Overnight reviews

Posted by Alaska_Politics

Posted: September 3, 2008 - 9:20 pm

The New York Times:

ON CENTER STAGE, PALIN ELECTRIFIES GOP CONVENTION

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska introduced herself to America before a roaring crowd at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday night as "just your average hockey mom" who was as qualified as the Democratic nominee, Sen. Barack Obama, to be president of the United States...

(McCain's) nomination was a sideshow to the main event, the speech by the little-known Palin. Her appearance electrified a convention that has been consumed by questions of whether she was up for the job.

"Before I became governor of the great state of Alaska, I was mayor of my hometown," Palin told the delegates in a speech that sought to eviscerate Obama. "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."

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Washington Post:

PALIN COMES OUT FIGHTING

ST. PAUL, Minn., Sept. 3 -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin electrified the Republican convention Wednesday night, pitching herself as a champion of government reform, mocking Democratic candidate Barack Obama as an elitist and belittling media criticism of her experience.

In a speech that served as her introduction to most of the nation after Sen. John McCain's surprise decision to pick her as his vice presidential running mate, Palin pitched herself as the product of small-town America and laced her address with sarcastic digs at Sen. Obama. She said it is his experience, not hers, that is lacking, and she embraced the role of leading the attack against the Democratic ticket.

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McClatchy Newspapers:

PALIN STEPS INTO SPOTLIGHT, TAKES SWIPE AT MEDIA

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin formally introduced herself to America on Wednesday night by telling the Republican National Convention about her small-town roots and her disdain for the Washington political establishment.

"I had the privilege of living most of my life in a small town," the presumptive Republican vice-presidential nominee told the delegates, who've been gushing over her all week.

"I was your average hockey mom," she said with a big grin, eyeing a supporter who was holding up a sign that said "Hockey Moms 4 Palin."

Palin called herself a hockey mom with an edge, explaining the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull: "Lipstick."

And she defined herself as someone irritated with the news media and Washington.

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St. Petersburg Times:

PALIN GETS OFF TO BLAZING START

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Democrats better start worrying about Sarah Palin.
In the most anticipated vice presidential speech in modern political history, John McCain's running mate introduced herself to America Wednesday night as a potent antidote to status quo Washington and as someone who looks as much like change as Barack Obama.

It was a make or break speech for the 44-year-old Alaska governor who was plucked from obscurity only five days earlier and is now at the center of a maelstrom of questions about who she really is and how she got here.

The governor of a state with fewer residents than Pinellas or Hillsborough counties may not have fully cleared the heartbeat-away-from-the-presidency threshold Wednesday, but she showed a confidence, polish and feistiness that should ease the anxiety many McCain allies had about his vice presidential choice. And she showed that she's more than willing to play the role of attack dog.

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New York Times analysis:

PALIN IS A HIT AT GOP CONVENTION, BUT THE HARD PART IS YET TO COME

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska could not have asked for a better setting for her solo debut on the national stage: An audience enthralled with her selection as Sen. John McCain's running mate even before she walked on to stage to roar of applause, after three days in seclusion with some of the most skilled political counselors in the country to write, hone and practice her speech.

She drew warm applause as she described her life as a "hockey mom" in Alaska and introduced her family. She heard cheers as she promised an aggressive energy policy that included more drilling. And Palin ignited a full-throated round of booing directed at what she denounced the news media and "Washington elite" that, she suggested, had ganged up against her since McCain announced on Friday that she would be the Republican vice presidential nominee.

But her speech at the Republican National Convention, if ecstatically embraced in the hall, may prove to have been the easy part.

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Boston Globe:

PALIN A SMILING, EARTHY FIGHTER

ST. PAUL -- Sarah Palin last night showed why she should be an asset to John McCain on the campaign trail -- a smiling fighter with an earthy, common-sense manner.

She told her unique personal story, introduced her appealing family, and launched some promising attacks on Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama: The presidency, she declared, "is not supposed to be a journey of personal discovery."

In the process, she managed to connect with both her party's conservative base and stake a claim on the coveted soccer mom -- or hockey mom, depending on which state is in play -- constituency.

It was a good night's work in the service of the GOP.

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San Francisco Chronicle:

MCCAIN RISKS BEING ECLIPSED BY PALIN

Washington — Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin took a live road test before the entire nation Wednesday night, and she didn't crash.

Whether she broke Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama's record of 38.4 million viewers for his convention speech in Denver last week remains to be seen. The bigger question could be whether she will outshine the man who put her on the GOP ticket.

Sen. John McCain, who accepts the Republican nomination tonight, has been engulfed by the Palin gale since he plucked the obscure 44-year-old governor from the farthest reaches of the continent to be his running mate. In the five days since, Palin has managed, without doing anything, to steal the focus from both parties' nominees in what was already a historic election. Even Republicans were calling Palin "the hottest ticket on the convention floor" among delegates more interested in her than McCain.

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