Palin for President

A great night in primetime for the GOP.  Rudy was good and Palin was great.

Rudy at one point said, at the end of a litany of Democratic errors on the economy: "and sent jobs elsewhere."  What?  That's a criticism of Democrats?  I was scratching my head.  It seemed like Rudy was too--he stumbled and stuttered and paused going into his next line.  Did he add that?  Was it an accident?  It sure seemed like it at least.

Rudy's speech had so many red-meat attacks.  Why couldn't the Democrats do that?  As Pat Buchanan said last week, Rush Limbaugh attacks McCain a lot more harshly than the Dems.  I didn't understand it.  Paul Begala's line keeps ringing in my ears: "You can't go on the attack with a fist in your face."  

The Dems ignored the fact that the US went into a war on false pretenses, which is costing $400 million a day.  Why did they ignore that?  It baffles me.  Tie Iraq to the economy.  Obama did it in the primaries.  But it was ignored at the convention.  

"Can you imagine how they are going to shake up Washington?" said Rudy.  Wow--it's amazing how after 8 years of nearly completely solid Republican rule, that this line could be effective.  Yet it is, because a lot of (mainly married) people, a lot of Republicans, perceive the media, academic and government elites to be stacked against the values of ordinary families.  The elites vs. the common people--the protests of an EJ Dionne or The Nation notwithstanding (and apart from its truth)--is not something that inherently favors liberals.  A lot of people in the flyover states feel with good reason that rich urban liberals look at them with patronizing contempt.  So the Republicans can get away with running against the establishment, when for crying out loud they are the establishment.

One teleprompter or screen for the Republicans seemed like it was in front of the podium.  It didn't seem like the Dems did that.  Why didn't they?  Everything in Obama's speech was left, right, left, right, always looking at his face at an angle, never into the camera right at the TV audience.  It's clear why the GOP does it.  McCain's face doesn't look great at an angle!  But I think it's much more effective on TV to look the camera straight in the eye.  

Palin:  "I guess a small-town mayor is kind of like a community organizer, except that you have real responsibilities."  

The clinging to guns and religion comment was hammered hard by Rudy and even harder by Palin.  Some great lines.  "John McCain won't talk about small town folks one way in Scranton and another in San Francisco."

"Here is a man who's authored two memoirs [memoirs!] but not a single big law or reform in the Senate."

"Here is a man who talks about the wars America is fighting without ever using the word 'victory,' unless he's talking about his own campaign."

"There are some candidates who use 'change' to promote their careers.  And then there are some, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change.  They are the ones who's names and images appear on monuments, not buttons and banners and self-designed presidential seals."

"The American presidency shouldn't just be a part of a journey of self-discovery."  

She used the phrase "our opponent" rather than "Sen. Obama" or "Obama."  That's classic political tactics going back to FDR.  

She played up her fighting the special interests in Alaska.  This is a big reason she was picked, because it really does fit with McCain's image.  

How many times did Palin slip up?  On Venezuela she clearly did, but smoothed it out semi-nicely.  I still have the slipups of Obama, in a home-run out-of-the-ballpark speech, he still slipped up a few times.  Biden slipped up.  It's inevitable.  But Palin was really remarkably smooth.  

SNL hasn't done a parody of Palin yet, but I can already hear Amy Poeler in a wig imitating her accent.  

She hammered Obama on taxes and growth of government to choruses of boos.  Relating it back to her family members who own a small business.  Very good--relate it to a personal level.  Not something Obama's great at.  Clinton was brilliant at it, and he never got over 50%.  

Palin was able to mix up the speed of her speech with facility.  It keep the thing moving, and kept it interesting.  It never really lagged.  

Tom Moe was trotted out as the Lenny Skutnik of the speech.  

Social issues were never mentioned.  Smart.  The picture of that little Down syndrome baby was worth a thousand words.  Plus, you want to run away from your strength when your supporters are already aware of it, in order to court those who aren't supportive.  

Right after the convention coverage ended, the local news coverage began, and it talked about Obama's trip to my county.  The coverage was not good for Obama--the people interviewed seemed to think Obama was out of touch.  And then Obama messed up the name of the town, calling it "New Pennsylvania" instead of "New Philadelphia."  Not a great night for Obama, and a great night for Republicans.  

After Palin's speech, the question should be whether the GOP ticket shouldn't be reversed.