The Palin speech tonight was the product of at least 3 days of very

[saltpoint]

intense secluded concentrated focused here-and-now red-flag-level work by McCain's operatives and all they got out of it was surprisingly brittle and nasty-toned snark from a speaker with significant limitations as an orator.

Anybody who missed the speech didn't miss much.

And the early results rumblings are not all that encouraging. I've heard "adequate" and "base-rallying" quite a bit more than I've heard "homerun."

Palin will likely never again during this campaign enjoy the level of attention she received tonight. The media will be asking questions on policy. Is she even remotely prepared for that? Does she know anything about flood relief? Can she offer her thoughtful analysis on the future of U.S. relations in Afghanistan?

McCain's choice, many of the progressive blogs are saying after tonight, will be considered a mistake as the campaign goes on. And this prediction comes even without the dust-up with the National Enquirer.

[Muttocracy]

1. very true, wise one. Soon, no text, no teleprompter.

[saltpoint]

20. And! Let's see how the Frontier Governor fares against the Chairman

of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in the vice presidential debate.

I bet you and I will be tuned in for that one!

:hi:

[cliffordu]

2. K&R

Yep.

[geek tragedy]

3. Um, every non-Democrat who's weighed in said it was a homerun.

Look at the frontpage of Yahoo! if you don't believe me.

Sorry, but folks need to step outside the echo chamber.

[DarthDem]

6. Hardly

Please.

CNN's current front page:

Thumbs up 41% 21408
Thumbs down 45% 23555
Didn't watch 15% 7790

Total Votes: 52753

[Marsala]

10. Unfortunately, online polls are meaningless.

Even the ones that help us. The Internet-using public is far more Democratic than Republican.

[DarthDem]

12. Save the Lecture

Thanks. The poster to whom I responded touted Yahoo's front page. I rebutted with CNN's. And, given that the posters at Free Republic actively seek to influence every online poll, I don't think you premise is valid. I also reject the meme that "the Internet-using public is far more Democratic than Republican." I have never seen any actual evidence of that.

[regnaD kciN]

21. Maybe, but...

...that poll still shows the country deeply divided. It wasn't a case where she got 67% approval, where any attempts by progressives to "stuff the ballot box" (which is limited in effectiveness in any case) would be utterly futile.

It was a polarizing, dividing speech, and it left the viewers...divided. Surprised?

[Marsala]

Not at all

It certainly mirrors the current polls. I'm just thoroughly skeptical of all online polls. Also, by asking only about the speech, it may have induced many who hate the Republicans to concede that it was a nice speech.

Overall, it's something to be cautiously optimistic about. Like a favorable Zogby poll that agrees with the others.

[susanna]

8. But a quote like this...

"When asked if Palin brought a gun to the fight, Gast said: "Yes, I think she brings a big gun, like a moose gun.""

That quote may make one stop and think how this will play with people who don't, well, hell, I don't know - hunt moose?

In a nutshell, she was adequate for her particular stage; she wowed and gave the crowd the red-meat lines it craved. But WHAT did it do for the Independents?

I'm not in the echo chamber at all. I'm reading vastly different accounts of her speech from all over. Just saying.

on edit: missing modifier

[geek tragedy]

13. Where are you reading negative or even less than

glowing accounts?

[susanna]

14. It's become obvious to me that we're looking at two different things.

I'm reading human responses on sites all over the place. If I could list my bookmarks page you'd get a glimpse; conservative, liberal, objective, financial pages...while it seems that you're depending on MSM "one catch all" articles for your opinion. Obviously, we'll be in disagreement. I'm looking at real people, not a media group's vetted assessment.

[saltpoint]

15. I don't know. The early CNN panel was mostly negative and

quite a few of the other sites have posted mediocre-to-lukewarm reviews.

It was no homerun. Residually base-rallying, ok. But no homerun.

[VolcanoJen]

25. CNN surprised me

They definitely hit her hard on the sarcastic, negative, divisive tone of her speech.

By mid-afternoon tomorrow, after Morning Joe waxes rhapsodic about TEH AWESUM!!111 speech, I think the media will be right back to trying to figure out who in the hell this teleprompter whiz-kid is, exactly.

[saltpoint]

31. Hey there.

It's been a kind of strange night, even for Republicans.

They canceled Rudy initially then here he was again tonight, and in especially evil form, too.

Bush was going, then he wasn't, then he showed up on the big screen yesterday.

Palin's first impression was a real dud for the Party, I believe. She read the words but didn't sounds especially representative of a superior alternative. It was just nastiness against Obama and Biden.

[DarthDem]

4. Completely Agree

Nice post, OC.

In case anyone here is depressed about the preposterous take of the absurd Wolf Blitzer, or Tweety pleasuring himself after the speech (he changed his tune and moderated his comments significantly as the evening wore on), please be advised that Palin was not good. She came off as a halting, hateful harpy - - and that was reading off of a prompter in front of the most friendly audience imaginable.

If you think that the wily Joe Biden isn't going to know EXACTLY how to press her buttons in the VP debate, you haven't been paying attention to Joe's career. :-) No more worries about whether he will come off as "too harsh" in attacking her - - a sexist notion to begin with. In fact, as Troopergate and her other petty abuses of power convincingly show, and as tonight's speech confirmed, she is a nasty, vindictive, unpleasant person. In her next, and only real widespread exposure to the voters before Election Day (even Pat Buchanan admitted, quite shamelessly, that she would be cloaked from the press), she's going to be even more of a disaster.

[saltpoint]

16. Yes. Against the more exacting questions of an interviewer on

one of the Sunday talk programs, she is going to have to be more adroit and show more range.

I think she's running low on both counts.

And Biden is going to eviscerate her. And it will be a very clean surgery indeed.

[Cha]

5. The AP predictably shilled for her by saying

she was like reagan but I'm thinking like a lot of others that she stepped on a minefield by dissing Obama's earlier work in Community Organizing. We have Communities all over America and people who organize.

[susanna]

9. I disliked Reagan intensely, but he was a powerful orator.

This woman is NO Reagan. So says me.

[saltpoint]

17. zidzi, I think you are right. You can't be a mayor without at least

grudgingly acknowleding that communty-building strengthens and defines your city.

Your description is just right. They really stepped in it big with that one.

[regnaD kciN]

19. The AP also took her apart in an analysis...

...contrasting quotes from her speech with the actual facts of the matter. It was not pretty (for Republicans, that is).

[anigbrowl]

7. Heh

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/04/rnc.reportcard.palin/index.html
Grade Palin's speech
Your grade: C
Average Grade: F

[regnaD kciN]

22. I'm not sure the tabulator is working right...

I could imagine, if enough Democrats voted, that her average might be C- or D, but F seems doubtful, considering there were almost certainly Republicans voting up her average as well.

Anyway, I notice she got all As from the talking heads, except for Begala's B. :shrug:

[True_Blue]

11. She sounded like she wa coached by Dennis Miller

[TheKentuckian]

18. Is the media in the tank? Sure.

Was she good? No, she was average at best.

[MagickMuffin]

23. Her plans will consist of praying to god, while preying on Americans

I agree I don't think she will be very effective with the press.

[saltpoint]

24. Yes. They may keep her under very close supervision on a real short leash.

A lot of controlled photo-op type appearances.

Maybe a string of PTA gigs through Idaho...

[MagickMuffin]

30. Don't forget gun ranges

Bang Bang shoot 'em up, yeehaw

[saltpoint]

32. She's locked and loaded and ready to rumble.

[MagickMuffin]

33. Duck and Cover

:hide:

[saltpoint]

35. LOL!

[Lil Missy]

26. Just heard on MSNBC. A poll after her speech, whether one is more, or less, likely to vote McSame.

19% - More Likely

66% - Less likely

Undecided number, sorry, I forgot it already.

Oh, C'mon. Nothing to see here. Let's move along.

Obama has this beat by miles.

[saltpoint]

27. I don't know who was doing the voting, but I like the majority opinion!

[Lil Missy]

34. I have no idea where the poll came from.

But honestly, was tonight pathetic, or what? All smoke and mirrors, and no substance.

Reminds me of the 2000 election. I tried, really hard, to keep an open mind. But gw never answered a single goddamned question. It still makes me SICK.

[saltpoint]

36. It was pathetic alright. It was also a bit unsettling. The speech by Guiliani

was a moral abomination of the first order -- as vile as any I've heard in recent memory -- but the people roaring their approval at it were even more frightening.

I did not want to live in the same country as those people. And I do.

[Lil Missy]

37. Not to worry ...

They couldn't fill up a 10K stadium, (without blow up dolls.)

Those bloviating their approval sounded louder because it was such a small group.

Do not fear, my friend. :)

[rufus dog]

28. You get one chance to make a first impression

She came across as a female Sean Hannity. (gotta go put in SheAnn Hannity for a nickname)

This is very high risk. The rabid base loves it but they are fucking delusional. Moderate Independents and Republicans may hate her.

[saltpoint]

29. Hi, rufus dog. I agree. It was raw meat for the fundies and nutbags

but independents aren't going to like it much.

[1Hippiechick]

38. He will part the waters and heal the earth..." take those tacky styrofoam Greek columns back to the

movie lot..."

Nothing but an attack campaign from the beginning, yet I continue to be SHOCKED at what they say, as would have been some of the older people in that crowd.

As if we are not the subject of ridicule around the world already, look what will happen if PALIN gets in. And what does that say about American 'politics.' It will be interesting to read other international reports.

[saltpoint]

39. Yep. They're essentially attack animals.

I think Palin stepped in it deep with the blast at community organizers.

The Obama team has already emailed the faithful and that is going to be a topic of heavy discussion in the coming days, IMO.