You have to give it up to Sarah Palin tonight.
Because Democrats did not raise the expectations for her speech, Palin clearly hit a home run by simply not showing up as a drooling moron.
Call it clearing the Shrub hurdle.
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Now, the rest of the speech brings many other problems for one John McCain.
Palin gave a suprisingly angry, direct red meant speech tonight, going right after Barack Obama in a direct and negative way.
I don't think it helped much.
Oh, sure, it fired up the room and energized the shrinking base of the Republican Party. It also clearly created a new star in the GOP universe. I think we witnessed the birth of the new Ronald Reagan in that the base has someone to worship uncondidtionally.
Unfortunately, she didn't help the ticket.
First of all, she attacked in a way easily rebutted. Shouldn't have brought up the Bridge to Nowhere, Sarah. Yes, it helped in the hall and probably with 2 or 3 voters. But beyond that, this will be boomerang on her because even the press now knows it is an outright lie.
Secondly, it was a major mistake to make direct attacks. Joe Biden is licking his chops. I would be willing to bet that she could not find Georgia (the Black Sea one) on a map, but she brought it up.
Good luck with that when you actually have to face the press. She cannot hide in her hotel room forever and will have to answer questions. As she passed herself off as knowledgable on some issues, she cannot duck.
Angry. She came across as very mean-spirited. My 76-year-old mother called her a bitch. She was a Hillary voter; she's all for Barack now.
Lastly, when McCain came out on the stage, he simply looked very old, very small and almost inconsequential. Palin is now the star of the show and raised the bar for his speech. While Biden gave one of his best speeches ever, no one remembers much of it. The bar was raised sky high for Obama and he cleared it.
With ease.
Meanwhile, Palin has now raised the bar for John McCain. Can he clear it?
After watching him tonight, I don't think so. The room loves his number 2.
This is not the 1992 Republican Convention, it's 1976.
We have to worry about Sarah Palin in 4 years, but I think she helped kill John McCain in 2008.