How do you feel about Sarah Palin’s speech?
Did you watch or listen to Sarah Palin’s acceptance speech Wednesday evening? If so, then—while the impression is still fresh on your mind—would you please tell me and other readers what you thought?
The question has two parts: (a) how do you feel about the speech and the woman that gave it? (b) how effective do you think the speech and candidate will be electorally? Part (a) interests me the more, but feel free to comment on part (b), too, if you wish.
The Economic Nationalist publishes too irregularly to hold a large audience, so I expect that the conversation here will be relatively intimate, but I very much want to find out how the kind of conservatives that read a blog like this feel about the speech, before the several days of media spin coming have muddled our true first impressions. (I remember Pat Buchanan’s convention speech in 1992. Folks’ reactions the next day did not resemble their media-spun recollections two weeks later.)
Thanks for taking the time to comment below. It is too easy to make unfounded assumptions about what people think. I would rather not do that in this case.
Howard
September 5th, 2008 at 7:44 am
Well, I thought that the conversation would be intimate. It turns out to be silent, so far.
This is fine. If comments occur to you nevertheless, feel free to add them below.
Contrary to my usual habit, I listened to parts of several talk-radio shows yesterday, which was the day after the speech: Laura Ingraham; Rush Limbaugh; Sean Hannity. They spun me into believing that the speech had been a “home run.” My initial impression which begins to fade was that the speech had much in it to like and nothing in to object to—but that, still, we do not know Mrs. Palin well enough.
Not owning a television and living in a rural area without Internet broadband, I have never seen video of the speech, incidentally. I heard it live on the radio. On radio, only the part about Mr. Obama’s lack of experience landed powerfully. The rest of the speech was good but did not make one (or at least did not make me) stand up and cheer. But, then, my expectations going into the speech were probably unreasonably high.
If you do comment here, please try if you can to remember what your initial response to the speech was, before broadcast-media commentators sliced it into soundbites and fed it back to us with their commentary.
HJH
September 8th, 2008 at 10:33 pm
Well, I did not see the entire speech, only excerpts from it, although I have read parts of the speech also.
I saw the video of the speech before reading any commentary, and my impression of the speech, or more, of Mrs. Palin, was very favorable. I do agree that there was not much great substance to the speech, but she herself impressed.
I am the kind of person who tends to react in a visceral, gut way (not emotionally necessarily) and my gut feeling about Mrs. Palin when she first stepped on stage a while back was very positive. I tend to be something of a curmudgeon (as you probably know:)
and I am not easily won over. I saw her as a sincere, straightforward, ‘what-you-see-is-what-you-get’ kind of person. We see too little of that in politics. We see many politicians who affect a ’sincere’ persona, but it’s obviously all guile. I don’t get that sense from her.
And neither am I a knee-jerk supporter of female politicians; I’ve seen plenty of them and am seldom well-impressed.
I think, from what I am seeing and hearing, that a lot of people have really taken to her, and putting her on the ticket may well have been a smart move politically by McCain, but that remains to be seen, I guess. The Democrats certainly aren’t done raking her over the coals; their first volley against her didn’t work out as well as they hoped, but now they are attacking her for her church’s beliefs. I am sure there is more to come.
-VA
September 9th, 2008 at 9:28 am
I tend to be something of a curmudgeon (as you probably know:)
My, VA. An emoticon! That would make you a cool, hip curmudgeon, I think. Let no one accuse you of lacking in tech style!
The emoticon did accurately picture the expression the words preceding it put on my face, incidentally.
I saw her as a sincere, straightforward, ‘what-you-see-is-what-you-get’ kind of person. We see too little of that in politics. We see many politicians who affect a ’sincere’ persona, but it’s obviously all guile. I don’t get that sense from her.
Nor do I.
And neither am I a knee-jerk supporter of female politicians; I’ve seen plenty of them and am seldom well-impressed.
This is a significant statement in my view. Is the difference that Mrs. Palin, like Ronald Reagan, seems less to have lifted herself on blind ambition than, at each career stage, to have answered the call of duty? When no suitable Samuel Palin is available, then how should a Sarah Palin leave duty unserved?
I saw her as a sincere, straightforward, ‘what-you-see-is-what-you-get’ kind of person. We see too little of that in politics. We see many politicians who affect a ’sincere’ persona, but it’s obviously all guile. I don’t get that sense from her.
Nor do I.
The comment is appreciated.
Howard