Liveblogging Sarah Palin's Speech to the Republican National Convention

I tuned in to watch Sarah Palin's speech to the RNC and was delighted to see Rudy Giuliani delivering one heck of a stemwinder.

This should be fun.

The vicious attacks Palin has taken in the past week have revved up the crowd.  They are beyond enthusiastic about Sarah Palin.

The speech:

Palin acknowledges a tough fight ahead in the campaign, and points out that McCain has won much tougher fights.  Palin reminds the crowd, as did Giuliani, that McCain took a personal political risk to support the Iraq surge, and said he'd rather lose an election than have America lose the war.

The Palins' eldest son Track will deploy to Iraq next week on September 11th.  Her nephew also serves in the Persian Gulf.  A word for all the fine men and women serving the country in uniform.

Palin brings up her three daughters and infant son.  She puts in a word for families with special needs children and says that if McCain is elected, they will have a friend and advocate of the White House.

Introduces her husband Todd.  "Two decades and five children later, he's still my guy."  Sweet.

Now her parents.  Big applause.

A word for people from small towns in America, like president Harry Truman.  The words have more weight only because of the hell Palin has been put through by the liberal left for several days.

Funny line.  "Do you know the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull?  Lipstick."

Discusses her start as a small town mayor.  Since the left seems to look down on that job, "let me explain to them what the job involves."

It's sort of like a community organizer . . . except that you have actual responsibilities.

Not sure how to react to a candidate who talks nicely to small town folks when they are listening, then talks about how bitterly they cling to guns and religion when they aren't listening.

This is a seriously well done speech.

Now turns her attention to the media.  "Here's a little news flash for those reporters and commentators.  I'm not going to Washington to seek their opinion.  I'm going to Washington to serve this great . . . . "  Crowd goes wild.

Can you say -- "hoisted on their own petard"?

Talks about going to Washington for the right reasons, and going with conviction, and a servant's heart.

This was the spirit that brought her to the governor's office in Alaska.  Came to office promising ethics reform; today that reform is the law.  Got rid of some things she didn't think the citizens of Alaska should have to pay for.

"That luxury jet was over the top.  I put in on ebay."

She also thought they could muddle through without the governor's personal chef.

Vetoed wasteful spending in Alaska -- nearly half a million dollars.  When oil and gas tax revenues soared, sent some directly back to the people.

Turns to energy independence.  Important when it comes to dangerous foreign powers who do not have our interests at stake.  Also refers to hurricane supply issues and Russia trying to use oil as a weapon.  "We cannot afford to leave ourselves at the mercy of foreign suppliers."   Risk terrorists might strike at Saudi Arabia, and brings up Venezuela.  America needs to secure its own oil and gas.  "We've got lots of both."   The fact that drilling won't solve every problem is no excuse to do nothing at all.

There is much to like and admire about our opponent, but . . . wrote two memoirs without having . . . crowd goes wild again.  Never uses the word "victory" except to refer to his own campaign.

Opponent against producing more energy.  America close to victory in Iraq; he wants to forfeit.  Wants to meet with terrorists without condition.  Government is too big; he wants to grow it.  He wants to increase taxes on the American people by hundreds of billions of dollars.

In politics, there are some candidates who use "change" to promote their careers; there are others, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change.

"My fellow Americans, the presidency is not supposed to be a journey of personal discovery."  America doesn't just need an "organizer."  The opponents say they will fight for you, but let's face it squarely:  There is only one man in this election who has ever really fought for you in places where wining means survival and defeat means death.

Tells a story from McCain's POW experience.  Every day after returning from torture, thumbs up to another POW.  For a season, a candidate can inspire with his words.  For a lifetime, McCain has inspired with his deeds.

Wrap-Up:   A very strong speech.  Here's the full text.  Palin has excellent delivery and timing.  No wonder the left is going crazy with attempted character assassination.  It won't work.  Nobody in their right mind will want to hate her.

Update:  One of many great passages in the speech:

But 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.

This is a man who can give an entire speech about the wars America is fighting, and never use the word “victory” except when he’s talking about his own campaign. 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? The answer is to make government bigger … take more of your money … give you more orders from Washington … and to reduce the strength of America in a dangerous world. America needs more energy … our opponent is against producing it.

Victory in Iraq is finally in sight … he wants to forfeit.

Terrorist states are seeking nuclear weapons without delay … he wants to meet them without preconditions.

Al Qaeda terrorists still plot to inflict catastrophic harm on America … he’s worried that someone won’t read them their rights? Government is too big … he wants to grow it.

Congress spends too much … he promises more.

Taxes are too high … he wants to raise them.

Comments

[Kat]

Not really. Her cynical use of her family as political hay (she cut funding for special ed, remember? Now she DARES play the Down syndrome card?) and her mean-spiritedness throughout, hidden behind the 'I'm just a small-town girl' rhetoric, combined with a lack of any kind of substance, makes this speech pretty on the outside, ugly on the inside.

Your analysis reads like a fan page - if it's for thinking people, THINK your way through it. Ask questions, don't just go "Oh wow, says this, excellent timing and delivery." Don't forget her lies on the bridge to nowhere, her nastiness in the campaign for Wasilla, the fact that she depended on earmarked spending, despite her claim to the contrary.

You *summarised*, you didn't ask a single question, you didn't analyse the text.

"Wrap-Up: A very strong speech. Here's the full text. Palin has excellent delivery and timing. No wonder the left is going crazy with attempted character assassination. It won't work. Nobody in their right mind will want to hate her."

THAT doesn't even begin to approach an analysis for thinking people. If you're a conservative Republican, call yourself that, and don't pretend to be a place for people who want incisive commentary.

[benning]

Excellent speech by Palin.

When you two [deleted] do some poking into the Obama-Biden team, with the nastiness you have the McCain-Palin team, perhaps you'll be taken seriously. Until then, "Rezko!"

[Gina Cobb]

Thanks Kat. Some of your points are legitimate; others seem extremely partisan to me. You call Palin "mean-spiririrted," but frankly the comments Palin made about her adversaries in the speech were light-hearted and politce compared to your comment itself. Are you sure that you have not fallen prey to cynicism and mean-spiritedness yourself?

By the way, you're right about one thing -- my liveblogging of the Palin speech was not a detailed analysis and certainly not a nit-picking critique. Like our readers, I have enough common sense and humility not to try to demonstrate how brilliant I am with every post. Life is too short. I know the kind of person who tries too hard to sound incisive, deep, brilliant and profound with every word that leaves their lips or their keyboard, and I'm not one of those people. I'm happy to be profound some days and simple other days.

Our readers, however, are an exceptionally intelligent bunch, and they can analyze your comment and take it apart, if they choose to do so, just as easily as you have attepted to take apart Palin's speech. I don't care to do that right now.

And -- yes -- I plead guilty to find myself surpisingly enthusiastic about Palin at this time. You clearly want to defeat her. Sorry to have disappointed you.

Maybe you can show me how it's done by critiquing Obama's next speech (or whoever is your favorite candidate in the race), complete with fact-checking and without sounding like a fan club. Could you do that? Have you done that for a candidate whom you support? If you have written something like that or decide to do so, let me know and I'll even post it here or link to it as long as it's not defamatory, profane etc.

I'm not afraid of legitimate debate, Kat. I think it helps bring out the truth. That's why your comment is welcome here, even if it takes a dig or two at Palin and at me, and makes the legitimate point that I didn't report on Governor Palin's speech with anything approaching a fine-tooth comb.

Good luck to you personally, Kat, and please come back soon.