Sarah Palin gave a great speech last night. After going through a full court media press with some accusations and charges that have no place in a political campaign. She was able to maintain poise, I assume throughout the week, to prepare for her speech and deliver. She delivered exactly what her base needed. Attack the opposition, defend your family, and support the guy on top of the ticket. Her speech has energized the based and some independent leaning republicans.
Giving a speech that do those things is being praised now. The same people who criticized Obama for giving millions of people a reason to believe are now praising Sarah Palin for doing the same thing. What a difference a week makes.
I've just gone over the transcript one more time. The word HEALTHCARE was not mentioned once. Absolutely nothing about wages. Sure she talked about energy, but nothing else. AFGHANISTAN. PAKISTAN. Not in the speech.
The means by which she energized the based are very different from an Obama approach. She used sarchasm and mockery. She attacked and attacked. These are the same divisive tactics that have plagued the country in a deadlock. And it was not only her.
Mitt Romney, a guy who knows something about the economy, did not talk about it. What if he took 10 minutes of his speech and talk about HIS UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE plan in Massachusetts. What if he were the VP nominee and gave America a plan on arguably the third or even second largest problem facing the nation right now.
Rudy was no outlier. He focused on delivering zingers. Attack lines for the delegates to use when they argue politics while watching an NFL game. Just like Sarah, he repeated things that are demonstrably false. He took us back to 9/11 without telling us what we have done to bring to justice the people responsible for it. He told us about how a mayoral job is important without recognizing that a mayor from New York has to do with terrorism while one from Wasila mainly deals with fishing permit violations.
The regurgitating season is about to start and it's 60 days long.
Yesterday, we've heard some of the most nauseating lines of attacks that has kept many Americans uninterested in the politics of division. Those speeches keep the delegates and the party insiders happy. It energizes the bloggers and the opinionated. They were empty on solutions. Now, it is up to John McCain, the guy who has confessed that he does not know much about the economy to lay down how to move us from this whole.
McCain will deliver a great speech depending on what you are expecting. What will be a McCain government platform. Where will be the emphasis? What will you do different from your predecessor given you are from the same party? The wars, the economy, and healthcare.
That's what I will be listening for.
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At the end of the day, she has not answered to anything yet. The speech was well delivered and I would love it if I believed in the same things she believed. She did great for a start. Let's see how she responds in days to come.
This is her party.
Palin: Iraq war 'a task that is from God' By GENE JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer
Wed Sep 3, 7:23 PM ET
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin told ministry students at her former church that the United States sent troops to fight in the Iraq war on a "task that is from God."
In an address last June, the Republican vice presidential candidate also urged ministry students to pray for a plan to build a $30 billion natural gas pipeline in the state, calling it "God's will."
Palin asked the students to pray for the troops in Iraq, and noted that her eldest son, Track, was expected to be deployed there.
"Our national leaders are sending them out on a task that is from God," she said. "That's what we have to make sure that we're praying for, that there is a plan and that plan is God's plan."
A video of the speech was posted at the Wasilla Assembly of God's Web site before finding its way on to other sites on the Internet.
Palin told graduating students of the church's School of Ministry, "What I need to do is strike a deal with you guys." As they preached the love of Jesus throughout Alaska, she said, she'd work to implement God's will from the governor's office, including creating jobs by building a pipeline to bring North Slope natural gas to North American markets.
"God's will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that gas line built, so pray for that," she said.
"I can do my job there in developing our natural resources and doing things like getting the roads paved and making sure our troopers have their cop cars and their uniforms and their guns, and making sure our public schools are funded," she added. "But really all of that stuff doesn't do any good if the people of Alaska's heart isn't right with God."
Palin attended the evangelical church from the time she was a teenager until 2002, the church said in a statement posted on its Web site. She has continued to attend special conferences and meetings there. Religious conservatives have welcomed her selection as John McCain's running mate.
Rob Boston, a spokesman for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, lamented Palin's comments.
"I miss the days when pastors delivered sermons and politicians delivered political speeches," he said. "The United States is increasingly diverse religiously. The job of a president is to unify all those different people and bring them together around policy goals, not to act as a kind of national pastor and bring people to God."
The section of the church's Web site where videos of past sermons were posted was shut down Wednesday, and a message was posted saying that the site "was never intended to handle the traffic it has received in the last few days."
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On the Net:
http://tinyurl.com/67b7n8
I'd like to see her at a newsconference taking a few tough questions. If we are supposed to believe she is ready to meet Putin, it would be nice to see she is ready to meet the press.
Ultimately there was no ounce of vision.
Julia, I think she will be able to take the questions so long she does not try to hide things like Iraq is God's war. If she tries to spin it, she will stumble.
A reader points out — and a search of the speech texts on the GOP convention site seems to confirm — a surprising fact: There hasn't been a single mention of Afghanistan at this convention.
She has made statements that disturb me. But she did not govern by those statements. Those statements were made in church. Give her some room to wiggle here my friend.
It will be weeks, possibly even the VP debate before the press gets an unfettered shot at her.
I couldn't force myself to watch. I tried. Honestly, I've tried to watch this pathetic convention, but I just can't take it. The utter flood of lies coming from these speakers is bad enough, but to look at those mindless fools in the audience, lapping it all up, just makes me want to hurl.
Btw, are there NO black people in the GOP anymore? I've yet to see a single one, as they pan the audience of fools there. Nary a hint of even someone slightly off-white.