Here’s the “Meet Sarah Palin” event from Dayton on Friday, posted to YouTube by CBS:
In today’s UK Times, Camille Paglia states that this is “the best political speech I have ever seen delivered by an American woman politician. Palin is as tough as nails.”
Update: I’ve watched this five or six times and each time when I get to the part where Palin begins praising McCain, I think, “The Democrats are so screwed. Thank God she’s on our side.”
Some things I’ve read and liked about Sarah Palin this morning:
At American Thinker, Bruce Walker takes a positive, philosophical view and likes what he sees.
Eleanor Clift says lefty mainstream journalists are laughing at Sarah. Laughter now; bitter tears later.
Nathan Thornburgh from Time hauls butt up to Alaska, talks to people and comes away with a pretty fair assessment of Sarah Palin. After two years of Obama hagiography, I’d forgotten what real journalism looks like.
Instapundit notes the the comparisons with Dan Quayle and asks, “remind me again how many terms Lloyd Bentsen served as Vice President?”
Tory Maguire in the Aussie Daily Telegraph thinks Sarah Palin is a game changer.
I can’t find anyone observing that the new roster is two lawyers versus a naval officer and a small business owner/supermom. I could pull the GOP lever blindfolded, now.
Be the first in your neighborhood to irritate leftists with this Sarah Palin t-shirt. (Ha!) I’ll add more merchandise as I think of new ways to aggravate Democrats.
If we’re lucky enough to see a Republican win in November, there will be some discussion as to how to refer to Todd Palin. However, there is a precedent in Alaskan protocol, revealed in Time Magazine’s interview with Sarah Palin:
My husband is a commercial fisherman. He also works up in the north slopes in the oil fields. I’m the first female governor in Alaska, so that’s brought with it kind of a whole new chapter in Alaska’s life. Like my husband — up here they refer to him as the “first dude,” not the first gentleman. And Todd… And he is such a dude. He’s a four-time winner of the Iron Dog snow machine race, which is the the world’s longest and they say toughest snow machine race, 2,000 miles across Alaska.
So would that make Todd Palin “The Second Dude?” It does roll off the tongue.
One of the most important things about Sarah Palin is that in selecting her, McCain has made a good faith gesture to conservatives. In exchange for our votes, McCain has potentially given us the future of the party, and possibly the future majority.
I think Palin represents, to many of us on the right, the practicality and flexibility of tradition in the modern era. She’s a mom. She’s straightforward. She’s rustic. In Sarah Palin we see someone who rises to prominence not just from traditional rural origins but from a traditional rural present. It’s inspiring because she provides respite from the constant media drumbeat that emerges from New York, Washington and Los Angeles. Just as Obama is so appealing to those on the left because he’s different, Palin is likewise something fresh. She plays by the old rules.
It’s no accident that Republic Party ‘elites’ are frustrated by the selection of Palin - she’s a threat to them. Many Republicans have wearied of seeing Democrat-style political machines crop up among county GOPs in the sprawl outside cities. And after her demolition of the Murkowski machine in Alaska, Palin offers a grassroots alternative to the boss system.
The lefties are fixated on Obama’s character and transcendence. He did his time performing progressive activist work in Chicago’s urban core, and lefties consider this important because it validates the time they’ve put in as activists. They consider their consciousness (and thus their moral worth) to be raised by virtue of their activism. (Because, apparently, the world can never have too many people singing ‘Kumbaya’.)
Oddly, those same lefties can’t see that Palin’s life story validates many conservatives, women and people who live past the suburban fringe. She’s raised a family, held tough jobs and stood up to city hall and said “No more!” She’s led a steady, inspiring life and we respect her for it.
Palin has a had a brief but notably successful turn as Alaska governor. McCain knows that he needs to pay back conservatives for their support this fall and Sarah Palin is a good-faith deposit. She’s an excellent choice and conservatives have accepted her as the down payment.
Sarah Palin’s nickname in high school was “Sarah Barracuda” because she was such a ferocious basketball player. (Her team won the the state small-school championships in 1982.) Also, she’s worked on a commercial fishing boat alongside her husband.
Palin’s versatility and authenticity is obvious to anyone who’s heard her story. She’s a tremendously impressive candidate and her selection can’t do anything but boost McCain’s chances.
Hopefully somebody at the RNC will invite Gretchen Wilson to perform Heart’s great “Barracuda” at the convention. Wilson’s success with “Redneck Woman” in 2004 was a harbinger of Bush’s victory, and the GOP might profit by associating her authenticity with Sarah Palin’s.
One of the most important things about Sarah Palin is that in selecting her, McCain has made a good faith gesture to conservatives. In exchange for our votes, McCain has potentially given us the future of the party, and possibly the future majority.