For Palin, Speech Was Easy Part

Crowd wild for 'sharpshooter' governor

(NEWSER) - Sarah Palin "lit up the Republican National Convention last night,” writes Nancy Gibbs in Time. "The hall that felt like a tomb on Monday might as well have seen the Second Coming of Ronald Reagan, so ecstatic was the crowd." As the Alaskan governor spoke amid dancing, chanting delegates, “it was clear a new star had been born, one who could go places John McCain may not even know exist and say things he could never confess.” More»

(NEWSER) - Sarah Palin tonight played up her small-town credentials, cast herself as a political outsider, and took a swipe at her critics in the media during her much-anticipated address to the Republican convention, Politico reports. After formally accepting the nomination to be vice president, she took a not-so-subtle shot at Barack Obama. "I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a ‘community organizer,’ except that you have actual responsibilities." More»

Don't be so quick to judge Palin

(NEWSER) - Sarah Palin's critics say she was unqualified to be vice president, but don't be too quick to label her the worst pick ever, writes Matthew Cooper. In the Atlantic , he runs down others since WWII who need to be part of the conversation:

• Spiro Agnew: Nixon's VP had to resign on bribery charges and had scant experience before being picked. "In terms of corruption and temperament, has there been anyone worse in memory?"
• Richard Nixon: His paranoid personality would have made him a disaster as president in the '50s had Eisenhower died in office. Nixon dealing with Stalin, Khrushchev, and Castro? Yikes.

Clinton was still in contention in June: new memoir

(NEWSER) - The Obama campaign seriously considered Hillary Clinton for vice president, but ultimately the perception that her husband was "too big a complication" combined with bad memories from the primary campaign to sink her chances. Barack Obama “said if his central criterion measured who could be the best VP, she had to be included in that list," writes campaign manager David Plouffe in a new memoir, The Audacity to Win. More»

(NEWSER) - Todd Palin says the $150,000 spending spree that outfitted his wife during last fall’s campaign was “out of our control,” the AP reports. “You come into a campaign late,” he told Men’s Journal. “You put all your trust into the team.” At least his Secret Service detail had a good time. “They liked cruising around with me,” describing trips to “the Arctic Cat snowmachine factory” and a NASCAR race. “Rough duty, hanging out with me.” More»