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Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Palin's acceptance speech
My take, in three words:
The.
Real.
Deal.
Your comments?
Posted by Beldar at 10:08 PM in 2008 Election, McCain, Obama, Politics (2008) | Permalink
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Comments
(1) MartyH made the following comment | Sep 3, 2008 10:14:46 PM | Permalink
Wow. She did it all. Humor, jabs, body blows. When she got serious, near the end, she was dead serious. She's got the gravitas for sure.
McCain/Palin!!!!
(2) arb made the following comment | Sep 3, 2008 10:17:55 PM | Permalink
Sarahcuda.
Thank God she's on OUR side.
(3) stan made the following comment | Sep 3, 2008 10:18:20 PM | Permalink
Palin swings, it's a long drive, back back back, it's outta here!
(4) rfy made the following comment | Sep 3, 2008 10:21:12 PM | Permalink
WOW. The dems should pack it in now, but they won't. Instead, they'll use her speech to go after her even more. But I think they'll be taking on more than they can handle.
(5) Dan S made the following comment | Sep 3, 2008 10:24:53 PM | Permalink
She did a good job, not quite great. I suspect she will get even better. She had some really good lines in there, she came across far more naturally than some (ugh, Carly!), and, of course, there was a lot of substance.
Of the rest, Rudy was the best. The man can work an audience.
The star was Piper though.
(6) Charlie made the following comment | Sep 3, 2008 10:30:53 PM | Permalink
I need to find out if the hockey mom joke was in the pre-released text of the speech. If not, I'll be even more impressed than I already am.
I'm pleased with the pick and welcome the deranged left and media to keep up their attacks on Sarah because it will just keep making them look silly. But I guess that's what happens when you are bitter and just cling to the guns of the left (throwing urine, human waste and trash).
(7) Ronnie made the following comment | Sep 3, 2008 10:31:20 PM | Permalink
She was great!! Pit bull with lipstick. A star is born in the Republican party.
(8) Beldar made the following comment | Sep 3, 2008 10:36:27 PM | Permalink
Charlie: The hockey mom/pitbull joke was not in the prepared remarks, it was an ad-lib, but it's a line she first used in an op-ed in the Anchorage Daily News in 2004, after she resigned from then-Governor Frank Murkowski's administration to take him on for his lack of ethics. It's a good line -- I had it in my third post about her, my review of the Kaylene Johnson biography of Gov. Palin, back in June -- and you'll hear it again, I suspect.
(9) arb made the following comment | Sep 3, 2008 10:49:28 PM | Permalink
Re: "...Lipstick."
Among other things, I've been helping several professional pals punch up comedy bits for more than 30 years, and I heartily approve of the way the joke was tightened relative to its previous appearance.
Less words, bigger laugh.
(10) Patrick R. Sullivan made the following comment | Sep 3, 2008 10:49:31 PM | Permalink
Pace, Chuck Yeager; she has The Right Stuff. Only question; is she in the right place...at the right time...?
If I were McCain tomorrow, I'd march on stage and say, 'What she said.'
And walk off
(11) jackie made the following comment | Sep 3, 2008 10:53:10 PM | Permalink
Homerun! She was everything I expected and more. I *loved* how she went after the media. Way to go Sarah!
(12) Charlie made the following comment | Sep 3, 2008 10:56:41 PM | Permalink
Being a dog owner (not pit bulls), she is a pit bull!
Jesse Jackson may get his wish, and it may be painful.
(13) Diffus made the following comment | Sep 3, 2008 10:56:53 PM | Permalink
Patterico was more succinct in word count -- "Holey Moley" -- though you got him on the syllable count. She must be something to have two lawyers so short of words. ;)
(14) Punditarian made the following comment | Sep 3, 2008 10:57:03 PM | Permalink
Senator John S McCain is a political genius.
(15) Mark L made the following comment | Sep 3, 2008 11:03:24 PM | Permalink
I'd say she will be the next Ronald Reagan, but she won't
She'll be the original Sarah Palin.
Sarah Palin -- 45th President of the United States.
And she makes McCain 44.
(16) slarrow made the following comment | Sep 3, 2008 11:14:54 PM | Permalink
Do you get the feeling that maybe the Democrats ought not tick her off again? I don't think they're big enough to play in that sandbox.
Oh, and the youngest daughter was the star of the show to my mind--got a Lucy Pevensie feel to her. She didn't care what extra stuff was going on; she was just lovin' it up.
(17) Antimedia made the following comment | Sep 3, 2008 11:23:13 PM | Permalink
Several thoughts.
Biden better start cribbing now for his debate. He's in trouble.
Since the announcement, the campaign has been all Palin all the time. Obama and Biden and even McCain have faded into the background. That's bad news for Obama-Biden.
McCain now knows he can turn Palin loose and not babysit her.
Obama should ignore her, but he won't be able to. That makes the contest between Obama and Palin. As soon as voters start thinking, how come he's running for President and not her, the race is over.
A bunch of Republican races just became much more viable. In fact, the Republicans may well gain seats in both houses.
(18) Blue made the following comment | Sep 3, 2008 11:24:57 PM | Permalink
Wow. Just wow. She has such a beautiful manner of sticking the knife in with a smile.
This speech will scare the pants off the Ds and their media allies. They will redouble their efforts to take her out.
(19) Fredrik Nyman made the following comment | Sep 3, 2008 11:25:53 PM | Permalink
I thought it was a good speech, and very well delivered.
I think and hope that in the end, the media/Obamabot wilding of Palin will hurt the D's as much as they deserve. Because of their attacks, millions of people, who otherwise wouldn't have, watched Palin tonight and got a favorable impression of her.
The attacks will go on; the media and the Obamabots just can't help themselves. But each wave of attack will presumably make the attackers, not Palin, look insane. Next up: they'll be bitching that she wanted Wooten fired, carefully hiding the details that matter -- his making death threats, tasering his 13-year old stepson, drinking on the job etc. The attackers won't be able to keep these details hidden.
(20) TmjUtah made the following comment | Sep 3, 2008 11:27:02 PM | Permalink
Message for Mr. Obama:
History called. 'Nice try'.
(21) Beldar made the following comment | Sep 3, 2008 11:32:22 PM | Permalink
Mr. Nyman: The stepson was only 10 at the time, actually. (A distinction without a difference -- even if he was 18 and begged and pleaded, a police officer has no business using his Taser on a civilian in that fashion. I say that even though I'm generally pretty pro-Taser.)
(22) Fredrik Nyman made the following comment | Sep 3, 2008 11:44:45 PM | Permalink
Thanks for the correction. It seems to emphasize my point though: when the media and the Obamabots (a distinction without a difference, it seems) attack Palin for thinking Wooten should be fired, little details like that make them look insane.
(23) caltechgirl made the following comment | Sep 3, 2008 11:45:40 PM | Permalink
Out. Of. The. Park.
A star is born.
I think she'll be very well able to handle herself against the smear tactics.
(25) Marybel made the following comment | Sep 4, 2008 12:40:48 AM | Permalink
Back in the South in my youth, my momma used to talk about women who could wield a "steel fist in a velvet glove." Yep. That's Sarah. What a speech and what a truly fine knock out delivery!
(26) HChambers made the following comment | Sep 4, 2008 2:38:12 AM | Permalink
She nailed it. No self pity... she laid to rest the schema of grand soap opera that many rooting for Obama were trying to force on her. She was having none of it. She gave a bio, was an energy wonk, and made it clear that she planned to be McCain's lieutenant as a servant to the people. Not a soap opera, but perhaps a duel to the death announced.... I am jazzed. She made the definitions, she did not allow herself to be defined by others, and she demonstrated poise, competence and commitment. Not a whole lot more I can ask of either a VP or presidential candidate.
(27) Jim Treacher made the following comment | Sep 4, 2008 3:35:35 AM | Permalink
Between Sarah and Rudy, they covered most of the things I've come to detest about Obama. They went there. And it was on primetime TV! It'll be interesting to see how he responds to their effrontery.
(29) db made the following comment | Sep 4, 2008 8:03:41 AM | Permalink
Palin was great, but I didn't expect any less. Who really impressed me last night was Bristol. Are you sure that girl is pregnant? 'cuz she [is incredibly brave]. Had you not known that that girl had just been publicly pap smeared by the Media for the last three days, you would have never known. She stood - or sat - with poise and pride and not a hint of distress. What 18 year old girl of the "My Sweet 16" generation could do what you saw Bristol do last night? Levi has to be quite the young man too. Both of them might as well have been royally flipping off the Media.
And since I am here, one last thing, and maybe I will be the first to call this (check the date stamp): I got the eerie feeling this is not the last time we see Track on that stage. Palin '38?
[The bracketed portion above captures the gist, I think, of what db was saying, but the particular metaphor he chose was a bit rough for my taste given its subject. db, I apologize for diluting the impact of your comment, and maybe I'm just reading it too early in the morning, but ... it just was too jarring. Sorry, hope you won't take offense. Beldar]
(30) dfeyres made the following comment | Sep 4, 2008 8:05:41 AM | Permalink
What no one realizes is that the Democrats have two black men atop their ticket.
Biden is white, you say? Nah- he's just been that way ever since he heard Sarah Palin call him "Moose".
(31) Chris of Rights made the following comment | Sep 4, 2008 8:10:52 AM | Permalink
People saying "out of the park" aren't giving that speech the credit it deserves.
That one hasn't landed yet, baby.
(32) A.W. made the following comment | Sep 4, 2008 8:19:52 AM | Permalink
This just in. They have found the remains of Barack Obama, having apparently been mauled to death. They are currently checking the bite marks against Palin’s dental records.
Wow, what a speech. Having slept on it, here is my big insight:
I think the line about “lipstick” (“The difference between a pit bull and a hockey mom? Lipstick.”) worked because it touched on something going on deep in her and our psyches. This was Momma Bear. This was Signorney Weaver at the end of Aliens going, “get away from her, you b____!” This was, “you’re going to come after my kids? Then I won’t get defensive, or ask you to back off. I will rip your ____ing throat out!”
Barack likes to borrow this line from The Untouchables: “They bring a knife, you bring a gun. They put one of your guys in the hospital, you put one of theirs in the morgue. That’s the Chicago way.” But tonight, she demonstrated that principle in action. Apparently it is the Juneau way, too.
But on the other hand, I have had my own internal philosophical debate going on. Are McCain’s ads better, the speeches at the convention better, etc., because they are better at presenting their position? Or do they just have better material to work with? Hmmm...
Oh, and by the way, Rudy was awesome, too.
So, night 1: tepid, but solid. And it was meant to be a little more bipartisan.
Night 2: Barnburners! Somewhere, Zell Miller is smiling.
Night 3? McCain might very well be upstaged. But I will also say this. As good as Thomspon was, they should tell the story of his capture again, at least in a few evocative lines; I am thinking in the introductory video. Let’s face it, at a blog like this, most of us are political junkies. But believe it or not, most of the rest of the world doesn’t know this about McCain. They can’t overdo this like Kerry did. I will throw something at the TV if he says, “I am John McCain and I am reporting for duty!” But this is the chance to reach the most Americans, and they should make sure all of them know.
(33) Peter made the following comment | Sep 4, 2008 8:47:52 AM | Permalink
What John McCain should say is "I'm not reporting for duty, as I've been on duty for the last 50 years!!"
(34) Neo made the following comment | Sep 4, 2008 8:58:31 AM | Permalink
I hope that Biden get those clips in his brain checked before the VP debate.
(35) Born Free made the following comment | Sep 4, 2008 9:04:07 AM | Permalink
Sarah would kick Obama's ass in a celebrity deathmatch.
She'll make Biden cry at their debates.
(36) Whitehall made the following comment | Sep 4, 2008 9:32:42 AM | Permalink
Yes, a star is born.
No victimhood, no whining. The MSM disses her and she comes right back at them. They started a mudthrowing and she's going to win the election.
I think her political views are an integral part of her performance and demeanor. The deeper values she holds prevents her from being a Democrat.
She's the right person, at the right time, with the right message. What a bundle.
Too bad the regulations prevent her son from wearing his uniform at the convention.
(37) Jim made the following comment | Sep 4, 2008 11:11:56 AM | Permalink
Presidents 40 and 45: peas in a pod.
She's a Reagan.
(38) miriam123 made the following comment | Sep 4, 2008 11:41:08 AM | Permalink
1) It's going to be Piper in '38 - remember I said this.
2) Waiting for the Norris/Palin quips.
Ok, I'll stop waiting:
Did you know that Sarah Palin knows how to shoot a moose?
-Yeah, it's down before she shoots a second glance.
Corny? Hey, it's your turn...
.
(39) htom made the following comment | Sep 4, 2008 12:55:58 PM | Permalink
arb, I'm going to steal this: "Sarahcuda!"
My PUMA wife -- "Oh, my. She makes McCain tempting."
(40) Tennwriter made the following comment | Sep 4, 2008 3:32:48 PM | Permalink
Norrisms...
1. When Sarah smiles its already too late.
2. Nobody's ever seen Sarah mad; all her enemies were crushed before she got mildly annoyed.
3. In Alaska they play hocky a little different than in Canada. They use the heads of their opponents for pucks.
4. Sarah shoots so straight that she flattens out the curve of space-time.
5. One time Sarah was fishing and caught the Midgard Serpent. She promptly made it a member of the Alaska National Guard with a rank of Sergeant, and let it go as it was too small to keep.
(41) Mike Devx made the following comment | Sep 4, 2008 5:04:28 PM | Permalink
Another Norrism:
Sarah Palin can divide by zero
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