Alaska Politics Blog : Morning after

Morning after

Posted by Alaska_Politics

Anchorage Daily News

Posted: September 4, 2008 - 6:51 am

Commentary from Michael Carey in St. Paul --

Gov. Sarah Palin’s address to the Republican convention was carefully composed, confidently delivered and enthusiastically received. Sen. John McCain made a huge gamble in choosing Palin as his vice-presidential nominee. Wednesday, his gamble paid off.

Those who dismissed Palin as governor girl in go-go boots who would stumble on the national stage had to be disappointed.

Palin seemed to approach the speech like a competitive runner who is determined to run her race no matter what the circumstances. She tried to keep things simple, biographical and traditional. By biographical I mean using herself and her family – but also using John McCain’s biography. By traditional, look at her allusions to patriotism, service and small-town virtues.

Columnist Maureen Dowd recently called her a “zealot.” There was little for a zealot to celebrate in the speech, and her record proves she is not one.

Palin’s policy discussion was standard fare for a Republican. Yet she might more plausibly be called a vegan than a zealot because there wasn’t much meat. The audience loved her sallies at the media, but Palin is in good measure a media creation. This has been clear during the last few days as the media has gone all-Palin, all-the-time.

Palin returned again and again to John McCain, perhaps using him for security – it’s easy to talk about McCain, especially before Republicans, but the references to the party nominee also are expected of the vice-presidential candidate.

Her jabs at the Democrats, specifically Barack Obama and Majority Leader Harry Reid were greeted with wild applause, but they seemed unnatural to me. Palin has never been known as a partisan; she gets along well with Democrats in the Alaska Legislature and could not have passed legislation important to her without their help. She was never this harsh when campaigning against Tony Knowles in the 2006 gubernatorial race. A successful actress knows her lines, however, and Palin delivered these lines well.

The end of the speech, the reference to McCain’s experience as a prisoner of war, was totally predictable. The audience loved it. The afterward, when Sen. McCain joined her on stage, seemed limp. It definitely was not rehearsed. We can be sure both will do better next time.

I will be called sexist for commenting on appearance, but I thought she was unnecessarily understated. I suppose this was to guarantee she came across as a suburban mom, not a girl from nowhere auditioning for “Sex in the City.”

If I could have watched Palin’s speech with anyone, it would have been former president Bill Clinton, the finest public speaker of our time and like Palin, someone who began his career as an unappreciated outsider. Bill, I am sure, would be compelling on Sarah.

The early reviews of Sarah Palin’s performance are favorable. Alaskans expected nothing less.

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