reid. She read off the teleprompter "Majority of the Senate Harry Reid" but later read Majority Leader. In addition to contradicting Guiliani's statement that McCain was bipartisan.. what does that statement do in the key swing state of Nevada, which is currently within the margin of error?

Shorter Nate:  The speech riled up the GOP's base, but it riled up the Dems' base even more -- and our base is bigger this year.

Can you say "Pat Buchanan 1992"?

Hi Al,

I was disappointed that I couldn't stay on your website last night and then ended up watching my Minnesota Twins blow their lead in the 9th and end up losing and now in 2nd place behind the Sox.  Not a good night for Ms. Cain here!  I'm sure you are aware that Nate at 538 linked your Netroots story to his website and shortly after it went down.  So, after all that, Nate better not post any bad polls today! Just kidding. 

Gov Palin did a great job.  And having said that, I think Mr. Cosmopolitan Chicago Machine Guy (that being two of them) won't have any trouble dealing with the lies and distortions she  and Noun/Verb/9/11 Guy presented about him.

Gut reactions...

"Culture wars"  was the phrase on my lips after watching Palin's speech, as well as the music afterwards.  The country singers with long mustaches, cowboy hats and references to McCain's POW story in his song..."Raising McCain?"  Others here reference the nastiness and "pitbull" aspects,  but I tuned in to her "bubbly" side and couldn't, couldn't  imagine her in alpha role as President or Commander in  Chief.

I've been reading this site every day lately and cringe to see TrueBlue's "Cuntry First" comment.  Come on.

Well I couldn't watch the teevee, I don't have the thick skin needed.  But after reading her speech, and the responses from the internets I think Al is right on, as usual :) 

I know I am more fired up than I was even yesterday. McCain had his maverick, but with Palin they have swung the complete other direction...more socially conservative than Bush/Cheney.  This scares the crap out of me, and is such a reminder of the last 8 years, that I will be working even HARDER than I have been to make sure these two scary people are NOT leading our country.  

I was standing in line to Invesco last thursday when someone handed out some handmade signs that said "Stay Positive" on one side, and "This is NOT a protest" on the other.  What joy it was to not be protesting something, but to be embracing it!  

Well that feeling has left me now, and the fighter is back....

Sean at 538 said that, and I think it's very true. By what the McCain group stressed at the roll out, I think they were aiming for someone who'd moderately please social conservatives and be a huge pull for independents and Hillary voters. What they got is a homerun with the social conservatives and an actual negative with the independents and Hillary voters. Credit where it's due, they've adapted to that and dropped the Hillary plaudits for more small town paeans. 

Someone referenced a group of moderate, undecided women in Vegas who met right after the speech and were unconvinced. They heard a lot about her family and nothing about her policies. They thought McCain might drop dead and heard nothing that reassured them she could take over when that happened. I'm not hearing anything about how "taking on the oil companies" to cut even larger checks for residents of Alaska will translate into any policy on the national level. As mayor she tried to ban books from the library and then tried to fire the librarian who wouldn't ban them; as governor she tried to get her brother-in-law fired and then succeeded in firing the Commissioner who wouldn't bow to her will--after Bush is this what we want in presidential appointments?

The Rs have clearly decided to run on biography, The Maverick POW and The Maverick Hockey Mom. Presidency as lifetime achievement award. There will be nary an issue mentioned, and when the press asks about issues they will drag poor Bristol and Trig in. ("What about being for the bridge to nowhere until she was against it?" "It is just awful how Gov Palin's family has been dragged into this." "McCain's tax code favors the already superrich and makes them superricher." "John McCain spent 5 1/2 years without a kitchen table.") But I'm not convinced 2 months of hearing about her family and his POWhood at every turn will convince people that either is ready to be President.

That said, Al's caution about running against the media is very true. (Can they actually avoid interviews with her for 2 months?) And the leftern blogosphere focusing on her parenting skills will only exacerbate the focus on her family rather than her qualifications.

I, too, was surprised at the negative tone of the entire convention and especially for Palin's first appearance on the National stage.  Clearly, the GOP played to their bsae, as mocking community organizing and the level of transparent contemptuous and false attacks on Obama last night won't play to the already shrinking pool of Obama-leaning independents.  Or so I believe.

In a year with a large gap between identification and enthusiasm benefiting Democrats, the GOP did need to rally their base with the lukewarm reception of a McCain candidacy (a temperature which was more mavericky ploy than reality, I think, at least among the security Neocons, if not the Evangelicals).  But, at what cost?  Alienating independents?  And, while it seemed impossible, rallying, solidifying and ethusing the Democratic base?  Suicide, I say.  Perhaps, they've read the tea leaves and realize that defeat is likely.

The Palin Hail Mary might be less of a play to win than a play to prevent a disastrous, Regean-esque victory for Obama.  One that would "trickle down" into 60 Senate seats and an overwhelming House majority.

And while I want to avoid arm-chair strategizing, I have to believe that, with the Rovian politicization of the RNCC and lack of policy substance, Obama-Biden need only to stick to their message on policy and chip away at the Myth of the Maverick/McSame mantra on the GOP ticket.

Away from the strategizing, has anyone felt more inclined to piund feet and press palms for a huge Democratic tidal wave in November than during the last 12 hours?

Lisa - Thanks for pointing out that problem with one of the comments above. I've edited out the stupid part and left a little warning in its place.

Watching Palin's attacks and lies sent me over the edge.  Before, I was fired up and ready to go, but now I am also angry, and that anger is going to fuel some more on the ground organizing....to quote the Bard:

"i was not angry since I came to France / Until this instant"

Time to knock on a few more doors and register a few more people and give a little more money. . . .

This community organizer couldn't be happier that she committed 5 weeks to working for the Obama campaign.

They've lost <a href="www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/13143.html">Politico</a>. Somehow I don't think the media has much shrift for John McCain calling them too tough and mean.

And the 2 focus groups I've seen with undecided independents (Detroit and Vegas) were very unimpressed. (James Fallows at the Atlantic may have nailed the analogy--like Obama had tapped Franken as veep. He'd rev up the base with a redmeat speech, but what moderate or independent would be pulled in by that speech?)

One aspect of the speech that some of us have commented on is the large amount of, um, lies.  It is always a little hard to tell how this registers with different voters at the point of delivery, but this is a risky strategy for a Republican after the unpopular Iraq war lies, as is emphasizing the war itself as they've done.  Pundits immediately called her on the Bridge to Nowhere statement.

Here is the campaign's lengthy response the speech, which includes quite exemplary oppositional research on their part:

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/campaign_2008_/2008/09/palin_v_reality.php

One thing about lying is that you can keep moving the target, that is, change the lies, but I suspect they will repeat their material so it's good for everyone to brush up.  Also people who get into a comfort zone with false info usually have a very short shelf life (see Rumsfeld, D. and Perle, R.).

About every 5th comment at 538 is from someone who donated more money and/or signed up to do more work for obama after watching Palin's speech.

With a 3-month old infant (and a difficult delivery from which I'm still recovering) and a 4 year-old our family was more inclined to quickly donate money rather than time. On Tuesday my husband was laid off (thank you Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney!) and he pledged to do more work because we suddenly had more time available and less money.

After last night, we're still going to do more work for the campaign but we sent our monthly $ allocation anyway. I'd rather eat ramen, rice and beans than have any of those ghouls in office. My 4 year-old said he would eat whatever (even tomatoes, which he hates) and said, "Go Obama Go!" They're opening our regional office tonight and we're going.

Also: I've never watched a Republican convention before. I was appalled. Is it always this mean and bloodthirsty or are they acting like this because they are backed into the corner? The few Republicans I know in real life would never act like that, I think.

Governor from Alaska proved herself to be both common and clueless.  Cheap.