Does any one remember what BO stands for?? As a reminder... Lifeboy really stops Beee Ohhh.. [body odor].. LOL
Posted by Chuck Muth September 4, 2008 at 12:30 am * OK, let’s flash forward to the future before we go back and look at tonight’s royal roasting of The Chosen One.
* Let’s say John McCain wins in November and then, as many suspect, doesn’t run for re-election. Folks, we could then be looking at a Sarah Palin-Hillary Clinton brawl for the ages in 2012 – and I’ll pay darned good money to see that one! But let’s move forward to the past…
* The evening got off the ground with speeches by corporate executives Meg Whitman and Carol Fiorina - both of whom were talked about as possible vice presidential candidates on McCain’s ticket. Both are obviously very smart women. Both are definitely women of significant accomplishment. And both were as boring to listen to as paint is to watch drying.
* Then came Mitt Romney - who warmed up the crowd with pretty much a standard stump speech with standard conservative political fare and a few pretty good lines.
* The former Massachusetts governor said it was time for a party of big ideas, not a party of Big Brother. And he called for a change from liberal Washington to conservative Washington. Solid, if not exactly scintillating stuff.
* Romney got off a great one-liner when he said it would help the nation conserve energy if we could just “keep Al Gore’s private jet on the ground.” The crowd ate that up.
* But it was something Romney said toward the end of his speech, subtle and almost unnoticed, which foreshadowed the rhetorical carnage to come later in the evening. Without mentioning anyone by name - and maybe this was unintentional (I doubt it) - Romney declared, “There’s never been a day I wasn’t proud to be an American.” Intentional or not, that was a right-cross squarely landed to Michelle Obama’s chin. And the Republicans were just getting warmed up.
* Mike Huckabee was next and again, delivered a pretty standard, flat, yet solidly conservative speech - getting in one great line about Sarah Palin getting more votes running for mayor than Joe Biden got running for president. It was clearly a joke, not intended to be taken literally. But as soon as Huckabee was finished speaking, MSNBC’s Keith Olberman felt the need to tell the world that Biden had gotten 18,000 votes in California, which is more than the population of Wasilla. What a schmuck.
* That was followed by Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle, who delivered a very mechanical, uninspiring speech but did nail the opposition on one of its chief attack lines. Responding to criticism that Sarah Palin is only the governor of a “small” state, Lingle noted that Alaska has the same number of electoral votes as Delaware, the home state of the Democrats’ vice presidential nominee. Sssss-lam.
* Oh, and for good measure, Lingle noted that you can fit 250 Delawares inside the borders of Alaska. Double-slam.
* Ru-dy, Ru-dy, Ru-dy!
* Holy cow. Where was this guy during the Republican primaries? Much like Fred Thompson last night, Rudy Giuliani delivered tonight perhaps the best speech he’s delivered this entire campaign. The former New York mayor was having the time of his life out there tonight. He was relaxed. He was energetic. And he was having fun…most of the time at Barack Obama’s expense.
* After running through John McCain’s history, background and experience, Rudy turned to “the other guy,” who, Giuliani explained, “worked as a community organizer.” After a brief pause and a chuckle he asked sarcastically, “What?”
* Exactly. The Democrats are so proud that Obama returned from his Ivy League education to become a “community organizer.” Sorry, but every time I hear that I can’t help but think, “Hey, so was Jesus Martinez, the Los Diablos gang-leader-turned-community-organizer on Hill Street Blues. Big deal. Know what I mean, homes?” But I digress…
* Rudy then ripped Obama’s “experience” in the Illinois legislature, noting that in those few brief years the Democrat presidential nominee couldn’t make a decision 130 times – alluding, of course, to the 130 times Obama voted “present.” Rudy belittled the man for being unable to make a decision; not knowing whether to vote yes or no. “It was too tough,” he said. And as Giuliani noted, to be President of the United States it’s not good enough to just be “present.” You have to make decisions.
* Rudy went on to note that Obama has “never had to lead people in crisis,” hammering home the fact that Obama has never led anything. “Zip. Nada.”
* On the central theme of Obama’s campaign, Giuliani noted that there’s good change and there’s bad change; that change in and of itself is not a destination, just as hope is not a strategy.
* On the serious issue of the war, Giuliani declared that “John McCain will keep us on offense against terrorists at home and abroad,” while reminding everyone that on the single biggest policy decision of this campaign – the vote on the “surge” of troops to Iraq – John McCain got it right and Barack Obama got it wrong. And Rudy’s right.
* Giuliani brought up the fact that Obama seems to continually change his mind on issues depending upon which way the political winds are blowing - especially when it came to responding to Russia’s recent invasion of Georgia. And he brought the house down when he advised that “If I were Joe Biden, I’d want to get that VP thing in writing.”
* In winding down and wrapping up Rudy asked, with all due righteous indignation, “How dare they question” if Sarah Palin would have enough time for her children if she was vice president, noting that no one ever asks that of a man. Damn straight, Skippy. For example, after Joe Biden tragically lost his first wife and child in an automobile accident, we’re told how he continued to take the train to Washington every day to serve as a U.S. Senator, even though he was, at the time, a single dad. Did anyone ever question Biden on that? Hell, no. Talk about a double standard.
* Giuliani did raise, however, one square which the McCain-Palin ticket needs to circle (or is it a circle that needs to be squared) – the issue of school choice. Rudy affirmed that the GOP is the party which believes parents should be able to choose where to send their kids to school. That means vouchers. John McCain, conservatives and Republicans agree. But back in 2006, Sarah Palin told the Alaska teachers union she didn’t support vouchers. This is an important issue I’d like to hear Gov. Palin discuss in much greater detail.
* OK. Move over The Chosen One. Here comes The Natural.
* If there was an “enthusiasm gap” between Republicans and Democrats coming into the GOP convention – and there most assuredly was – it was narrowed considerably with the selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as John McCain’s running mate five short days ago. And that gap was wiped out completely tonight.
* Oh, man…what a reception! And she hadn’t even said one word yet. Nothing like being attacked by the mainstream, liberal media to rally the troops.
* Poised. Self-confident. Charming. Likeable. Lovable. Palin rocked. Much like Barack Obama before his big speech a week ago, not only did the Alaska governor live up to the hype, she wildly surpassed it. It was a performance that most 20-year political professionals couldn’t have given. If any Republicans had any doubts as to whether or not Sarah Palin was ready for prime time – and many did – those doubts were erased away in all of about 2 minutes.
* Palin started by pointing out that her eldest son was being deployed to Iraq on September 11th, and that “as a mother of one of those troops,” John McCain is “exactly” the kind of man I want as commander-in-chief. That, ladies and gentlemen, is known as speaking with moral authority.
* Some of the talking heads after the speech criticized the amount of time Palin then spent introducing the rest of her family, but I thought it was perfectly appropriate. Heck, unlike Obama, Biden and McCain - all of whom have been on the presidential campaign trail for at least the last 18 months - Palin has been in the race all of five days. It was important and appropriate to use this opportunity to introduce her family to America.
* And boy, did she hit a sweet spot in saying that families with special needs kids “inspire a special kind of love.” As the mother of a baby with Down syndrome, that again is what we call speaking with moral authority.
* At about this point, Palin began rhetorically shoving pins into the invisible voodoo doll of Barack Obama she had in her pocket - doing so with wit, charm and an appropriate but healthy dose of sarcasm.
* But first a left-uppercut to Michelle Obama’s chin by noting that the same small town folks Barack mocked as clinging to their guns and Bibles “are always proud of America.” Bang! Zoom! Somebody get the smelling salts for Mrs. Obama!
* Of course, perhaps the best line of the speech was in saying that being a “community organizer” was the same as being a small town mayor - only without the responsibility. Pow! Right to the kisser.
* Palin then slammed Obama for trying to portray himself as this great defender of the working class while publicly campaigning in Pennsylvania, then belittling and ridiculing those same small town folks in a private meeting in San Francisco. Bam!
* While Palin’s best line may have been the one the mainstream press will write about tomorrow – the one about B.O. being a “community organizer” – my personal favorite was her kidney punch about how Obama has authored two self-serving memoirs but not one major piece of legislation. Whack!
* Yet another great line was in pointing out that some people (Obama) use “change” to promote their careers while others (McCain) use their careers to promote change. Ka-pow!
* Now, as a Nevadan I took particular pleasure in Palin turning her attention momentarily away from Obama and directing fire at Nevada Sen. Harry Reid. She noted that Reid saying he “can’t stand John McCain” means Republicans chose the right man. She then went on to say it’s not so much that Reid can’t stand John McCain as he can’t stand UP to John McCain. I think that’s called emasculating the opposition.
* In conclusion, Palin brought it all home by declaring that while Obama and Biden claim to be fighting for the little guy, “There is only one man in this election who has really fought for you.” Yes, indeed, this is truly a contest between an American Hero and an American Idol.
* According to one post-speech talking head, there was only one ad-libbed line in the entire performance, where Palin asked, “What’s the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? Lipstick.” What we have here, folks, is a political pit bull in lipstick and a skirt…not a pants suit. Joe Biden should be afraid. Very, very afraid.
* Going into the speech tonight, the big question on everyone’s mind was, “Is this woman capable of assuming the office of President if something were to happen to John McCain.” In my opinion, Sarah Palin definitively put that question to rest. A lot of veteran political observers far smarter than I have said the true mark of a successful president is his (now her) ability to communicate with the American people. In that regard, Sarah Palin clearly has “the right stuff.”
* And with all due respect to Dan Quayle, Sarah Palin is no Dan Quayle.
* In fact, I’m pretty sure more than a handful of Republicans, after witnessing Palin’s speech tonight, thought to themselves, “Dang! I wish she was our PRESIDENTIAL nominee this year.”
* And that, ironically enough, is the “problem” John McCain now faces. How in the world does he top Sarah Palin’s performance tonight with his acceptance speech tomorrow night? Answer: He can’t. He won’t. And he shouldn’t even try. The fact that he had the good judgment and the guts to choose her as his running mate is all anyone needs to know about his superiority over Barack Obama to be the next president of the United States…unless, of course, you think picking Washington insider Joe Biden as his running mate was an inspired decision.
* I’ll conclude with this: Yes, Sarah Palin hit it out of the proverbial park tonight. In fact, she hit it into the next county. But judging by the somber post-speech reactions by the likes of Keith Olberman, Chris Matthews and Andrea Mitchell, the path ahead is still fraught with trip-wires and booby-traps. It’s a long way to go before November 4th.
* That being said, if Sarah Palin asked me tonight to rejoin the Republican Party, it’d be pretty hard to say no. We are potentially looking at the future of the GOP - and I have to admit it’s more promising than anything I’ve seen since the Gipper left office.
* And I can think of far worse role models for my two young daughters than Sarah Palin. In fact, I think I’m gonna wake ‘em up at 3 am and take ‘em moose hunting!
* Now, will somebody please get that Obama carcass off the stage.
