Oh Sarah

I know Republicans are really excited right now but, the speech was Republican boilerplate. It touched on all of the golden oldies: "support the troops"; "blue state Americans don't die enough for the empire"; besides "only people who live in small towns are real Americans"; "we shouldn't have to depend on foreign oil, we need to make our own"; and "hey, here's an idea, let's cut taxes". Of course Republicans love her. She is a reflection of the Republican movement since Goldwater. There was nothing new in the speech though. The only change she was pitching was a change from George Bush to John McCain. In fact she struck me as a female version of Cheney (both love them some big oil and both have weird mouths). She will appeal to the base, but I sincerely doubt she will win over many independent voters.

Ms. Palin has one habit, that they are going to have to break her of (in my opinion). She has a habit of clenching her jaw after she has made a point. It's as if she is saying. "Ya, I said you mother was a whore. You want to make something out of it?" I can only describe it as a "Cheney mouth". It will appeal to the S&M crowd in the Republican party, but I suspect it will turn off many, many others. Republicans may love a mean VP, but Americans probably don't want another Dick Cheney. One was plenty.

Update: I forgot to mention one other thing. The section about "special needs children" made me sick. Palin said that if elected she would champion their cause. Ya, right. We all know her support will be of the moral kind, the "I feel your pain" kind. Anyone asking for government money to actually help with the health care of these children will be politely (or maybe not so politely, told to go away and reflect on what it means to be an American).

Update: I realize that this will confirm my membership in the "Eastern Elites", but I think Gail Colins watched the same speech I did:

Reform Day was, of course, tailor-made for Palin, who is all about reform. Particularly, reforming the Republican party. Normally, in a democracy, the way you reform a party is by tossing it out of power until it learns its lesson and gets its act together. But the McCain-Palin plan is to reform Republicanism by keeping Republicans in control of the White House and most of the powerful posts in the federal government. That’ll show them.

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