RNC -- Day 3

Forgive me for taking some time to report on the final two days of the RNC -- after being mesmerized by Sarah Palin's speech on Wednesday night, I knew it would light a bonfire of comments and opinions from the various legitimate news sources, and I wanted to take it all in. Next thing I knew, it was time for the final night, and I also knew that I'd have plenty of time to ponder and opine during that 30-minute void ERRR McCain's acceptance speech...

DAY 3 -- First up: Meg Whitman, the eBay queen. Many are saying she will be the next governor of California, hand-picked by Ah-nuld himself, and it's common poly-sci knowledge that the Cali govnah job is always considered Presidential timber (provided said govnah is born in the U.S.), so I was interested in checking it out. Whitman's speech was very level, very standard -- I would say she had an agenda of not getting too crazy or too boring, so it was very Goldilocks, very safe. Next up was former HP CEO Carly Fiorina, and her speech was dry but she tried. I always wondered what happened to her, but she didn't look like she was suffering too much from being unemployed, so I'm glad I don't have to worry too much about her. Following Carly was Mitt Romney -- oh, yeah, now I remember why I just couldn't get my arms around this guy. Mitt's speech was delivered with gusto, as if someone told him to wake up the crowd following Whitman and Fiorina. Mitt was enthused to a fault, but he did his job...again. If McCain wins, look for Mitt to land on his feet within the administration. Mike Huckabee was next, and my perception is that he's still bitter about not being the nominee. For a former preacher, I found his speech to be non-contrite, and that kind of hypocrisy just strengthens the uneasiness many of us have with so-called religious zealots. Thankfully, next up was Rudy Guiliani, and I had to laugh -- oh, Rudy, you are the typical rabid New Yawkah. Rudy was like the yard dog you see chained to the tree in the back yard, not a piece of grass on the ground, barking up a storm as you pass by. Rudy revved up the crowd and did what Mitt could not -- he went directly at the Dems and their candidates, then he buttered up the crowd with rah-rahs for McCain and especially for Sarah Palin. Rudy left no stone unturned, and his speech set it up for the next speaker....
The SARAH-meister! The hockey mom! Kid outta nowhere! Cinderella story! But no tears in her eyes in this moment -- she was on a mission, and to paraphrase the old line, Hell hath no fury as a mother whose child is publicly ridiculed. Right off the bat, as she walked to the stage up to the time she said her first word of her speech, the crowd was in full applause, complete with 5 minute standing ovation. If you were wondering what the party response would be to all the questionable press about Sarah and her family in the prior 72 hours, you got your answer right at this moment. You knew she would have to absolutely crash and burn on the speech to screw this up, but you also knew she wasn't going to blow it -- it was well-known that she had expert GOP speechwriters and policy consultants working full-time with her since last Sunday. Her speech was borderline spiteful, yet full of substance and midwest charm, as only a PTA parent could deliver. She came out swinging against the Dems in general, and Obama in particular. The only thing she didn't say about Obama was "bless his heart", which, if you live in the South, you know that's the kiss of death. And I couldn't stop watching it. Sarah was not the most comfortable on the podium -- yeah, like any of us would be able to keep it all together on a stage like that, in front of a full house, and oh by the way, with 37 MILLION viewers on top of it. There were times that I thought I heard her voice crack -- very slight but noticeable to someone familiar with public speaking. She rallied well, and fed off the pauses she got from the applause breaks within her speech, and you could see her getting her mojo going, especially after the now-famous "lipstick" line (yeah, yeah, we know it's an old joke, originally used for female attorneys in the 70's, but effective nonetheless). Sarah came off as tough, no nonsense, and not giving quarter to the Dems, but really, what did you expect? She had to come out fast and hard, as if to convince us all that this was no fluke. Yes, it could be said that this is typical for women, that they have more barriers to overcome immediately if they are to be taken seriously. That may be true to some extent, but I can tell you that she got my attention right away, and I couldn't stop thinking about the comics' line of "rocking that dangerous sexy librarian look". And that accent -- it worked on the televised speech, but don't try it again on the radio; her voice on various newsradio shows was not comforting. The speechwriters used her to voice their spite to the Dems, and even better, she was comfortable being their spokesperson. My belief is that the goal was to get the Dems riled up
I'll save my opinions about her record and qualifications for later (I'm like you, I have questions and concerns, too). But what I did notice was that the Dems are still pissed about this pick, and the success of Sarah's speech is just adding gas to the flame. The interwebs are alive with vicious and caustic attacks on her character, her record, her attitude, and the irony that their girl, HRC, would be skewered alive by the 'publicans if the situation was reversed...more on that later....and more on Mac Daddy's speech last night...stay tuned...and thanks for the comments, keep 'em coming!