<p>I think there is a reason I stopped debating politics beyond foreign policy on the internet.</p>
<p>She is an inch deep and a mile wide.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>From my perspective this is the best thing Obama brings to the table. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This is also true of a great many candidates. I think it did lay to rest the question of whether she could handle the big stage. People hated Reagan (I’m sure some still do) but his communication skills were his biggest asset. Everyone has their gifts. I didn’t think much of Bill Clinton but I have to admit he was a skill orator and was able to inspire confidence…even if you didn’t agree with what he said he sounded competent and on top of it. I got the same feeling from Palin during her speech. </p>
<p>My wife is typically apathetic to politics and Palin has her intrigued to the point she is going to watch the speech (she was at work during the speech so I taped it). I don’t think in the 20 years we have been married she has ever watched a political speech. In talking to her it is because Palin is an unknown and a complete outsider. That appeals to her…</p>
<p>[RedState:</a> BREAKING: Sarah Palin “Winged” Her Speech Because of “Broken” Teleprompter](<a href=“http://www.redstate.com/diaries/redstate/2008/sep/04/breaking-sarah-palin-winged-her-speech-bec/]RedState:”>http://www.redstate.com/diaries/redstate/2008/sep/04/breaking-sarah-palin-winged-her-speech-bec/)</p>
<p>Well, she performs well without the teleprompter.</p>
<p>[YouTube</a> - Obama gaffe](<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxBX8sz3tO8]YouTube”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxBX8sz3tO8)
He doesn’t.</p>
<p>^ yea…unfortunately it is a complete lie! That is something conservative aides conjured up and wrote on their blogs. </p>
<p>[Jonathan</a> Martin’s Blog: The teleprompter did not break - Politico.com](<a href=“http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/0908/The_teleprompter_did_not_break.html]Jonathan”>http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/0908/The_teleprompter_did_not_break.html)</p>
<p>My conservative/moderate friend was extremely offended by the pettiness and bitterness of Palin’s speech, particularly her derisive comment about community organizers.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>That is entirely hilarious (in the sense of being lame): firstly, that some blogger is making up stories about the teleprompter breaking and, secondly, that it gets circulated by the amen chorus.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I didn’t like Palin at all. I certainly started out disposed to dislike her and I’d be the first to admit that, but if a person appeals to me, I can overlook his/her politics. McCain, when he is being John McCain and not stretching himself to become president, is actually really likeable to me. He has this off-the-cuff, no bs way of speaking that can be really refreshing – or at least he once did.</p>
<p>I actually thought Palin came across as really smug and full of herself, and I think her speech played well with her base but the impression I am getting as I check around is that it turned a lot of people off a whole lot…Her writers should have had her talk more about things of substance and of hope. Instead she just rattled off a bunch of zingers and same old talking points. I never doubted for a second her delivery would be good, as it was in the barest sense of that. I was looking for her content and a measure of who she actually is. She held herself up as a anti-wasteful spending maven, for instance, in a sound-bitey kind of way, but we already know that’s her own PR and not truthful. If she had been able to truthfully and in detail lay out things like that that she had fought for, rather than just been opportunistic about claiming, I would have been much more impressed. It’s been said: this was a small speech. But it did what I thought it would: it put the McCain campaign on life support. That’s okay, though, because as information about who she really is keeps coming out and we get back to the task at hand, in which she’s really of limited importance, it’ll come off life support again. The Republicans are not fired up this year.</p>
<p>The entire convention has hardly mentioned either Bush or the economy at all. Phew, talk about elephants in the living room (pun intended).</p>
<p>Remember the big difference between Obama and Palin, not that a comparison of the two should even be considered remotely apt: Obama got to where he is democratically, whereas Palin was handpicked in autocratic fashion. Obama had to repeatedly prove himself to voters all over America, one state at a time, and he has gotten wiser and more capable because of it. Palin, on the other hand, has been parachuted into the 2nd most powerful office in the country without having to prove anything other than a willingness to be Karl Rove’s puppet.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I was amazed at the chutzpah of the Republican line yesterday that the media should go easy on her. Thank god the media isn’t buying it for one minute – and how can they with all the stories they’ll be able to write? Whether what they write is good or bad, they have to produce stories people want to read. And Palin is going to undertake in a small amount of time a lot of investigation; it’s a parallel of the process Obama went through, as you pointed out.</p>
<p>Here is a smattering of opinions from a focus group made up of elephants, donkeys, and independents. Source: Detroit Free Press.</p>
<p>Look at what the independents say: they hate her or don’t think they know enough about her. Interestingly, the Dem woman liked her – at least enough to say she’ll make the race interesting.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Sarah Palin may be the single most divisive politician ever to be nominated by a major party. Her speech was sarcastic, caustic, derisive, rude, and ultimately unbecoming of a Vice-President. I’m downright tired and angry with Republicans for continually insinuating that by being a Democrat–and worse, a liberal–I am stupid, unpatriotic, and elitist. Palin may have energized the extreme right-wing that makes up the bulk of the Republican Party, but she has certainly energized Democrats as well.</p>
<p>“You’re not strong by tearing other people down. You’re strong by lifting other people up.” - Barack Obama</p>
<p>The Republican party has become the party of bitter losers, people who are so hopeless in life that they want to keep down the bright and exceptional (e.g. the intelligent are derided as elitists). They replace them with those that resemble themselves the most: ordinary, beer-drinking, dumb, and caustic average(wo)men whose ego and ambitions far exceed their actual abilities. George W. Bush and John McCain, the dunces of their schools, fit the bill quite well. Sarah Palin, the creationist hockey mom, also vibes well with their incessant resentment.</p>
<p>Sarah Palin’s speech offered nothing for Americans other than feeding their bitterness that a young, handsome, educated, and capable (black?) man thought he could do things that they could never dream of. The culture wars of the 1960s are passing us by into irrelevance, and the old Republicans are desperately hanging onto those things that seemed to give purpose to their lives. It is clear, now more than ever, that Obama is trying to push the country into the 21st century, while McCain wants to keep us fighting the narcissistic battles of the past.</p>
<p>I’m sorry. I had a ton of homework tonight, because school started on Wednesday. I am going to watch both speeches tomorrow evening and post my thoughts. Pathetic excuse, but then again, apparently I’m quite pathetic. Fitting, don’t you think? However, I did find it interesting that Palin’s speech got 40 million views (PBS reported 3 million to add to the preliminary total of 37 million) on 3 fewer networks than Obama. In other words, people gave her a chance – as they should have. Now everyone can make some judgment.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>How cute. I must say, it was a nice attempt. But a failed one, to be sure. Notice the difference: I have my biases, as do most Americans. What I, and many Americans and some posters on this board, have are biases that do NOT determine whether I like something before it even happens. I have biases about Palin’s personal life and her political views, but I have also been incredibly reserved in judgment of her as a candidate until I had seen something. The speech will be that something.</p>
<p>However, many posters on this forum are so vehement in their beliefs, whatever they may be, that it screws up their bias completely. In other words, they go into the speech already knowing how they’re going to like it. It’s just how some people are, and it’s a shame. Over 5,000 posts? Yeah, obviously people in that thread are approaching the speech with an open mind…</p>
<p>There’s inevitable bias, and then there’s destructive and prejudiced bias.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I never implied that at all. Your total inability to understand my post is not indicative of a flaw in what I said. But again, nice try. ;)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Oh, thank you for proving my point. 
It’s so adorable when you try to be mean, but just come across as exactly what I said in my first post! But another thanks for letting us all know what a partisan, bigoted, closed-minded, brainwashed political fiend you are. Good to know!</p>
<p>
From: <a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/05/opinion/05krugman.html?_r=2&ref=opinion&oref=slogin&oref=slogin[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/05/opinion/05krugman.html?_r=2&ref=opinion&oref=slogin&oref=slogin</a></p>
<p>Couldn’t have said it more succinctly, Mr. Krugman. What unites these Republicans is not a vision for America or even a single issue: it’s just the fervent desire to defeat Barack Obama. We all saw it in the RNC which was devoid of any message or goal besides trashing Obama. It’s become a party of Salieris, frothing at the mouth to tear down Mozart. With an aging and diminishing power base, as well as lack of any transcendent political talent, no wonder they’re scared and lashing out at everything around them.</p>
<p>Obama or Biden has never said that Wasilla is not cosmopolitan enough. Neither Obama or Biden is an east coast elitist. Republicans are just projecting all their resentments and insecurities and seeing slights where none exist, kind of like George Costanza in “Seinfeld”. The GOP is now the party of ambitious (sub)mediocrity, a dangerous combination.</p>
<p>[The</a> Corner on National Review Online](<a href=“http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=Nzg3YTRjMzJmMGU1M2E3MGQyZmQzMmMxMGI2ODYwNGU=]The”>http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=Nzg3YTRjMzJmMGU1M2E3MGQyZmQzMmMxMGI2ODYwNGU=)
Palin’s great. But Mccain beat her 
So clearly,
[SurveyUSA</a> News Poll #14317](<a href=“http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollReport.aspx?g=36ee8fde-58bf-4027-a75b-b29d86b66b92]SurveyUSA”>SurveyUSA News Poll #14317)
Palin’s well received speech, which…"</p>
<p>24 hours ago, independent voters nationwide were split on whether Palin was an asset or a liability to McCain’s campaign. Today, by a 2:1 margin, independents say Palin is an asset. Overnight, the percentage calling the Alaska governor an asset to the campaign climbed 13 points; the percentage calling her a liability fell 17 points.</p>
<p>The numbers are similar among moderates, who 24 hours ago viewed Palin as a liability by an 11 point margin; today, Palin is seen as an asset by an 18 point margin."</p>
<p>Apparently went well enough to lead McCain into a bigger ratings bonanza.</p>
<p>We’re a conservative country at heart.. muahaha :D</p>
<p>It was a pretty shocking speech; it was not at all up to par for what I’d expect of a VP candidate. There’s not much I can add that hasn’t been said already, but she certainly does not stand up to Joe Biden; not in experience, and not in ability. The derisive jabs at the Dems and Obama got very annoying.</p>
<p>Also:
Throwing around adjectives while being condescending and pointing out the obvious fact that people have bias, as if you’ve made some sort of discovery, does not make you insightful or enlightened.</p>
<p>I didn’t care for her mocking of “community service.” That was mean-spirited and wrong. Habitat for Humanity and many other great, helping organizations consider themselves part of the community service movement.</p>
<p>John McCain is to George Bush as Palin is to Dan Quale. All the republicans can muster are the same old scare tactics - not an original idea amongst them.</p>
<p>Don’t underestimate Palin’s appeal, Counting. I don’t get it either, but she seems to have a huge fan club already, whereas Quayle was never particularly well regarded by anybody.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Correction: We were a conservative country at heart.</p>
<p>More young people identify as Democrats than Republicans. The Republican constituent (white rural people) are becoming an increasingly smaller segment of the American population. Conservatism has to abandon the “platform” of God, Guns, and Gays, or they will not survive the winter.</p>
<p>^Maybe but more people attend/attended public schools than Ivys. More people can relate to Palin than Obama. The polls show she’s more popular than Obama.</p>