After days of mounting questions about her qualifications, Governor Sarah Palin rallied the Republican National Convention tonight by touting her small-town government experience and ridiculing concerns about whether she is up to the job of vice president.
“Before I became governor of the great state of Alaska, I was mayor of my hometown,” Palin said. “And since our opponents in this presidential election seem to look down on that experience, let me explain to them what the job involves. I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities.”
The remark was a not-so-veiled shot at the career of Senator Barack Obama, who began his public service as a community organizer in Chicago.
In spirited remarks, Palin also took on what she portrays as an elite media establishment unwilling to accept that her government service in a small town and a sparsely populated state gives her the resume to serve at the highest levels of the federal government.
“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,” she said in her remarks. “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.”
But my favorite line from her speech tonight is, “What’s the difference between a soccar mom and a pit bull? … lipstick!”
T
It was a good speech, and I’m in love (with my wife).
Now – this is the kind of reform which, IMAO, the US political process needs (but will never manage unless there’s a hurricane):
1. Term Limits on Congress: 18 years max, and then find a real job in the real world. The creation of a permanent political class (Kennedy, Biden, McCain, Byrd etc) is a great evil in a democracy.
2. No Pork Never – Presidential line items vetoes on things that have nothing to do with the bill in question.
3. Two-Month Primary Season (May-June). The Endless Campaign is crazy and no doubt produces lots of voter’s remorse. Needs to be focused and clear.
this was the best line:
[blockquote]I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities.[/blockquote]
No one I know can explain what a community organizer does. I try to be very neutral with my kids when talking about these issues as they really want to be black and white. Anyway, after I voted for Obama in the primary and was talking with my son about Obama’s background and he wanted to know what a community organizer did and I started explaining – he said, it sounds like something a boy scout would do. I was flummoxed. Can anyone explain what a “community organizer” does – and who pays for it?
It’s being reported that there was a teleprompter malfunction during Palin’s speech, where the teleprompter kept scrolling through the applause lines and was way ahead of the actual delivery, requiring Palin to go from memory. Apparently the same thing happened in Guiliani’s speech. Compare their performances to a truly ugly spectacle when the teleprompter goes down on another well-known candidate.
I thought her speech was delivered magnificently. The more I see and hear her, the more I like her. Having said that, she hit a first inning lead off homer. There are 8 innings left to go. I look forward to rest of the game, particularly her debate with Joe Biden. I hope she can keep it up. This is the first time in this looonnnggg campaign that I feel I can vote the Republican ticket without holding my nose.
And besides, any woman who can kill, dress and cook a moose is definitely a keeper in my neck of the woods. If I wasn’t married, I’d take her home to meet mama.
the snarksterâ„¢
I’m impressed with Mrs. Palin and I’m impressed with Mr. McCain for selecting her as his running mate. So far in this game of political chess, I think McCain has out manuvered Obama several times. Echoing one of last night’s themes McCain/Palin offer the kind of change that is needed. Obama/Biden do not.
Her speech was blunt and to the point…..something I respect. Not wishy-washy like the Washington elite.
I feel so empty, now realizing that I grew up in a community that was insufficiently organized. Sure, we mowed our lawns, took out our trash, planted trees, fixed the broken things, played and sat in folding chairs chatting with neighbors. But we simply missed out on the good things in life, it seems: hyperpoliticization, mau-mauing our elected officials, participating in angry demonstrations, cursing the police.
I thought Palin’s speech was very good, not great, but it definitely got her past all the slanders, doubts and dire predictions of ill-wishers over the weekend. I hoped for and predicted that McCain would choose Palin, and I’m pleased she is doing as well as I had hoped.
In the end, when all is said and done, it’s the Party of “Sink or Swim.”
In a word, not their brother’s keeper.
The facts:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080904/ap_on_el_pr/cvn_fact_check
Re: Community Organizer
How quickly she forgets (or perhaps she doesn’t know, as in her comment about the Pledge of Allegiance earlier) that it was “community organizers” who brought about women’s suffrage and civil rights reform. I’m thankful for community organizers. There’s a great group of them down the street at my local YMCA – giving people things to do other than just hang out on the streets, getting them to vote, providing tutoring sessions, helping senior citizens navigate their way through social security, providing transportation to those who need it, and a whole host of other things that benefit all of society, etc.
“Community Organizer” shouldn’t be allowed to become a bad label just for the purpose of scoring some political points.
I stayed up way too late, but feel vindicated in doing so.
The more I see from Gov. Palin the more I like. She answered her critics. She enchanted her party. She showed herself to have strength and depth.
I look forward to watching McCain tonight. I am holding my final decision until that point.
#4 Thanks for that link. I shake my head in wonder every time someone says Obama is an eloquent speaker. He’s not. He’s an eloquent speech deliverer. But speaking without a script he’s terrible. The Saddleback Q & A session demonstrated that. I loved Gov. Palin’s speech last night. I also loved Guiliani’s.
Re #11
I concur that the term should not become a pejorative. However, when that is the main point on your resume it’s fair game to point that out. For good or ill the Democrats have nominated a man who abstained on well over 100 votes in his very short tenure in the Illinois state Senate and who has not done much since being elected to the U. S. Senate except run for president. Admittedly great oratorical skills and a respectable record as a community organizer do not IMHO meet the minimum qualifications for President of the United States.
ICXC NIKA
[url=http://ad-orientem.blogspot.com/]John[/url]
Governor Sarah Palin speaks for all Americans including women. I hope that she and John McCain make it to the White House.
Women have allowed those women who are dissatisfied with their gender to speak for them too long and it is astonishing to hear a real woman speak without deference to groups like “NOW and “Pro-Choice†(abortion) groups.
#15
Amen. I am so weary of working moms being pandered and condescended to by the likes of Gloria Steinmen.
Most of us work because
1. Somebody needs to put moose on the table, and in an age of divorce, every woman needs to be able to solo at a moments notice.
2. Thanks to outsourcing, money printing, competition with illegal immigrants, and every increasing handouts and “mandates” from the Left, it now takes two incomes for whoever is still working to pay the bills.
No, thanks Gloria. US women do not need Bill Clinton groping his way around the White House to make sure we all get free abortions. We need folks to ensure that men like Obama’s dad, who abandoned his mother, stay married, and help raise the kids.
We also need the government to stop printing money, extending credit to folks who obviously can’t afford it, and exporting jobs, so that a single income will be enough to make sure our kids are housed, fed, and educated.
I look to a McCain/Palin presidency to take us in that direction
#16 I’m with you! I’ve been at home but I’m seeking FT employment b/c we’re having trouble putting moose on the table now. And in my new job, I’m looking for a salary that will pay ALL the bills just in case something should happen to my husband or to his job.
#16 and 17, I agree with both of you, and that’s why I’m voting for the McCain/Palin ticket……even though I’m a registered Democrat!
#11 –
“Community Organizer†shouldn’t be allowed to become a bad label just for the purpose of scoring some political points.
The point made is that “community organizer” isn’t much different from “Boy Scout”.
Or “Church Woman’s Club”.
Or “Knights of Columbus” , “Rotary”, “Elks” and a host of other clubs that do quite a lot of good, large and small.
Most of us who blog here, likely could put “Community Organizer” on our CVs. Most of us (who have real jobs) don’t, because in the real world, this is called a “hobby”. The fact that one can put large amounts of time, and money into such hobbies, and the fact that one might even do significant good, does not make “community organizer” a real job.
Most of us who didn’t grow up sucking from the government teat know the difference between a real job and a hobby. You need to not be used to working for a living to make “Community Organizer” the central point of your CV.
Real jobs, as Governer Palin points out, entail actual responsibilities.
In the end, when all is said and done, it’s the Party of “Sink or Swim.â€
In a word, not their brother’s keeper.
It’s called liberty, and most of us know how to swim, and believe it can be easily taught to others.
As for being our brother’s keeper. We believe in that. We just don’t believe we ought to wait for the government to do it, nor do we want a government that encourages us to wait on it to help our neighbors. Government sucks at charity. Private citizens, and churches, do it better.
Well then, I guess spending the better part of one’s adult life in the service of his or her country…….such as in the Armed Forces…….isn’t really working at a job, according to some.
#21 Being shot at, tortured, imprisoned and starved in the service of one’s country is not a “job”. It is a life of service and heroism.
Again, most folks in the US see a difference between a war hero and a lawyer-community organizer.
It is telling that so many Democrats seem to think the two are equal, or worse yet, that being an “activist” figuratively “fighting” for America is superior to literally _fighting_ for America.
Clueless,
When Obama was asked about Palin’s executive experience, he didn’t even mention her service as Governor, but rather compared her time as Mayor with his running the campaign:
His point: he has a bigger budget and more employees in his campaign than the city of Wasilla so therefore [i]he[/i] has more experience in management than she.
Again he totally ignored her term as Governor.
Quite a lame argument, IMO.
#20 “It’s called liberty, and most of us know how to swim, and believe it can be easily taught to others.”
Yup, and preferably by someone other than a compassionate conservative. Let’s get real. Pure Pink Floyd in the end — “I’m okay Jack keep your hand off of my stash.”
RE: ““I’m okay Jack keep your hand off of my stash.â€
Goodness, yes — it’s the commandment against stealing.
Didn’t know one had to be a compassionate conservative to believe that old thing.
“What’s the difference between a soccar mom and a pit bull? … ”
Answer: Pit bulls don’t eat their young.
Sarah,
The commandment against stealing has nothing to do with the fair distribution of taxes. The commandment might be better applied to this administration that has stolen the future of our children by not paying as they go for this needless war. Moreover, they gave tax breaks and borrowed from our enemies!!!
Chris, “Government sucks at charity. Private citizens, and churches, do it better.” That mentality is like those who think you can run a church on bake sales.
Oh okay — so you’re referring to the acts of *the national government* and not individuals. But above, in your comment #9, you implied that it was individuals who did not care about others by your quoting “not my brother’s keeper”.
If we are going to talk about the acts of government — the State — than “not my brother’s keeper” is inapplicable. The State may, of course, do whatever it pleases through the force of its army.
And if you don’t wish for it to follow moral principles — much less the Constitution under which our State supposedly exists — than there is no real argument.
But please don’t imply that individuals should vote for actors within The State based on a verse about being the brother’s keeper. After all . . . you yourself want The State to handle that, not individuals.
No Sarah, I want the Government and individuals to handle it, because it takes both.
Like I said to Chris, thinking private charity will do it alone is like those who think you can run a church on bake sales. Too little, too inconsistent, too big of a problem, to wait on personal charity. For that very reason, one cannot honestly be “one’s brother’s keeper” without being seriously committed to taxpayer Government aid. It’s just playing the Ostrich.
What if the elderly had to pay for their own health care, for example? Funny about that. There’s a local radio talk show her that’s all wealthy folk calling about “medicare trusts” so they can make sure to pass on the estate to the kids while the Government foots the healthcare bill. Let’s get real. There’s so much dishonesty from the Republicans on this issue of “personal responsibility.” Not.
Post # 28, I have to assume that you are from Albany N.Y. and have not been to the Mississippi Gulf Coast since Hurricane Katrina did its damage.
The country needs help from both the government and faith based volunteers during and after a disaster but it seems that volunteers get more done and do it faster withour requiring all the red tape that the government demands.
People on the Gulf Coast are very thankful for the faith based volunteers who do so much to help the coast recover from Hurricane Katrina.