Is it just me or does Sarah Palin seem more genuine than the average pol? Admittedly, I'm strongly prejudiced in her favor because she is the living embodiment of the pro-life cause. But she is also the opposite of the America Obama sketched last night. He wants us all to think of ourselves as broken, beaten, and in need of government help. He caricatures the conservative message as "You're on your own." Palin, of Alaska, still carries the spark of the frontier, the independence, and the spunk. I think Americans will identify with her far more than with Senator (been in Washington for 97 years) Biden.
Speaking of last night. Two nights ago Pres. Clinton said Obama showed good judgment in his choice of a running mat:
"he hit it out of the park."And I thought,
"eh."He did what he needed to do, but I don't see the excitement. McCain, just now, based on Palin's first appearance, really did hit it out of the park. Though we don't know how she'll be in debate, there's every indication Palin'll be terrific. That disconnect between what was being said and the facts characterized the entire Dem convention for me. Barack Obama coming after McCain on Georgia when Obama was first for Russia? Suggesting that McCain is weak on terrorism? (I still can't get over that.) Coming after McCain on energy policy when Obama has dropped his own do-nothing stance and adopted McCain's all-of-the-above approach? (To say nothing of running down the economy as if we were on the brink of depression when we have yet to experience even one quarter of decline, only a low-growth slump which we're already climbing out of). And the lowest thing Obama did was say McCain doesn't know about real America because he thinks "middle class" means making less than $ 5 million a year. Let's go to the figurative videotape.
WARREN:...Ok, on taxes, define "rich." Everybody talks about taxing the rich, but not the poor, the middle class. At what point - give me a number, give me a specific number - where do you move from middle class to rich? Is it $100,000, is it $50,000, is it $200,000? How does anybody know if we don't know what the standards are?
MCCAIN: Some of the richest people I've ever known in my life are the most unhappy. I think that rich should be defined by a home, a good job, an education and the ability to hand to our children a more prosperous and safer world than the one that we inherited.
I don't want to take any money from the rich -- I want everybody to get rich.
(LAUGHTER)
I don't believe in class warfare or re-distribution of the wealth. But I can tell you, for example, there are small businessmen and women who are working 16 hours a day, seven days a week that some people would classify as - quote - "rich," my friends, and want to raise their taxes and want to raise their payroll taxes.
Let's have - keep taxes low. Let's give every family in America a $7,000 tax credit for every child they have. Let's give them a $5,000 refundable tax credit to go out and get the health insurance of their choice. Let's not have the government take over the health care system in America.
(APPLAUSE)
So, I think if you are just talking about income, how about $5 million?
(LAUGHTER)
But seriously, I don't think you can - I don't think seriously that - the point is that I'm trying to make here, seriously -- and I'm sure that comment will be distorted -- but the point is that we want to keep people's taxes low and increase revenues.
And, my friend, it was not taxes that mattered in America in the last several years. It was spending. Spending got completely out of control. We spent money in way that mortgaged our kids' futures.
I had some hope ( ahem) that Obama was at least a gentleman who might mark the beginning of a return to civility in political discourse even if I can't embrace any of his policies. After last night I no longer even like him. His speech was classless (and the nice remarks at the very end about all being part of one America and not being nasty to people who disagree could not redeem the nastiness of the start), even more appalling than Biden's the night before. Isn't it interesting that McCain's campaign is sounding in a way all the same themes: reform, energy independence, civility, defense of the little guy --only from McCain the things coming out of his mouth correspond to reality at some level.
Update: check out the comments here --initial reactions to Palin's speech.
