Thursday, September 04, 2008

as if you weren't hearing enough about her everywhere else.

I just can't help myself. Here are my thoughts on Sarah Palin.

Yes, Chani, snarky is exactly the word I would use to describe her speech last night. I was surprised that in her first national speech, she would want to paint herself as such a, well, snarky person. I actually saw her speech (it's the first one I've seen since the convention season started, because my mind is already made up and controversy is not a sport I enjoy. It's not as though I was going to watch the RNC - or the DNC, for that matter - and be swayed), and was not nearly as impressed as the Today show told me I should be this morning. What did she say of substance? Name one thing, any thing. She didn't. She was sarcastic and fluffy; she just happens to do sarcasm and fluff very well.

Even so - choosing her, in my opinion, was ingenious. She is the Republican version of Nancy Pelosi, and say whatever you want about her politics, Nancy Pelosi has proven herself a force to be reckoned with. She has five children, she's from a small town (and isn't she so proud of it?), she was a beauty queen - she is Everyman in 2008. She'll attract the social conservative vote (Brian assures me she's already won over the talk radio guys, whom he listens to simply to have someone to argue with in the car. Controversy, apparently, is a sport he enjoys very much) and let McCain be the moderate who can attract independents. Plus, she's a woman, which was also intentional, I'm sure. Intentional on McCain's part, that is. Palin had very little control over that.

I see why they chose her, not that I'm going to do the same. Even so, the joke about the hockey mom and pit bulls made me laugh. But, seriously? You're the governor of Alaska. You can afford to hire a sitter and get your baby to BED.

13 comments:

The Bean said...

In my experience, babies will fall asleep wherever they are if they are tired. Baby Bean once slept through an entire concert when she was 4 months old. And say what you want but she has no problems with her hearing, schedules or anything else for that matter.

Also, isn't fluff what Obama specializes in when he speaks? I thought she was a good speaker and definitely a power player for the ticket. She will be the fighting side of McCain so I think it was a well thought out, well balanced choice. And I agree with you that her being a woman was definitely a deal setter when choosing her.

I also liked the joke about Hockey moms and pit bulls. :)

Lisa said...

Although I didn't want to see her stoop to the level that the Dems did in trashing their opponent, I did think her speech was well delivered. I can't say that I didn't cheer at times when she got a few shots in at Obama. To tell you the truth, Obama scares the bejeebers out of me. McCain wasn't my first choice for Rep candidate, but I would certainly feel safer with him at the helm than with his opponent. And I agree that Palin was the smart choice for his VP candidate. It will certainly be an interesting couple of months as we see these campaigns unfold.

Nick M. said...

Obama fluff? My dear sister, did you happen to watch his speech last week? Big atmosphere and "Greek columns" aside (it was actually the White House for those who didn't quite pick up on that) Senator Obama's speech laid out specific areas of policy that he intends to work to fix and make better in our country. His speech also did not take swings at his opponent (I'm not faulting her for doing it just stating what he said vs. what she said).

I'm going to stop now because 1) Stephanie, I'm sure, does not care for her blog to become a war zone, and 2) I like you as a family member and don't feel the need to argue points with you that neither of us are going to change our minds about.

Mercy's Maid said...

This is the first blog/conversation, etc. that I've seen/heard that hasn't been glowing praise for Palin.

To be honest, the whole RNC scared the mess out of me. I had to turn it off after awhile, so I didn't see her speech. But I did make a comment about "why bring your little baby to something like this?" That just doesn't sound like fun for anyone. But the candidates' children are props at the conventions anyway.

thailandchani said...

Well, you already know what I think of her. :) Still, thank you for writing about it and sharing your thoughts, too. This is how we all get something new to think about!


~*

Mary said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwFqED85KWQ&eurl=http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/laurinmanning/gG5vZK

Anonymous said...

Well, Mercy's Maid, come over to my place then.

Stephanie, I wondered the same thing about the babysitter. Although I did think it was awfully cute to watch the little girl smooth the baby's hair down.

Unfortunately, that was the only sweet part of the speech.

Stephanie said...

Yes, her little girl smoothing his hair down was really cute.

Anonymous said...

It has been said that Jesus was a community organizer and Pontius Pilate was a governor. Just throwing that out there.

Missy said...

I didn't see her as snarky. I saw her as someone FINALLY responding to all the BS that Obama has been spouting for the past 6 months.

Sorry, I guess you can tell I'm a Republican now...

But really, I know that is how she played amongst the already converted - that finally, finally someone is preaching the truth.

Missy said...

Do you still love me even if I am a Republican?

Anonymous said...

i find both sides to be sophomoric when they choose to stand in front of people who already support them and make fun of their opponent. obama has done it talking about how many houses mccain owns and i watched rudy gulliani spend his time as the keynote speaker wed. making fun of obama for 30 minutes. are there not pressing issues to speak about?

Shannon said...

I was rather impressed with Palin. McCain, not so much because I've seen him speak many times. I think Palin was a good choice for him. Without her, I don't think he has much of a chance, in my opinion