Rate Palin's speech

[SPQR]

(Even the partisan hacks on NBC are admitting it.)

That being said from a partisan hack like you...

[Eraserhead]

Man, Drudge is clearly in the tank for Palin. He actually seemed fairly neutral in the election until she was picked as VP.

[ChrisFromNJ]

Man, Drudge is clearly in the tank for Palin. He actually seemed fairly neutral in the election until she was picked as VP.

Drudge is always in the tank for the Republicans.

That hasn't changed, and it likely never will.

Why people consider him a impartial news source... I'll never understand.

[elcorazon]

I posted this elsewhere, but that thread is fading and I thought it was worthy of mentioning here:

you guys underestimate how great she was.  she appealed way beyond partisan republicans.  will she win over partisan democrats?  no.  But can she win over some of the less political types who don't really tend to bother with the nuances of issues?  yes. 

Her appeal to those with special needs kids was brilliant.
Her approach focusing on fighting corruption appeals to those who are predisposed to liking mccain.
Her attacks on Obama, while fierce, struck at the core where people can relate.

It was a brilliant speech, beautifully delivered, which will definitely be a boost to the republicans.

All the prespeech press about all her flaws may ultimately benefit the republicans because lots of nonpolitical people who normally wouldn't bother, watched last night.   At least 2 women in my office (who will likely vote obama) watched last night for the first time of either convention.  Both thought she was great.  One still won't vote for mccain.  I'm not sure about the other.  for the record, that one HATES Hillary, and has said countless times, she'd vote against Obama if he picked Hillary as veep.

[JSojourner]

She basically said Barack Obama hates America.  He wants America to be defeated in Iraq.

She said only one man in this race ever fought for us.  She's right.  What's amazing is that when we said the same thing about our guy in 2004, the other side succeeded in convincing America he not only didn't fight for us...he lied about it and really fought against us.

She just plain lied about her record on the bridge.  She did not oppose it until it was politically unpopular.

She scored big points with me on the plane and chef.  I think that kind of cost cutting is always a welcome thing and we need a lot more of it.

It was a brilliant move to bring the kids out on stage.  Beautiful, sweet baby -- she is obviously a good mom...you can see it in her kids' eyes.  I also liked watching Mac interact with them.  He was having fun and that's always reassuring.

As a purely political attack speech, I give it an A+.  Better than any speech I have heard this campaign season in either party. And infinitely better than any attack speech from Biden or Obama.

As for being a speech with the best interests of the country at heart, what can I say?  I am an arch liberal...she is an arch conservative.  So naturally, I can't give it anything more than a D.

Bottom line?  I stand by my previous assertion -- barring a major misstep or scandal, my party has once again lost the election.
 

You compliment the Republican Party and their representatives more than many of the Republicans here.

I give credit where it is due, my friend.

We Democrats had better wake up.  We SUCK at politics.  We have been playing catchup ever since the advent of talk radio and Republicans just get better and better and better at it. 

Absolutely correct. Democrats govern better while republican campaign better.

No - Democrats, being the party of big government, don't govern better when they win, they just govern more when they win.

Eight years of prosperity, job creation and infrastructure improvement under the Clinton administration prove otherwise.  But the main point is -- Republicans believe government is a bad thing. Of course they can't make it work if they believe it's inherently bad.  What they can do -- and what they do when they are at their best -- is hold government accountable. 

[JSojourner]

Dumb c*nt, that's all I will say

C-

Wow, that's a pretty low and sexist comment.

Time to push for a ban.

I elaborated. 

The use of that word is what's offensive. What if I called Obama a dumb street n*gger?

Christ... if you're really so offended by that word then I'm sorry. 

Most women I know would slap you into the next universe if you called them that. And rightfully so. I'm not even trying to be PC about it either. It's nearly equivalent to calling a woman a whore to her face.

I agree.  Palin's speech was filled with lies, but the "C" word is every bit as off limits as the "n" word.

I'd bust a guy's jaw for calling my wife that.  And I detest violence.

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

I posted this elsewhere, but that thread is fading and I thought it was worthy of mentioning here:

you guys underestimate how great she was.  she appealed way beyond partisan republicans.

agreed.  Right now, Sarah Palin is the most famous woman in the world.  Which is quite shocking considering 2 years ago she was mayor of a town in Alaska with population under 10k.

[Brittain33]

The Detroit Free Press did a focus group on the speech.

Full coverage here.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080903/NEWS15/80904002

All the independents they quoted were unimpressed. A few Democrats liked what they saw, but it's unclear if it changes their votes. (In Michigan, this is worth paying attention to.) The Republicans have the universal Republican reaction.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

[KeyKeeper]

The Detroit Free Press did a focus group on the speech.

Full coverage here.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080903/NEWS15/80904002

All the independents they quoted were unimpressed. A few Democrats liked what they saw, but it's unclear if it changes their votes. (In Michigan, this is worth paying attention to.) The Republicans have the universal Republican reaction.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Well, I don't have a link or anything, but today on the radio, there were ton of caller that called in and said that they are now supporting McCain, because of Gov. Palin speech.

[Brittain33]

Another link to a group of Clinton-supporting women in Nevada. Not a group that you'd expect to be particularly receptive to the speech, and they weren't.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/04/female-clinton-supporters_n_123794.html

I'm getting these from Talking Points Memo, so naturally they're going to promote negative stories. I'm eager to hear of other focus groups.

[Brittain33]

Well, I don't have a link or anything, but today on the radio, there were ton of caller that called in and said that they are now supporting McCain, because of Gov. Palin speech.

Where did they stand before? There are loads of Republicans who were lukewarm about McCain who are now vigorously supporting the ticket, but I suspect most of them would have voted (if not donated) anyway.

[Eraserhead]

The Detroit Free Press did a focus group on the speech.

Full coverage here.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080903/NEWS15/80904002

All the independents they quoted were unimpressed. A few Democrats liked what they saw, but it's unclear if it changes their votes. (In Michigan, this is worth paying attention to.) The Republicans have the universal Republican reaction.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Wow. The Indies were pretty savage!

Geez, even I didn't think she was that bad.

[JSojourner]

The Detroit Free Press did a focus group on the speech.

Full coverage here.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080903/NEWS15/80904002

All the independents they quoted were unimpressed. A few Democrats liked what they saw, but it's unclear if it changes their votes. (In Michigan, this is worth paying attention to.) The Republicans have the universal Republican reaction.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Wow. The Indies were pretty savage!

Geez, even I didn't think she was that bad.

I am completely shocked by this.  The independents here are eating it up.  The GOP reaction does not surprise me.  I would have expected a little more Democratic negative reaction.  But the Indies so roundly criticizing it?  I never would have guessed.

[KeyKeeper]

Well, I don't have a link or anything, but today on the radio, there were ton of caller that called in and said that they are now supporting McCain, because of Gov. Palin speech.

Where did they stand before? There are loads of Republicans who were lukewarm about McCain who are now vigorously supporting the ticket, but I suspect most of them would have voted (if not donated) anyway.

Some where people who supported Obama, but really didn't like him, others where people who were unsure about both and some were lukewarm on Sen. McCain

[Јas]

I posted this elsewhere, but that thread is fading and I thought it was worthy of mentioning here:

you guys underestimate how great she was.  she appealed way beyond partisan republicans.

agreed.  Right now, Sarah Palin is the most famous woman in the world.  Which is quite shocking considering 2 years ago she was mayor of a town in Alaska with population under 10k.

I beg to differ, indeed I posit that their are numerous women in various fields who are more famous around the world, politicians (Margaret Thatcher, Hillary Clinton); singers (Madonna, Britney Spears); actresses (Julia Roberts, Pamela Anderson); sports stars (Venus & Serena Williams); TV personalities (Oprah); and monarchs (Queen Elizabeth II).

She is now world famous, but she has a way to go before she is "The most famous woman in the world".

[Brittain33]

I am completely shocked by this.  The independents here are eating it up.

What do you mean by "here"--this site or in your real life?

[Dan the Roman]

Part of it is obviously the media telling people that it was a good speech rather than anything in the speech itself. This was predictable narrative that was going to happen given prior coverage.

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

I am completely shocked by this.  The independents here are eating it up.

What do you mean by "here"--this site or in your real life?

you're becoming delusional

[Brittain33]

I am completely shocked by this.  The independents here are eating it up.

What do you mean by "here"--this site or in your real life?

you're becoming delusional

What are you talking about? You're possibly reading sarcasm where none was intended.

[Person Man]

Part of it is obviously the media telling people that it was a good speech rather than anything in the speech itself. This was predictable narrative that was going to happen given prior coverage.

Pretty much...

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

I am completely shocked by this.  The independents here are eating it up.

What do you mean by "here"--this site or in your real life?

you're becoming delusional

What are you talking about? You're possibly reading sarcasm where none was intended.

no, just the focus groups that were mentioned were complete hacks.  We'll have to wait for the polls.

[JSojourner]

I am completely shocked by this.  The independents here are eating it up.

What do you mean by "here"--this site or in your real life?

The forum.  The indies love her.  Verily is the only one I can think of offhand who doesn't.  But bear in mind, I mix up names and avatars a lot.  And that could be because I am old and dumb.  Or it could be because names and avatars change around here like underpants.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

Part of it is obviously the media telling people that it was a good speech rather than anything in the speech itself. This was predictable narrative that was going to happen given prior coverage.

True, though it's hard to argue it wasn't a good speech.  Democrats and Obama supporters will of course disagree since it bashed their guy pretty good.  It played very well with Republicans, and we'll likely see it playing well with independents and swing voters.

It wasn't ground shaking, but it was well delivered (especially considering there was a teleprompter snafu and she had to go off script) and trounced the expectations.

[JSojourner]

I am completely shocked by this.  The independents here are eating it up.

What do you mean by "here"--this site or in your real life?

you're becoming delusional

What are you talking about? You're possibly reading sarcasm where none was intended.

no, just the focus groups that were mentioned were complete hacks.  We'll have to wait for the polls.

Well that explains it, then. 

And it makes sense.  Independents will probably flock to her.

[Dan the Roman]

I am completely shocked by this.  The independents here are eating it up.

What do you mean by "here"--this site or in your real life?

The forum.  The indies love her.  Verily is the only one I can think of offhand who doesn't.  But bear in mind, I mix up names and avatars a lot.  And that could be because I am old and dumb.  Or it could be because names and avatars change around here like underpants.

The indies here are overwhelmingly Republican-leaning who are disenchanted with the party. Hence rolling them back in is easy. I mean even I voted for Bush in 2004, and I think you would find that is true of 70% of the indies on this board. So if this was a poll of right leaning independents already inclined to agree, yeah its correct. A better question is did it move anyone who didn't have McCain in their signature.

Part of it is obviously the media telling people that it was a good speech rather than anything in the speech itself. This was predictable narrative that was going to happen given prior coverage.

True, though it's hard to argue it wasn't a good speech.  Democrats and Obama supporters will of course disagree since it bashed their guy pretty good.  It played very well with Republicans, and we'll likely see it playing well with independents and swing voters.

It wasn't ground shaking, but it was well delivered (especially considering there was a teleprompter snafu and she had to go off script) and trounced the expectations.

I didn't mean it wasn't. What I meant was that there was nothing in the speech itself that should have convinced anyone who wasn't otherwise looking at McCain since it was boilerplate Republican stuff, and if a Governor could not pull off a speech it would have been surprising.

Most of the impact will be due to the effect of the positive news cycle generated by the speech rather than the speech itself. Palin not falling off the podium ensured she was due for one. I could have predicted the responses of most people here before seing the speech, which is why I can't really comprehend why it mattered. She was going to go up, read a speech written to her by some McCain hack, deliver it reasonably well, the media would declare she had "proved" herself for some reason, the Republicans here and Republican leaning independents would say it was great, the Democrats disagree. Nothing that has happened could not have been predicted on Sunday.

God the independents in that Detroit focus group are infinitely smarter than the media. At least they actually watched the the thing.