Sarah Palin (September 2, 2008)

This was Gov. Palin’s big moment in the spotlight as she had been crowned an overnight celebrity only a week prior. Her speech would be followed up by some rather undignified interviews and inspire parody skits for comedy shows. At a moment’s notice Sarah Palin had become a media princess; only in America. Her acceptance speech was marked by a lot of rhetoric but hardly any substance which would set the tone for the McCain/Palin campaign..She gave John McCain praise for his years of service to this country which indeed he deserves our honor, respect, and recognition for his time served. This was quickly followed by John McCain’s stubborn refusal to withdraw from Iraq until a victory has been reached. What both Sarah Palin and John McCain both fail to mention is what exactly defines victory in Iraq. Sadam Hussein has been ousted and hanged and now the country is in dispute between 3 very different and disagreeable sectors of the Muslim religion (Sunni, Shiites, and Kurds). Does America ... Read more

Engaging speaker, I think she'll do really well in the debates. Can't wait to see her!

Average speech, I think a lot of people did want to know who she and her family is, nobody knows her, I had no real problem with it. Rarely do we hear anything of substance at these events. Soaring rhetoric usually prevails.

She needed a bit more substance in her speech. The emphasis of Palin's speech was on introducing herself and her family in a personal way to the country. Truth is, no one really cares about that kind of stuff. She was overly "cute" at times too, talking about her being a "hockeymom" and a pitbull with lipstick and such. Most people simply want to know that she's up to the job. So far, she hasn't proven that yet. Her interview with Charlie Gibson showed us that she is really weak on economic and foreign policy issues. Sorry, but being able to see Russia from the shores of Nome does not qualify as foreign policy experience. Her delivery wasn't confident; as if she's not used to speaking to large crowds. Hell, the convention hall she spoke in probably had as many people as the entire population of Fairbanks, Alaska! I tend to agree with Irishgit. The McCain camp will likely keep her on a tight leash, but eventually, she'll need to walk on her own. The debates are comin... Read more

UPDATE:Palin is exactly what the Reps needed, some one that can speak up, who is articulate, and can speak forcefully  (unlike McCain).  Even CNN and MSNBC admitted "Palin's speech was a grand slam"As far as her teenaged prego daughter, I could care less.  Alot of American moms can relate to that (not that its right). Im concerned about REAL issues.  If you all are so concerned about private issues look at Bill Clinton.....All the women he cheated on Hillary with, and she still stayed with him. That sends the message its ok to disrespect your wife. Personal family issues are really reaching. This may be the first election where it may be decided on character alone, and not issues. I blame the mediaLibs might hate her...but if you noticed the past two weeks,  Obama isnt exactly running away with the election anymore,  as he once appeared to be.  What does that say about Obama?

That endless opening, blethering about her family, was little short of embarrassing. Regarding that section, which ran over 12 minutes, more than a quarter of the speech was like listening to some uptight junior leaguer, nervous about speaking and falling back on what she was familiar with. Her implicit comparison of herself with Harry Truman was ridiculous at best, and folly at worst. She needs coaching on her body language when she speaks. The constant pointing is problematic, and speaks to a hectoring style of delivery. All in all, a performance that appeals to people that are already in the same camp. I doubt it resonates much outside that. It is telling that the McCain camp has kept her in carefully managed, tightly scripted events, even now, well after the convention. If they don't trust her off the leash, it makes you ask why the voters should.

I get the fact that she is a real person with real problems, but there is a difference between being down to earth and being clueless about world politics. She claims she is like a pit bull but she comes off as evasive, defensive, naive, and very clueless.

i shudder to think what this country would come to in the hands of the palinator if mccain did get elected and didn't make it through his first term. i hope the american people aren't foolish enough to be swayed by a bunch of colorful attack language that isn't even hers. america, we still don't know who sarah palin is. i'm sure plenty of moose in alaska do though.

What it all boils down to is who do you want for President if the top guy Obama / McCain bites the big one? A Washington trial lawyer who has become weathy in office or a gal that can kill you some food when you need it?

Guess what folks--you aren't reviewing Sarah Palin when you discuss the CONTENT of the speech. You're reviewing Matthew Scully, a former Bush speechwriter who now is a speechwriter for the McCain campaign. Per the following (which merely confirms what already is widely known), "Scully started working on the vice-presidential speech a week ago, before he or anyone else knew who the nominee would be, and it's not hard to pick out the parts that would have been the same regardless of who delivered it. . . . Once Palin was chosen, Scully tailored the speech to the Alaska governor" in the 48 hours before the speech. Read all about it on Time.com here.If you want to review Palin's DELIVERY of the speech, then let's give her the credit she deserves. She did a good job reading off the teleprompter, which isn't surprising given that she's had plenty of experience at it as a former TV sportscaster. She did the attack dog schtick well, smiling as she followed the script that demeaned Obama, pausi... Read more

One of the most undistinguished speeches in American political history. Chock-full of small town BS, stupid attempts at humor, and character assasination of the opposing party's standard bearer, but little in the way of answers to the nation's problems, vision, reasonableness and promoting any qualifications of value she might have. Kinda absurd that someone with only 20 months experience at the helm of Alaska, The Moocher State, someone who's currently under ethics investigation, someone who was an ardent porkbarreler as both Governor and Mayor of Walrusfart, someone who took campaign money from the same parties who were bribing that bigtime grafter Ted Stevens, had such deprecating things to say about someone who doesn't have nearly as many skeletons in his political closet. She was shrill (but no more shrill than the rest of the GOP nimrods they propped up at the podium), simplistic and reductive. Her speech was typical of the paranoid GOP "us vs. them" mentality that always sug... Read more

Though she is a decent enough speaker, I'm not ready to take the chance that the country might be turned over to a hockey mom moose hunter (who oddly resembles a bobble head doll - beside the point but still a bit creepy). It also doesn't help that her selection for this "role" is an obvious gimmick to (for one thing) offset grandpa's advanced years.

If Sarah hated corruption so much, she would never have joined the republican party! If she loved America enough, she would want our troops to come home as soon as possible. Instead, she is so proud of her son who is about to join the biggest mess we could make over there in Irak. If she cared for America enough, she would do a lot more to help our environment. She says her oil-drilling husband is the man she admires the most. After Dick Cheney maybe? I wouldn't trust her "executive experience" in foreign politics more than the opinions of any furry animals from the north west ...Sorry but the far right is going in the ditch with that girl!

Liar liar pants on fire

After seeing the reaction to her "wonderful" speech, I can now picture this ZEALOUS WOMAN, PALIN becoming our FIRST FEMALE PRESIDENT when "President McCain" BITES THE BIG ONE! Just you WAIT! Hmmmmmm...PRESIDENT PALIN. PRESIDENT PALIN. PRESIDENT PALIN. It kinda' has a of RING TO IT! Very scary!

I don't take much stock in these kind of speeches in general. The whole point is to get people fired up, without saying too much about what you really stand for. As far as political speeches go, this was a pretty good one, I actually managed to listen to over half of it before I was bored out of my mind, most of the time I can't get more than a minute or two into a political speech before I'm done listening. She's a good speaker, she wasn't intimidated by the experience of speaking in front of a good crowd, and I believe in more of the things she stands for than I do of either Obama or Biden. So I think it was a good speech, but don't fool yourself into trying to dig too much out of it, positive or negative.

Grand slam speech.  Good for Sarah Palin!

Palin gave a speech that was packed to the brim in substance combined with style.

Some say that i'm full of  crap ( Cool Rantings of a Apt Profesional) I couldn't agree with them more so I'm posting it again. (ha! ha! ha!)God Bless America and good people like Sarah Palin!

Stirring speech - she had me at "hockey mom", and so entranced was I, that I did not even notice the inaccuracies about her role in the bridge to nowhere debacle, I shrugged off the false attacks on Obama regarding his energy plans and his lack of policy writing experience. Did she just say "Pitbull with lipstick"? Hey - that's catchy. Who said that the Obama campaign had cornered the Washington outsider-made-good political success story? This is the same thing, written to push the same buttons for a different demographic, the demographic that has been faint in its praise of McCain so far - the guns and God conservative Christians.So what a disappointment this morning, when I read that she was actually reciting a speech written by Matthew Scully, speechwriter for President Bush, and, surprisingly, an ardent animal rights advocate. Although it did clear up why she did not mention her moose hunting days with her dad, which would surely have gone down well with the audience.Seriously, I k... Read more

Apparently, not all the angry old white guys are guys... or all that old for that matter.Whether or not Palin's speech resonates with the undecided remains to be seen.UPDATE:I see a professional angry old white guy, Matthew Scully wrote the words Governor Palin read to the GOP convention.I'd like to hear what she has to say for herself.

I was already impressed with her but the speech last night put her over the top with me. She really seemed like she connected with real people. I loved what she said about special needs children. She definitely is an asset to the Republican ticket. Five friends of mine who were undecided told me today, her speech helped them make their decision and they will be voting for McCain.

She has given hope to those who needed a reason to vote for McCain and not just against B. Hussein Obama. She has bridged the gap of enthusiasm.My favorite quips were."A small town mayor is kind of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities.""They love their country in good times and bad and they are always "proud" of America!"Very fine job indeed, a breath of fresh air from the "Teleprompter family." Keep them funnies coming pinkos.

She talks well and shows a lot of attitude which is what voters may be looking for now. However, if you think about it, she is a complete disappointment. I am not sure what was she trying to convey by parading her pregnant unwed daughter and her boy friend. I think the it sends a message to young girls (particularly her younger daughter) that it is ok to have pre-marital sex. People (particularly young ones) make mistakes, but you do not endorse those mistakes. Her talk about bridge to nowhere was impressive only till you find out that she has accepted the most (per person) earmarks. What a reformer!! I am worried about Joe Biden. A sincere thought full and intelligent man against a savvy pit-bull with lipstick. Biden stands no chance. It is depressing to think that she will be our next vice president. Good news is that she will be a definite upgrade from the current Vice president.

First of all let me say that Sarah Palin is certainly not coming off like a newcomer to the national scene. She looks confident, relaxed, and delivered this speech in front of thousands without a hitch. Her presence is very impressive.I don't know if it's her or me or a combination of the two, but both times I've seen her speak at length her "hockey mom-ness" is almost blinding when she begins. I keep expecting her to offer a tray of lemon squares or something. However, once she gets going, I start to see why she is on this ticket. Yes, the speech started off pretty slow. Considering that her family has been such a focus over the last few days I think it was right to start off with them, but I also think it could have been shaved down a bit. Luckily, as the saying goes, it's not how you start it's how you finish. Once again, she dared to do more than throw out slogans and empty rhetoric and actually talked about issues, addressing problems and giving actual solutions. The gloves were c... Read more

My daughter, an avowed apolitical being living in Atlanta, called me during the speech, gushing about it.  She wished she would have watched the democrats last week, so that she could get some of the jokes everyone was guffawing at.  I explained a few.  "I'm voting for her, I can't wait to vote for her, "  she said.  We hung up, hoping we didn't miss any zingers , and I thought, now THAT is a connection.  "She's unqualified! " "She  hasn't got a CLUE!! "  they'll taunt.  And they'll continue to think that Joe Lunchbox is evaluating using their yardstick of qualification.  He doesn't, he's evaluating her character.  And Obama's.  She connected, last night, with the unseen middle.  That non-communicative group that votes but never discusses and tunes out the partisan nyah-nyahs.  Even cynical journalists like Campbell Brown and Gloria Borger were silently proud of her.  That won't last but the impression of her as a reformer and an independent (and very strong) woman will endure.  Obama... Read more

This convention does nothing but elicit partisanship, and I suppose I can hardly avoid doing anything different, since I've been skeptical of Palin from the beginning; but hey, OceanSoul rated her speech a "5" about fifteen minutes into an hour-long performance, and I suppose I'm not the worst of the partisans, because at least I gave it a full and fair evaluation as far it goes. The writers saved some of the best zingers at Obama for Palin, and the speech was funny, but it was so relentlessly negative in its reiteration of cliched characterizations of Obama that I don't think she ever managed to introduce herself as a political figure to undecided voters. She was so angry--even as she looked good expressing it--that we never got a sense of her as a political figure. Her denunciations of Obama's politics of glamor were terribly ironic. The festivities had even more than usual of the air of preaching to the converted, expressing a cocky conviction that she didn't need to explain her pol... Read more

How did that one jab go? It was something to the effect that some use change to further their career and some use their career to further change. I didn't expect her to come out on the attack, but it was an effective, yet not nearly legendary speech. I fully expect heavily entrenched Dems as well as certain media pundits to bash this speech and I'm sure I won't be disappointed.

Holy fuck...I just spent a half hour analyzing this speech, and RIA friggin lost it when I tried to submit it. I'm pissed.2nd attempt...America...Meet Sarah Palin! Barack Obama might be the greatest American orator right now, but the Alaskan governor is no slouch on the mic. Her speech was dull at first while she introduced her children, parents, and husband as if THEY would hold some elected office. I thought to myself..."Stick to the issues and your role...not your family." Of course family was an important part of her speech. I like how she carefully and indirectly addressed her daughter's pregnancy issue by stating her family has ups and downs like any other. She connected with the average American family with that statement. More specifically she reached out to families that have children with special needs by sharing her experience with her new born son. Her statement that she will be an advocate for those with special needs and their families was very strong, and I can see it re... Read more

I'm not going to lie to you.  For the first 15 minutes or so I thought I was watching SNL.  It was horrific.  A wandering, schmaltzy tribute to each of her family members.  That's fantastic Governor Palin but do you realize that this is the first glimpse most of the country has gotten of you and there is a non-trivial chance you could wind up as our President? I thought she gathered herself a little bit when she started talking about oil, and she gave a pretty good tribute to John McCain.  I'm sure she's smart and capable and even likable.   But she's not President material.  Not even close.  Let's check back in 15 years when she has had a chance to at least see non-Alaskan (and maybe even global) politics.  114K Alaskans voted for Palin for Governor in 2006 and now she could be President?  American Idol could do a better vetting job. I've said repeatedly that I believe we have two strong choices for President this year - perhaps the most inspiring duo (each in their own way) in my ... Read more