Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search

December 2, 2008 7:47:47 PM CST

Learn about Newser Points »

« Back to the grid | Next story »

'Vicious' Speech Bodes Well

Posted Sep 4, 08 10:29 AM CDT in Opinion,  Politics 

(Newser) – How’d Sarah Palin do in her convention debut? Commentators agree that she showed impressive speaking skills, but part ways on whether she was convincing as a potential VP.

  • The speech was “great” but “vicious,” Dahlia Lithwick writes at Slate. Palin, uses what Lithwick calls a risky tactic: “If your opponent is larger than life, strive to be smaller than life.”

  • The New Republic’s Eve Fairbanks thought Palin was “lovable,” but still came away unimpressed: “Just because we’re a nation of 100,000 Wasillas doesn’t mean all those 100,000 mayors ought to be in the White House.”
  • At the Guardian, Michael Tomasky thinks that Palin put the speech to good political use and managed to “save her candidacy,” for now. "And, since she opened up a can of whup-ass on the Democrats, it entitles them to open up a can on her."
  • John Fund, observing the enthusiastic response to her Obama skewering, writes in the Wall Street Journal: "Twenty years after Ronald Reagan left office, Republicans who have long missed him may have found a future Margaret Thatcher.

Sources Wall Street Journal, Guardian America, New Republic, Slate

4 comments | Print E-mail | Digg Seed this on Newsvine Add this link to Del.icio.us StumbleUpon

Related Newser Stories

  • Campaign Buzzwords We'll Be Happy to Discard

    Nov 4, 08 4:05 PM CST
    Campaign Buzzwords We'll Be Happy to Discard It's an inevitability of any election season: Some phrases will get bandied around so much that the hapless American, simply trying to do his civic duty by paying attention, will be crushed under the sheer weight of political verbiage. The Red Eye lists the worst offenders:

    • Change: As in, change the channel now.
    • Hockey mom: We're not in Alaska any more.
    • Joe the Plumber: He's not a licensed plumber, not named Joe.
    More »

  • Alaska Paper Picks Obama

    Oct 26, 08 2:48 PM CDT
    Alaska Paper Picks Obama Sarah Palin has accomplished a lot and has brought unexpected recognition to Alaska, but for the presidency, Barack Obama is "a clear choice" for the Anchorage Daily News. John McCain has abandoned his maverick positions to curry conservative favor, and the demands of the White House would "stretch the governor beyond her range," the paper says. More »

  • Palin Used Wedge Issues to Win Mayor's Race

    Sep 3, 08 11:32 AM CDT
    Palin Used Wedge Issues to Win Mayor's Race Running for mayor in Wasilla, Alaska, Sarah Palin brought ideological politics to a small-town race that had been focused on roads and sewers, the New York Times reports. The 32-year-old candidate defeated a three-term incumbent by highlighting her anti-abortion stance, her NRA membership, and her religious work —while the state Republican Party, never before involved in mayoral elections, endorsed her.
    More »

  • McCain Camp Preps Palin for Convention

    Sep 3, 08 9:31 AM CDT
    McCain Camp Preps Palin for Convention Instead of basking in the limelight as co-star of the RNC, Sarah Palin has been hunkered down in a Minneapolis hotel since Sunday, painstakingly working with John McCain's staff to hone the message she will present as she steps onto the national stage tonight. Her public appearances have been canceled as advisers give her a thorough briefing on McCain’s policies, the Wall Street Journal notes, while a prewritten, “masculine” speech is getting a rewrite in light of the surprise nominee, reports the Washington Post. More »

  • Palin Projects Hit Mac's Pork List

    Sep 3, 08 7:57 AM CDT
    Requests from Sarah Palin made it onto John McCain's "pork list" of objectionable spending three times while Palin was mayor of Wasilla, the Los Angeles Times reports. McCain's lists came as part of his long campaign against the earmarking system in which members of Congress can chuck cash at pet projects with little or no scrutiny.
    More »

Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, left, is joined by Republican presidential candidate John McCain, right, and daughter Piper at the end of her speech, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2008.   (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin waves near the end of her speech at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2008.   (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)
Republican vice presidential candidate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, waves after speaking during the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2008.   (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin waves to the crowed at the end of her speech at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2008.   (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

It convinced me that she makes a good PTA mom, that she may make a fine mayor     . . . even that I might like to have a beer with her, or a glass of fermented whale milk or whatever one drinks with mooseburgers. - Eve Fairbanks

She had one job to do tonight — persuade Americans that Barack Obama is a meringue, wrapped in a soufflé, served on imported bone china, and she did it well. And then she did it again. And again. - Dahlia Lithwick

Let's say I were a laid-off, $45,000-a-year worker in Ohio. If I were sitting on an olio of right-wing resentments, about elitist liberals and the media . . . I may have fallen in love with her.
- Michael Tomasky

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
Our editors also recommend:

Threads (
1
 of 3)

Tags

Barack Obama • John McCain • Sarah Palin • Alaska • Republican National Convention • speech • Wasilla • Margaret Thatcher


Loading...

Premium Articles from HighBeam

Find more articles like this

Today's Most Popular

Loading...

Other Politics Stories