Palin Delivers

The debate is over: she's the real deal. John McCain's VP selection, Sarah Palin, delivered the goods last night in spades, leaping well above the hurdle with the grace of a dancer. I got some positive reactions to my commenting on the Obamessiah's speech last week, so I thought I'd do it again with Palin's. Here goes...

The applause when she took the stage was thunderous. I only counted 7-8 "Thank yous" from her before she started speaking, whereas Obama offered up well over a dozen. She got down to business much quicker.

Mr. Chairman, delegates, and fellow citizens: I am honored to be considered for the nomination for Vice President of the United States...

History in the making, right here...

I accept the call to help our nominee for president to serve and defend America.

I accept the challenge of a tough fight in this election... against confident opponents ... at a crucial hour for our country.

And I accept the privilege of serving with a man who has come through much harder missions ... and met far graver challenges ... and knows how tough fights are won - the next president of the United States, John S. McCain.

It was just a year ago when all the experts in Washington counted out our nominee because he refused to hedge his commitment to the security of the country he loves.

With their usual certitude, they told us that all was lost - there was no hope for this candidate who said that he would rather lose an election than see his country lose a war.

But the pollsters and pundits overlooked just one thing when they wrote him off.

To be honest, I had hoped he would go away at that point. He wasn't my last choice from the GOP field, but he was close. Interestingly enough, it was about that time that the New York Times endorsed him, much to the chagrin of conservatives. I think that endorsement helped him claw his way back into the race, especially as the liberal MSM began hammering away at the other candidates.

They overlooked the caliber of the man himself - the determination, resolve, and sheer guts of Senator John McCain. The voters knew better.

And maybe that's because they realize there is a time for politics and a time for leadership ... a time to campaign and a time to put our country first.

Our nominee for president is a true profile in courage, and people like that are hard to come by.

He's a man who wore the uniform of this country for 22 years, and refused to break faith with those troops in Iraq who have now brought victory within sight.

And as the mother of one of those troops, that is exactly the kind of man I want as commander in chief. I'm just one of many moms who'll say an extra prayer each night for our sons and daughters going into harm's way.

Our son Track is 19.

And one week from tomorrow - September 11th - he'll deploy to Iraq with the Army infantry in the service of his country.

My nephew Kasey also enlisted, and serves on a carrier in the Persian Gulf.

My family is proud of both of them and of all the fine men and women serving the country in uniform.

This is the first of many identifications - the military. Palin crosses a heckuva lot of lines when it comes to attracting voters. Just wait and watch...

Track is the eldest of our five children.

In our family, it's two boys and three girls in between - my strong and kind-hearted daughters Bristol, Willow, and Piper.

And in April, my husband Todd and I welcomed our littlest one into the world, a perfectly beautiful baby boy named Trig. From the inside, no family ever seems typical.

That's how it is with us.

Our family has the same ups and downs as any other ... the same challenges and the same joys.

Sometimes even the greatest joys bring challenge.

Is she going to address the Bristol 'controversy'? Also, Piper is an absolute cutie!

And children with special needs inspire a special love.

To the families of special-needs children all across this country, I have a message: For years, you sought to make America a more welcoming place for your sons and daughters.

I pledge to you that if we are elected, you will have a friend and advocate in the White House.

Powerful pledge, which will resonate with identifier #2: moms in general, and especially moms of special needs kids. You can also throw in an identifier with all pro-lifers here, not only due to Trig, but also to Bristol's decision to have her baby. I think maybe she needed to talk a bit more about her daughter, since it's the obvious elephant in the room. Maybe not; we'll see how the rest of the speech plays out.

Todd is a story all by himself. He's a lifelong commercial fisherman ...

Identifier #4: outdoorsey types

...a production operator in the oil fields of Alaska's North Slope ... a proud member of the United Steel Workers' Union ... and world champion snow machine racer.

Identifiers #5-7: blue-collar workers, union workers, and sportsmen.

Throw in his Yup'ik Eskimo ancestry, and it all makes for quite a package.

Identifier #8: native minorities

We met in high school, and two decades and five children later he's still my guy. My Mom and Dad both worked at the elementary school in our small town.

And among the many things I owe them is one simple lesson: that this is America, and every woman can walk through every door of opportunity.

My parents are here tonight, and I am so proud to be the daughter of Chuck and Sally Heath. Long ago, a young farmer and habber-dasher from Missouri followed an unlikely path to the vice presidency.

Cool! Missouri!

A writer observed: "We grow good people in our small towns, with honesty, sincerity, and dignity." I know just the kind of people that writer had in mind when he praised Harry Truman.

I grew up with those people.

Identifier #9: rural voters.

They are the ones who do some of the hardest work in America ... who grow our food, run our factories, and fight our wars.

They love their country, in good times and bad, and they're always proud of America. I had the privilege of living most of my life in a small town.

You know, I don't recall one reference (and I could be wrong about this, since I'm doing this off the top of my head) from last week at the DNC about being proud of America, and certainly not small-town America. Interesting contrast.

It was at this point that she told her joke about the difference between hockey moms and pit bulls being only lipstick, and got a great response.

I was just your average hockey mom, and signed up for the PTA because I wanted to make my kids' public education better.

When I ran for city council, I didn't need focus groups and voter profiles because I knew those voters, and knew their families, too.

Before I became governor of the great state of Alaska, I was mayor of my hometown.

By creaming a 3-time incumbent...

And since our opponents in this presidential election seem to look down on that experience, let me explain to them what the job involves.

This was one of the biggest applause lines in the speech. It was also good for her to attack her biggest weakness directly.

I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a "community organizer," except that you have actual responsibilities.

Another great applause line, and if that's not a clear shot at Obama's (lack of) experience, nothing is! Is this a signal of a gloves-off speech?

I might add that in small towns, we don't quite know what to make of a candidate who lavishes praise on working people when they are listening, and then talks about how bitterly they cling to their religion and guns when those people aren't listening.

We tend to prefer candidates who don't talk about us one way in Scranton and another way in San Francisco.

Yes! This is a winning point, and they need to keep reminding people of it.

As for my running mate, you can be certain that wherever he goes, and whoever is listening, John McCain is the same man. I'm not a member of the permanent political establishment.

That's true, and conservatives have felt the brunt of that independence plenty of times.

And I've learned quickly, these past few days, that if you're not a member in good standing of the Washington elite, then some in the media consider a candidate unqualified for that reason alone.

And I would use that same reasoning to establish your qualifications...

But here's a little news flash for all those reporters and commentators: I'm not going to Washington to seek their good opinion - I'm going to Washington to serve the people of this country.

Yes!!! This is a great line, and should resonate with a lot of people. Washington is broken, and both McCain and Palin have the track record of being 'fixers', so they need to really deliver this message. The MSM has shucked all pretense at objectivity with this election, so this appearance is critical.

Americans expect us to go to Washington for the right reasons, and not just to mingle with the right people.

Politics isn't just a game of clashing parties and competing interests.

The right reason is to challenge the status quo, to serve the common good, and to leave this nation better than we found it.

No one expects us to agree on everything.

But we are expected to govern with integrity, good will, clear convictions, and ... a servant's heart.

I think she said some of this at her first speech after being named McCain's Veep. It sounds familiar.

I pledge to all Americans that I will carry myself in this spirit as vice president of the United States. This was the spirit that brought me to the governor's office, when I took on the old politics as usual in Juneau ... when I stood up to the special interests, the lobbyists, big oil companies, and the good-ol' boys network.

You know, if someone would have quoted this paragraph 12 months ago, they probably would have thought Hillary Clinton said it.

Sudden and relentless reform never sits well with entrenched interests and power brokers. That's why true reform is so hard to achieve.

But with the support of the citizens of Alaska, we shook things up.

That's an understatement: she whipped the incumbent Republican Governor in the primary, then whipped the Democrat challenger in the general election.

And in short order we put the government of our state back on the side of the people.

I came to office promising major ethics reform, to end the culture of self-dealing. And today, that ethics reform is the law.

While I was at it, I got rid of a few things in the governor's office that I didn't believe our citizens should have to pay for.

Ooh! Ooh! Do the jet...talk about the jet...!

That luxury jet was over the top. I put it on eBay.

I love it! :)

I also drive myself to work.

And I thought we could muddle through without the governor's personal chef - although I've got to admit that sometimes my kids sure miss her. I came to office promising to control spending - by request if possible and by veto if necessary.

Senator McCain also promises to use the power of veto in defense of the public interest - and as a chief executive, I can assure you it works.

Yes, taking a principled stance that defends the public interest usually does.

Our state budget is under control.

We have a surplus.

And I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending: nearly half a billion dollars in vetoes.

I suspended the state fuel tax, and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress.

I told the Congress "thanks, but no thanks," for that Bridge to Nowhere.

If our state wanted a bridge, we'd build it ourselves. When oil and gas prices went up dramatically, and filled up the state treasury, I sent a large share of that revenue back where it belonged - directly to the people of Alaska.

Yep, they got $1200 checks in the mail. Cool. Wouldn't it be nice to have this attitude running the national economy?

And despite fierce opposition from oil company lobbyists, who kind of liked things the way they were, we broke their monopoly on power and resources.

As governor, I insisted on competition and basic fairness to end their control of our state and return it to the people.

I fought to bring about the largest private-sector infrastructure project in North American history.

And when that deal was struck, we began a nearly forty billion dollar natural gas pipeline to help lead America to energy independence.

Oh, yeah! She's the ideal person to lead McCain's energy independence crusade. She knows the issue, she knows what works, and she's already done it in her own state.

That pipeline, when the last section is laid and its valves are opened, will lead America one step farther away from dependence on dangerous foreign powers that do not have our interests at heart.

The stakes for our nation could not be higher.

When a hurricane strikes in the Gulf of Mexico, this country should not be so dependent on imported oil that we are forced to draw from our Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

And families cannot throw away more and more of their paychecks on gas and heating oil.

With Russia wanting to control a vital pipeline in the Caucasus, and to divide and intimidate our European allies by using energy as a weapon, we cannot leave ourselves at the mercy of foreign suppliers.

This is good - one of her other big weaknesses was the lack of foreign policy experience. When coupled with energy, she suddenly becomes much more qualified, and this could turn into a winning issue for her.

To confront the threat that Iran might seek to cut off nearly a fifth of world energy supplies ... or that terrorists might strike again at the Abqaiq facility in Saudi Arabia ... or that Venezuela might shut off its oil deliveries ... we Americans need to produce more of our own oil and gas.

And take it from a gal who knows the North Slope of Alaska: we've got lots of both.

Our opponents say, again and again, that drilling will not solve all of America's energy problems - as if we all didn't know that already.

I like her fire...she is clearly not afraid to prod the Democrats.

But the fact that drilling won't solve every problem is no excuse to do nothing at all.

Talk about how the Democrats went on vacation instead of opening up energy production...!

Starting in January, in a McCain-Palin administration, we're going to lay more pipelines ... build more new-clear plants ... create jobs with clean coal ... and move forward on solar, wind, geothermal, and other alternative sources.

We need American energy resources, brought to you by American ingenuity, and produced by American workers.

She didn't. Oh well, she's still illustrating the GOP platform on energy. That's a critical issue for November, and one they can win on.

I've noticed a pattern with our opponent.

Maybe you have, too.

We've all heard his dramatic speeches before devoted followers.

And there is much to like and admire about our opponent.

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.

Whoa! She's not only prodding, she's now actively poking the beehive with a hot iron! But she's right...

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...

A huge applause line, and one that was entirely warranted. The Greek Temple bit was way, way, way overdone, and the GOP would be idiotic not to make use of it.

... 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?

Another huge applause line, again one that is warranted. If the Obamessiah says stupid things like this, it's only fair to turn them back around.

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 new-clear 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.

This is great stuff! All of it is true.

Taxes are too high ... he wants to raise them. His tax increases are the fine print in his economic plan, and let me be specific.

Good. Specific is good...

The Democratic nominee for president supports plans to raise income taxes ... raise payroll taxes ... raise investment income taxes ... raise the death tax ... raise business taxes ... and increase the tax burden on the American people by hundreds of billions of dollars. My sister Heather and her husband have just built a service station that's now opened for business - like millions of others who run small businesses.

How are they going to be any better off if taxes go up?

Indeed, that is the question!

Or maybe you're trying to keep your job at a plant in Michigan or Ohio ... or create jobs with clean coal from Pennsylvania or West Virginia ... or keep a small farm in the family right here in Minnesota.

How are you going to be better off if our opponent adds a massive tax burden to the American economy? Here's how I look at the choice Americans face in this election.

In politics, there are some candidates who use change to promote their careers.

And then there are those, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change.

That's a brilliant line! You'll hear that one again, I'm sure.

They're the ones whose names appear on laws and landmark reforms, not just on buttons and banners, or on self-designed presidential seals.

Bam! There's another direct dig at the Obamessiah's rampant ego.

Among politicians, there is the idealism of high-flown speechmaking, in which crowds are stirringly summoned to support great things.

And then there is the idealism of those leaders, like John McCain, who actually do great things. They're the ones who are good for more than talk ... the ones we have always been able to count on to serve and defend America. Senator McCain's record of actual achievement and reform helps explain why so many special interests, lobbyists, and comfortable committee chairmen in Congress have fought the prospect of a McCain presidency - from the primary election of 2000 to this very day.

Our nominee doesn't run with the Washington herd.

He's a man who's there to serve his country, and not just his party.

A leader who's not looking for a fight, but is not afraid of one either.

That's a good line, too.

Harry Reid, the Majority Leader of the current do-nothing Senate, not long ago summed up his feelings about our nominee.

He said, quote, "I can't stand John McCain." Ladies and gentlemen, perhaps no accolade we hear this week is better proof that we've chosen the right man.

Amen! A constant theme you hear from the biggest conservatives is that if they're not actively being hated and bashed by the Left, they're not being conservative enough.

Clearly what the Majority Leader was driving at is that he can't stand up to John McCain. That is only one more reason to take the maverick of the Senate and put him in the White House. My fellow citizens, the American presidency is not supposed to be a journey of "personal discovery." This world of threats and dangers is not just a community, and it doesn't just need an organizer.

And though both Senator Obama and Senator Biden have been going on lately about how they are always, quote, "fighting for you," let us face the matter squarely.

There is only one man in this election who has ever really fought for you ... in places where winning means survival and defeat means death ... and that man is John McCain.

I can't give her that one - McCain sometimes fights directly against me (case in point: illegal immigration)... Still, her point about the Dems not fighting for the American people is correct.

In our day, politicians have readily shared much lesser tales of adversity than the nightmare world in which this man, and others equally brave, served and suffered for their country.

It's a long way from the fear and pain and squalor of a six-by-four cell in Hanoi to the Oval Office.

But if Senator McCain is elected president, that is the journey he will have made.

It's the journey of an upright and honorable man - the kind of fellow whose name you will find on war memorials in small towns across this country, only he was among those who came home.

To the most powerful office on earth, he would bring the compassion that comes from having once been powerless ... the wisdom that comes even to the captives, by the grace of God ... the special confidence of those who have seen evil, and seen how evil is overcome. A fellow prisoner of war, a man named Tom Moe of Lancaster, Ohio, recalls looking through a pin-hole in his cell door as Lieutenant Commander John McCain was led down the hallway, by the guards, day after day.

As the story is told, "When McCain shuffled back from torturous interrogations, he would turn toward Moe's door and flash a grin and thumbs up" - as if to say, "We're going to pull through this." My fellow Americans, that is the kind of man America needs to see us through these next four years.

For a season, a gifted speaker can inspire with his words.

That season is now, with the Obamessiah in full bloom...or is the bloom already wilting...?

For a lifetime, John McCain has inspired with his deeds.

If character is the measure in this election ... and hope the theme ... and change the goal we share, then I ask you to join our cause. Join our cause and help America elect a great man as the next president of the United States.

Thank you all, and may God bless America.

Wow! She needed to knock the ball out of the park, and she did just that. I think she put many conservative fears to rest, and certainly wrapped up a lot of that base for McCain. It will be very interesting to see what kind of a bump comes out of the polls in a few days.

Some general thoughts. She's a natural, with the kind of presentation skill that can't be taught. She appears to have the kind of charisma that very few (Reagan and Bill Clinton, for example) have, and that is a huge asset for her. Of course, it's one thing to deliver a prepared speech (even though, I've read, that her teleprompter was constantly running forward too far), but another to handle questions on the campaign trail and in town hall meetings. Still, if she holds up as well in those situations as she did here, she's golden.

Some of the immediate analysis I saw after the speech included accolades about how she's the start of a new generation of Republicans, and a new star for the GOP. If she can hold her own through this campaign, and especially in the debate against Joe Biden, I would imagine those statements will be proved true.

Some other observations. Again, the spontaneous chants from the crowd were "Drill, baby, drill" and "USA!" Didn't hear any of that last week. I also thought it was interesting that she repeatedly referred to Obama, but she never used his name. Not sure what that's about, but there's probably some political nuance to it. She also made a lot of statements about what she's done. Obama can't do that, since he hasn't really done anything of note. It's a very serious problem that Obama can't compare with the bottom of the Rep ticket.

My final thought is this. Part of me thinks she may have gone overboard at times with her provoking remarks. The liberal left, the Obamessiah, and the MSM are going to be so mad they'll be spitting nails, and they'll re-double their efforts to destroy her and her family.

But, I have to admit that part of me loved it. One of my chief complaints against the current GOP is that they are so compromising. They seem to value bipartisanship and cooperation over accomplishing the GOP agenda, and that frustrates me to no end. Honestly, I like it that Palin picked some fights, especially after the way she's been treated over the past week. I think it's about time that we had someone to represent us who is willing to come out swinging. It's a refreshing change...the kind of change I can support.

Looks like this is going to be a great couple of months in the run-up to November.

There's my two cents.