LIVE BLOGGED
…is getting much more than he bargained for tonight.
Sarah Palin is on tonight. She is as comfortable in front of this crowd as she is at her son’s hockey game.
This bodes well so far.
…and now she’s going after Obama and Biden! Un bee leeeev a bull! She aint wastin’ no time!
So much for the motherly image!
I can guarantee you that Obama’s handlers are peeing their pants at this very moment. Sarah Palin is stealing this race before the paint dries on the yard signs.
She does look like Tina Fey.
…and she is abolutely crusifying Obama.
Other highlights:
I was just your average hockey mom, and signed up for the PTA because I wanted to make my kids’ public education better.
When I ran for city council, I didn’t need focus groups and voter profiles because I knew those voters, and knew their families, too.
Before I became governor of the great state of Alaska, I was mayor of my hometown.
And since our opponents in this presidential election seem to look down on that experience, let me explain to them what the job involves.
I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a “community organizer,” except that you have actual responsibilities. I might add that in small towns, we don’t quite know what to make of a candidate who lavishes praise on working people when they are listening, and then talks about how bitterly they cling to their religion and guns when those people aren’t listening.
We tend to prefer candidates who don’t talk about us one way in Scranton and another way in San Francisco.
Our opponents say, again and again, that drilling will not solve all of America’s energy problems – as if we all didn’t know that already.
But the fact that drilling won’t solve every problem is no excuse to do nothing at all.
And there is much to like and admire about our opponent.
But listening to him speak, it’s easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform – not even in the state senate.
But when the cloud of rhetoric has passed … when the roar of the crowd fades away … when the stadium lights go out, and those Styrofoam Greek columns are hauled back to some studio lot – what exactly is our opponent’s plan? What does he actually seek to accomplish, after he’s done turning back the waters and healing the planet? The answer is to make government bigger … take more of your money … give you more orders from Washington … and to reduce the strength of America in a dangerous world. America needs more energy … our opponent is against producing it.
Victory in Iraq is finally in sight … he wants to forfeit.
Terrorist states are seeking new-clear weapons without delay … he wants to meet them without preconditions.
Al Qaeda terrorists still plot to inflict catastrophic harm on America … he’s worried that someone won’t read them their rights? Government is too big … he wants to grow it.
Congress spends too much … he promises more.
Taxes are too high … he wants to raise them.
In politics, there are some candidates who use change to promote their careers.
And then there are those, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change.
They’re the ones whose names appear on laws and landmark reforms, not just on buttons and banners, or on self-designed presidential seals.
A leader who’s not looking for a fight, but is not afraid of one either. Harry Reid, the Majority Leader of the current do-nothing Senate, not long ago summed up his feelings about our nominee.
He said, quote, “I can’t stand John McCain.” Ladies and gentlemen, perhaps no accolade we hear this week is better proof that we’ve chosen the right man. Clearly what the Majority Leader was driving at is that he can’t stand up to John McCain.
My fellow citizens, the American presidency is not supposed to be a journey of “personal discovery.” This world of threats and dangers is not just a community, and it doesn’t just need an organizer.
To the most powerful office on earth, (Senator McCain) would bring the compassion that comes from having once been powerless … the wisdom that comes even to the captives, by the grace of God … the special confidence of those who have seen evil, and seen how evil is overcome.
She pulled it off. The crowd is absolutely electrified.
Blitzer on CNN: She hit it out of the Park! Clearly a star has been born in the United States.
Anderson Cooper: if anyone is wondering why she is such a popular governor, they know now
Campbell: John McCain got his attack dog!
CNN: The most macho speech of the night was given by a woman
John McCain’s choice is so very justified…and he just walked onto stage…surprise!
Sarah ROCKED the X! Slow Joe is out of his depth. She will denolish him in a face to face.
What was her line about a self-styled presidential seal?
Surprise, surprise, but I didn’t think it was all that spectacular. Effective enough, but nothing fantastic. The one line about a “personal journey” was good, I’ll admit.
Of course, it’s always easier when you play fast and loose with the truth. Did you know she supported the bridge to nowhere?
I never bought the “Joe Biden as an attack dog” thing. After watching him in front of his various committee and Supreme Court panels where he hemmed and hawed throughout his allotted time I pictured him more like a toothless basset hound that would gum and drool you to death. If he goes up against Palin, well, that dog won’t hunt.
I love the personal journey line. The ‘Being a small town mayor is kind of like being a community organizer, except with actual responsibilities’ lineis also on my favorites list.
The funny thing is, Biden THINKS he’s an attack dog. He also thinks he’s brilliant. Joe has no idea.
Wow. Wow. Well, at least most Democrats I know are Hillary supporters, so I guess it’s Palin vs sHillary 2012. Probably the best for both parties (can’t believe I’m saying Hillary is a better person then the man from Hawaii).
Dick Morris, yes he is a untrustworthy weasel, but smart as hell. He said the Republicans set a trap for MSM/Democrats, by sitting back and letting the hatred spew forth. Tonight they started to close the trap.
Night Rider, much of the attack dog comes from when you have the power. Think about Waxman during congressional hearings.
But when the playing field is level….ohhhhh this will be good.
Hey now, Mr. Shirt. Joe has a higher IQ that you. Just ask him.
By the way…am going out to my garage right now to put my McCain-Palin bumper sticker I bought at Civic Fest on my car.
Go ahead rally the 30% base to defeat.
Dicky, shouldn’t you and Dave Thune be out there throwing bleach on delegates, or beating 80 year olds?
What was it Dave Barry wrote about Fritz, the DFL fave-rave?
“He immediately announced, in that distinctive voice of his that sounded like he had nasal passages the size of France, that he would jack up taxes. This popular move earned him the support of over half the members of his immediate family, and ensured that even ten years after his defeat, people are STILL showing up demanding to vote against him.”
I foresee something very similar for His Phoniness and his Delware Chihuahua, oh-so-ably supported by the Defeatocrats-Frauds-and Liars party here in MN. Nice work on repudiating the anarchists, by the way.
“Hey now, Mr. Shirt. Joe has a higher IQ that you. Just ask him. ”
I was going to work that event into my comment, but I decided to keep it short. 🙂
File this under “they just don’t get it”. Thought I’d check out MSM, and ABC, CBS and NBC are all bashing Palin at the same time.
It’s kind of sad. It’s like all of us bashing Angry CLown at the same time, except he deserves it.
Chuck:
Protesting is for losers and the genuinely oppressed. Democrats march to victory. But since you asked, shouldn’t you be donning the second wetsuit?
So you think throwing bleach on people & beating up old ladies is “Protesting”?
I spoke with a gal documenting both conventions for the smithsonian on the walk home. She is a democrat. She said she was blown away. More electric a speaker than Obama. I should be proud of my party, she said.
Back in August 1990, I went to a show at 1st Ave. Meat Beat Manifesto opening for Nine Inch Nails. NIN was on the second leg of touring Pretty Hate Machine, & MBM was in the throws of their high energy albums, kind of an industrial/funk fusion.
MBM was so intense & energetic that by the time NIN came out with their more mopey songs, everyone was just kind of starring at Trent Reznor as if asking “when are you going to start the show?” Then, out of nowhere, he destroyed the keyboard with the guitar… clearly, he was done, & that was the most entertaining thing he did.
I’m hoping that McCain doesn’t end up in the same boat as Reznor did that night. If he puts on that sing-songy, oddly paced tone that make me think he’s talking to my 5-year-old, I’m going to remain disappointed. We should have a drinking game, drink a beer each time McCain says “My Friends” & a shot each time he claims to be part of the Reagan Revolution.
Mitt, Huck, Rudy and Palin – yep, that will be a tough act to follow. Maybe he should get Palin to write his speach.
Obama-Biden are a pair of balloons, and Sara has beehive full of hatpins.
The Dems have been wetting themselves since friday, hoping the MSM would solve the Palin problem for them. That could still work but its looking more doubtful now. I saw that Brokaw is now poo-pooing Troopergate.
Note that the superior Obama judgement failed to forsee this development!
If McCain-Palin pull this off, Hillary is done. In 2012 she’ll be just a two term sennator, with FAR less executive experience than Palin. the Dems wil put thier eggs in another basket.
Biden’s reputation as an ‘attack dog’ relies on his ability to lie and not be called on it by the media. Here’s how I picture the Biden-Palin debate:
Biden: And then when I returned from the moon, I landed in Haifa just in time to force the Israeli’s and the Palestinians to sign a lasting peace accord!
Blitzer: Wow! What a story! Congratulations, Senator Biden! Now, Governor Palin, I hear you make a fine moose stew. Care to give the viewers the recipe? And then I have question about being a beauty contestant! Sorry, Joe.
Hmm. On watching the Palin acceptance speech for the first time I’m amazed. She sounds like she took diction lessons from Margie Gunderson. You poor bastards who still live on that frozen piece of turf between the St. Croix and the Red river probably don’t even realize how thick her accent is. How’d she pick that up?
The second ‘i’ in ‘spirit’, the second ‘a’ in ‘American’, the ‘e’ in ‘the’, the first ‘a’ in ‘dramatically’ Palin pronounces as a schwa ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schwa ). God only knows what furriners think when they hear her speak.
“How’d she pick that up? ”
She sounds Alaskan to me, not Minnesotan, but it’s been a while.
Terry,
The accent seems to be common to Canada as well. If you ever watch Corner Gas on WGN, you’ll hear a slightly different version of the same accent. You should watch it anyway, it’s probably the best show currently on TV.
M-Th 11:00 pm; Friday (technically Saturday) 2:00 am, Sunday at 10:30 & 11pm
http://www.cornergas.com/?country=US
Don’t forget that Sheriff Margie Gunderson got the job done, even as just about everyone underestimated her. Given Sen. Obama’s track record with Jim Johnson, Goolsbee, Power, Ayers, Rev. Wright, Fr. Pfleger, look for Biden by the wood-chipper.
Mr. Shirt-
It’s been almost twenty years since I left Minnesota, but I’m told I still have the accent. My wife tells me that it is not as strong as the accent of my siblings who still live in MN, so I guess constant exposure to Californian speech habits has softened it a bit.
But then the wife is from New Jersey. She thinks Tony Soprano doesn’t have an accent.
Watching Corner Gas, I only hear the accent when they do the long O sound, like in “pro-cess”.
I’m a relative new comer, 10 years in MN, but my brother, who is stationed in San Diego, says I developed the accent fairly thick.