Sarah Palin gave quite a speech last nite. She didn’t have horns on her head, it didn’t do a 360, she didn’t spew anything green, and she was, in fact, quite impressive—on a very superficial level. Not only did the delegates eat it up, she presented a very appealing persona—Mom, hockey mom, crusader (oops—can’t let ‘em see THAT word), reformer, underdog, etc.
She made an effective appeal, on some levels, to women, Moms, small-town folks, and got in some very clever and memorable lines. She added excitement and energy to a party—and a candidate that were nervously checking their pulse. Join me on the jump for the rest...
But Barack is nothing if not a savvy counterpuncher, and she left plenty of exposed organs.
Her ‘Bridge to Nowhere’ bs is just that—she pursued the funds gleefully until the Feds didn’t send enough, and campaigned on this. Yes, she sold the state plane on Ebay, but, hey, Cindy says her private jet is ‘really the only way to get around Arizona.’ She presents herself as the Model Mom, yet she SLASHED funds for the only shelter in Alaska for Teenage Moms, and cut way back on funds for special education.
This "Born-Again" Fiscal Conservative was the biggest advocate in the biggest state for them—and was, again, gleeful about it. When she became Mayor of Wasilla, they had a surplus, but she left it $20 million in debt, w/a new Hockey Center bleeding bucks. And as for taxes, she cut back on the property tax to please big business, but actually increased the regressive sales tax.
While she presents herself as someone entirely sympathetic to women, small-town folks, and the Working and Middle Class, she didn’t present one single idea—not one—that would help w/housing, healthcare, or education. Just like McCain, she gives lip service to Wind, Solar, and Geothermal, but, of course, we know that’s just window dressing for more drilling and nuke power.
Of course, not a peep about the fact that she is an incredibly vindictive administrator who constantly fires folks based on personal whim, or that she tried to ban books in the Library until she faced a powerful pushback. Nothing to promote her belief in Creationism, End-Times Rapturism, or that she would not permit her daughter, if raped, to get an abortion. Guess it didn’t come up that her Church believes that all Jews are damned and therefore not significant.
Except through her associations w/AIP, etc., we have no idea how she feels about folks who are Brown or Black, for example, tho the way she liberally used the dog-whistle term ‘community organizer’ gives us a hint.
Even people who like and favor her allow that, as they think about it, she is incredibly ill-prepared to confront or even discuss intelligently crises or threats that might present from, say, Georgia (no, not THAT one!), Pakistan, the Ukraine, Middle East, North Korea, Iran, or, really anywhere else. For a party that has spent the past eight years scaring us to death about international threats, that is, at best, curious. The Party’s numerous War Hawks and Adventurists will find that quite troubling.
Likewise, the Fiscal Conservatives may have concern over the fact that she knows little to nothing in any meaningful way about the Economy or Finance. The only ones pleased---no, thrilled—will be the Social Conservatives, and they still don’t really trust John, and the anti-Immigrant Haters certainly don’t, so it’s not even clear to me how much benefit she will be long-term within the Republican Party. There certainly will be a lot of doubters.
Tonight should be interesting. Her presentation was, as mentioned, appealing, and nobody I know has ever accused McCain of being that. It should be anti-climactic. Many, even in the Hall, regard him w/a wary eye. And, following the Convention, she will be relegated to secondary markets and out-of-the way places, hoping like Hell to elude all of the tough questions awaiting her from a Press as pissed off as the bees in a hive after you poke them w/a stick.
And John will once again be front and center, w/all his vagueness and lack of real answers on the Economy, w/his hot-flash temper and Warmongering inclinations.
Naw, Sarah did well in Round One---but it’s a twelve-round fight