Before a partisan crowd in the Xcel Center in St. Paul Wednesday, Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska launched a harsh critique of the Democratic Presidential ticket of Senators Barack Obama and Joe Biden during her vice presidential nomination speech.
The choice of Palin has been analyzed as an appeal to women voters but is more likely a pitch to the party’s hard right, evangelical Christian base. It was the surest way McCain could shore up the Republican base that had been very blase about him and his candidacy. The surprise pick by Senator John McCain to be his running mate risked chasing off many of his longtime independent supporters.
Sarah Palin sought to win over critics who questioned whether a relative unknown was up to the task of being positioned as next in line for the Oval Office.
Any doubts about Governor Palin’s ability to rise to the occasion were quickly dismissed. Using a combination of humor and sarcasm, Palin mocked her rivals and sought to belittle criticism of her own candidacy. In her speech she lumped together political pundits and her Democratic opponents as elites, who are out of touch with regular Americans. Following the Republican script, she played to the patriotic mantra and began her speech pointing out that her oldest son is about to be deployed with an Army infantry unit to Iraq and a nephew who us already serving in the Navy.
Governor Palin made some attacks on the Obama-Biden ticket that set the crowd on fire. What I found remarkable was the mocking tone that she took in criticizing her opponents. Palin sent a message to GOP faithful that the gloves were coming off during this fall campaign season. She wasted no time in making it known that she was prepared to engage in hand-to-hand combat with her opponents. Her first volley came when she took aim at Senator Obama, stating:
“I might add that in small towns, we don’t quite know what to make of a candidate who lavishes praise on working people when they’re listening and then talks about how bitterly they cling to their religion and guns when those people aren’t listening.’’
This was a clear sign that the McCain team was preparing to drag out sound bites from the bitterly fought primary contest between Senator Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton.
Governor Palin confronted the critique of her qualifications head on, comparing her experience with not the Democratic vice presidential nominee, but with the top of the Democratic ticket, Senator Obama:
“I guess a small town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities.”
Palin also claimed her work as governor put her at odds against oil companies that were attempting to monopolize the energy supply. It allowed her to claim awareness of the nation’s energy crisis while also trying to gain credibility on foreign policy by tying in Russia, Iran and Venezuela in her description of the challenges the nation faces.
She also took a swipe at the Obama campaign theme of change by suggesting:
“…there are some candidates who use change to promote their careers, and then there are those, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change.”
It was just one of many lines that Governor Palin used in a very dismissive way to ridicule the Obama candidacy.
Palin effectively warmed up the convention delegates for Senator McCain’s nomination acceptance speech Thursday night by playing up the Arizona Republican’s war record and suggesting the Democratic ticket falls short on the patriotism scale. She ridiculed Senator Obama’s call for a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq and his willingness to meet with leaders of nation’s deemed hostile to the nation. In what was one of the harshest lines of Palin’s speech was when she criticized Senator Obama on Iraq, stating:
“This is a man who can give an entire speech about the wars America is fighting and never use the word victory, except when he’s talking about his own campaign.”
Palin certainly exceeded the expectations of many delegates and fulfilled her role for the Republican Party. However, her speech now sets up a very interesting dynamic because it invites a counter attack from the Democratic ticket. In Lieu of Palin not being selected until after the Democrats had convened their convention in Denver, her use of the convention stage to attack the Democratic ticket suggests it may become really bombastic when the two vice presidential candidates face off.
Joe Biden will certainly have to deftly counter Palin’s attacks even though he will walk a tightrope. The public still generally frowns upon male candidates who appear to be too aggressive against female opponents. And the McCain-Palin ticket has already exploited that premise with complaints of sexism leveled against the media since her selection. It will be interesting to see if the McCain campaign people will continue to evoke these claims while continuing shield the Vice-presidential candidate from the media, who rightfully wants to gain a clear picture of who she is and where she stands.
What is clear is that the Democrats will have to find an answer to Palin who has emerged as the real messenger for the GOP ticket. This may just be the opening for Senator Clinton to play a prominent role in the Obama-Biden campaign, something the two candidates, and the Democratic Party, would surely welcome.
After McCain's acceptance speech Thursday night, there will be 61 days remaining until election day. As the late Tim Russert would say:
"What a country!"
