Wednesday, September 3, 2008

What Palin's Speech Can't Hide: McCain's Poor Judgment

She looks like the former beauty queen she used to be, but Gov. Sarah Palin's speech can't disguise the fact that her selection gives McCain's critics powerful evidence for his impulsiveness.


Here is way the Democrats are nailing McCain on this point, courtesy of the New York Times:

“The issue at hand is not whether Sarah Palin can deliver a good speech, and it’s not even about her compelling personal story; the real issue of this convention continues to be John McCain,” said Representative Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. “In choosing Sarah Palin as his running mate, John McCain has made the first decision of his would-be presidency, and he did it based on one meeting and one phone call.”

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Obviously I'm not the audience the speech was tailored for, but I will say she delivered the speech that was written for her with gusto. I understand it was adapted from what was written for a generic male VP pick.

This is admittedly a highly subjective observation, but it seemed to me that some of the male Republicans in the audience exhibited a twinge of discomfort as the speech went on into the red meat section. Maybe she was a little too good in the attack dog role for their comfort, even though they liked the message.

The CNN crew was eager to speak for America in heaping accolades on the speech, but I will be interested to see how it actually played beyond the base.

One thing for sure: McCain is going to find it a hard act to follow. Since Rove told us that substance is unimportant this cycle, the base may wish Palin were at the head of the ticket.

Anonymous said...

More negative reaction from women outside the "base":

HuffPost Reporting From DC: Female Clinton Supporters In Focus Groups See Talent, Mudslinging In Palin's Speech

In two different focus groups of Clinton-supporting Nevada women -- married and unmarried -- conducted immediately after Gov. Sarah Palin's Wednesday night speech to the Republican National Convention, a few common reactions quickly took shape.

First, women in both groups were impressed with Palin's speaking ability and poise. But they were hardly convinced that she was qualified to be vice president, or that she truly represented the "change" they were looking for, especially in light of what was deemed an overly harsh "sarcasm" pervading her address.

In the "married" group, when one attendee kicked off the discussion by saying "she's a good speaker, and a crowd pleaser," the rest of the room articulated their agreement. "I didn't expect to be as impressed as I was," said another respondent. But then another woman added: "Once she started mudslinging, I thought, it's the same old crap as other politicians. McCain used her to get the women's vote. And she's using McCain."

"Thank you," another woman responded. "That really upset me; there was no need for that. It was snippy."

The unmarried group also voiced similar objections to the harsh, partisan edge of Palin's remarks. "I'm not impressed with her at all as a person," one said, citing her "finger pointing" and general sarcasm after the group had generally agreed that she was a talented public speaker.