John McCain's Acceptance Speech

Palin Packs A Punchline

"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."

"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?"

Last night, Governor Sarah Palin walked onto the stage of the RNC and was met with a standing ovation. She, then, opened her mouth and reminded us of how all of the applause was unnecessary. 

In a time when her vetting process has been taking place on CNN and ABC, opposed to the McCain headquarters, maybe she should have talked more about herself and her experience. It seemed like days went by as she reminded us all that John McCain died for our sins in Vietnam (or something along those line) as he put our country first. What she failed to mention was our struggling economy and how the same working mothers- that she identifies so heavily with- can afford healthy foods for their kids and gasoline to go buy it. 

There, undoubtedly, were good lines delivered by Palin during her speech last night but that's all that is was; effective delivery. It seemed mostly full of one-liners and praise for McCain because it wasn't written by her. It was, most likely, composed by a group of McCain writers who all got their best Obama-bashing lines in and put small-town values in as filler. Meanwhile, no one in the country knows who she is and we're being asked to put her a heartbeat away from the presidency based on a distaste for Obama and the fact the fact that we all like mothers. 

Moreover, what's been most evident to me is that Sarah Palin is no Hillary Clinton. It's been a week of, "just leave her alone" and cries of sexism. Now all of a sudden Sarah "Barracuda" Palin or the "pitbull in lipstick" (as she likes to call herself), is the champion of the Republican party and not just the token damsel in distress. Could you imagine Hillary Clinton allowing her party to make her out to be a victim? 

Maybe I'm just annoyed. I know that I'm offended and most importantly, I'm impatient because I can't wait to see Joe Biden go hardbody on her without a script.

Gov. Sarah Palin is Certainly an Orator

Gov. Sarah Palin delivered an excellent speech this evening. I mean that. I mean that very truly, and very literally. This address was efficient at showing she has a body of work (albeit small), puts John McCain back in the limelight (as he should be), and shows she's competent enough for the job.

As she discussed energy policy, she spoke at length about various nations and their relations to the United States with oil trade, showing she "has knowledge" about foreign trade and policy. She showed she is open to other alternative energy sources. She also somehow showed she was a magical oil prospector by stating with certainty that there's enough oil in Alaska to save America without doing any actual drilling there, yet.

She spoke at length about the record of John McCain as a senator in relation to "her opponent" (more on this later) and rebranded him as the maverick America thought he was in 2000, which pales in comparison to the conservative panderer he's been in this campaign.

She compared herself to the average American with average American problems and painted the Democratic party as elitists, which played well with the crowd and could work on the national level. It's not like there isn't some validity in it. But what's disconcerting is that she played America as though it were a collection of small towns instead of a nation. While many in the media and her opposition feel that her background doesn't reflect the expertise to lead the nation, she rebuked this at length. It seemed appropriate, but America isn't a small town, as much as we like to think we are. Thornton Wilder wasn't exactly writing Our Town with the idea that it represented a place that threatens Russia for using excessive force or needs to find some other place to put the mill because the neighboring town is fighting for the river.

But what bothered me the most, while I know what she was doing, was not referring to Sen. Obama by name. She called out Joe Biden. She even called out Majority Leader Harry Reid. But she just wouldn't give credence to Barack Obama. It's clear that even uttering his name gives him attention, but he should have attention: he's the other candidate. But saying his name also still draws attention to the fact that they're both young and relatively inexperienced. She could only hold off that claim so much and mentioning Obama wouldn't have helped that situation. Still, I'm reminded of an episode of The West Wing in which Jed Bartlett was running for president the first time and had complaints about his staff recommending he not refer to his opponent by name. He thought it would make him look dotty and aloof. While Palin was successful in looking relatively competent, she still had an aura of not being all the way there.

And this is why I believe Sarah Palin "delivered" a great speech instead of "gave" a great speech. She proved she knows her way around a teleprompter, something Sen. McCain still needs work on and has very little time to learn that lesson. She proved she has an excellent speechwriter who can write for the big leagues and knows how to accentuate points well. This person knows the rule of three, comparisons, proper omission, and how to present the right evidence (while ignoring the evidence that doesn't necessarily help). Obama has been painted as elitist, epic and flashy without substance, and largely ignorant and irrelevant. For this, I praise Gov. Palin's staff and especially her speechwriter. But I still feel that due to her lack of experience and age, she doesn't know what she's talking about.

What leads me to believe this is her specificity. She has too much going on in a speech like this. Sure, Sen. Obama is extremely vague and his speeches make him sound like a messianic Santa Claus (and any Christian who knows me may smack me around a bit for that juxtaposition right there) but I can trust his vagueness. He really isn't all that qualified, but I have faith enough that he would be capable of knowing how to govern on his own. Gov. Palin seems to be a spectator in all of this. She can deliver a speech of facts and plans in which she had no part because nothing in her experience prepared her for this. Someone is pulling strings here and I find that highly troubling.

John McCain is old but capable, but he panders to his base too much in his later years. This could be to the detriment to the nation that really looks to a nation beyond partisanship. I recall McCain on Meet the Press years ago saying he wouldn't become an Independent because his is the party of Lincoln. Now it's the neo-conservative party of Reagan and he is transforming himself to appeal to these people. They are divisive and they are in some ways destructive. Now they have a head cheerleader running for vice president and she seems to know well enough to do as she's told.

Frankly, I find tonight just a little bit frightening at how well it went all because I could see behind this ruse. Hopefully others would see this with me.

The Token Minority Night

I'm looking at Michael Williams, Railroad Commissioner in Texas. He's black. He's promoting "clean coal". He's promoting odd energy policy and lower taxes. It's all really just a confusing image to me until I noticed something that made it all work: he's wearing a bow tie.

I'm looking at Luis Forturno, Republican Congressman of non-voting Puerto Rico. He's promoting the search for oil and calling it a clean source of energy. He's talking about supporting Sen. McCain in a very thick accent.

Gov. Palin speaks at 10:35. She's going to say some really contradictory statements as well to the detriment of the group she's a member of. This is the evening where the party finds groups of people to which they are appealing and trying to feed them their party lines. It's perplexing to watch, which is partially why I didn't want to turn on my TV for this.

Why am I blogging this again?

EDIT @ 9:01 - Hey, former Lt. Gov. of Maryland Michael Steele is talking right now with a snappy catchphrase "Drill, Baby, Drill." He really seems like he could be actually sort of sincere. He's speaking in call and response. He's filled will all sorts of energy. Sure, I may have only been watching him for a few minutes but I get a good feeling from him. He's seems like a different sort of American instead of some real partisan hack. He thinks drilling in Alaska will be good for us while others think it's a temporary fix that won't even see results for a few years. He's likely wrong, but he's not malicious or vehement about it. He could be a token black guy, but at least he doesn't seem like the kind of guy the party is using or something.

As We Shift Gears Around Here...

The second verse is clearly the same as the first. I don't feel like watching all the pundits (although technically what I'm doing right now is punditry, so does that make me a bit of a hypocrite?). I know that these conventions are pep rallies made solely to rally the base of the party. Every star of the Republican party will come through to state their talking points ad nauseum. Lather, rinse, repeat.

So expect the same from us as before.

Funny thing is, it's hard for me to find my colleagues right now. Hey, Donovan, Ed, Wendell, where are all y'all?!