11:15 pm
Live blogging Sarah Palin (and John McCain)
Here we go.
10:30 Sustained ovation. This is going to last for a while.
10:30 Todd now holding Trig. Still have to ask what Trig is doing in that hall at this time of night. Bad reflection on both parents, not just Sarah.
10:32 Palin just announced she will accept the nomination. So much for the speculation.
10:32 “I accept the call to serve America and the challenge to face ‘confident’ opponents.”
10:33 Using the lose an election -win a war.
10:33 She just winked at the camera. I think she’s going for the down home girl routine.
10:34 They were smart — have her start with McCain’s biography, thus giving her a chance to cover the fairly easy stuff while getting her bearings.
10:35 She just played the “mother of one of those troops” card. Showing photo of her son, Track, who looks a little overwhelmed.
10:35 9/11!
10:37 Introduces family. Todd Palin raises Trig’s hand and waves it. “Children with special needs inspire a very very special love.” Honest to Buddha, I wish to hell I didn’t feel that her appeal to families with special needs wasn’t completely cynical.
10:39 How scripted is this? Todd wasn’t holding Trig when Sarah gave him a shout out and he stood and waved.
10:40 Another Republican citing Harry Truman. Does she really want to cite Truman when people are worried about her becoming vice president?
10:41 Hockey mom.
10:42 We’re 12 minutes into the speech and we haven’t heard one peep on policy. I think this speech is going to be all about her.
10:43 First direct slap at Dems — “let me explain what a mayor does.” Playing community organizer card.
10:44 Shot of a demonstrator being manhandled and dragged out of convention.
10:44 Looks like “bittergate” is going to become a big talking point. “We prefer candidates who don’t talk about us one way in Scranton and another way in San Francisco.”
10:45 Barring a major flub, she’s passed this test.
10:45 Crowd is stepping on Palin. “I’m not going to Washington to listen to them, I’m going to Washington to serve the people of this great country.”
10:46 Shot of Newt Gingrich — he wasn’t applauding or really paying attention.
10:47 Just looked very serious and off in the distance. Same pose Obama uses.
10:47 How will the good ol’ boys in the audience react to her calling out the good ol’ boys in Alaska?
10:48 She’s laying out her reformer props now. Joke about putting luxury jet on eBay. Funny, but true?
10:50 Getting wonky.
10:51 OMG she repeated the “thanks but no thanks to the bridge to nowhere,” but amended it by saying that if the state wanted to build the bridge, they would do it themselves. That’s going to get savaged tomorrow.
10:52 No mention of the windfall profits tax that she passed and McCain opposes. When do reporters get to ask her about that?
10:52 Talking about Russia, Iran, Venezuela and energy — highlights her strength and demonstrates she understands foreign policy.
10:53 Energy independence with heavy emphasis on drilling, token mention of solar, wind, geothermal.
10:54 “We need American energy brought to you by American ingenuity and produced by American workers.”
10:54 “Our opponent” rather Obama. Man who authored two major memoirs but not a single law. Crowd chanting again.
10:55 Obama is a man who can give an entire speech about wars America is fighting and never use the word victory except when talking about his own campaign.
10:56 The styrofoam column card?
10:56 Just mocked Obama as “The One.” Following up with a ton of red meat.
10:57 She just mocked American constitutional rights. So we now know that that she is from the angry anti-civil liberties wing of the Republican party. Does John McCain know that she’s against habeas corpus?
10:59 Probably the only major candidate ever to have a sister who owns a gas station. Or did Billy Carter own one? Can’t remember
10:59 Taxes, taxes, taxes.
11:00 In politics, there are some candidate who use change to promote their careers and others like John McCain who use their careers to promote change.
11:00 Just mocked the Obama fake presidential seal.
11:02 Just used a Harry Reid quote to reverse-praise McCain. Reid “can’t stand up to John McCain.”
11:02 This is much more a red meat speech than Biden’s was.
11:03 Again with the community organizer. Presidency shouldn’t be a journey of personal growth.
11:03 Only one man in this election who has actually fought for you. Back to McCain bio.
11:04 I honor McCain’s service, but didn’t Republicans mock Kerry for emphasizing his service as much as they are now doing w/McCain?
11:05 John McCain has “the confidence of those who have seen evil and how evil was overcome.”
11:06 Did she just say that Tom Moe should be President? I know, I know, but the writing wasn’t clear there.
11:07 For a season a gifted speaker can inspire with his words. John McCain can inspire with his words.
11:10 After a two-minute ovation, McCain comes out to speak. “Don’t you think we made the right choice for Vice President?” “And what a beautiful family.”
11:11 I noted this at the announcement, but there’s this odd distance between McCain and Palin — translates as a lack of chemistry.
11:13 Ending kind of anti-climatic. Almost like they did not know how to end.
Whoever wrote this speech for her deserves a lot of credit, but in the end, she had to deliver it. And deliver it she did — not just effectively but superbly. You will hear a lot about how this was a home run tonight. And that won’t be far from the truth. It was a home run off a batting practice pitcher throwing underhand, but it was a home run nonetheless.
Two last thoughts:
1. No mention of Hillary, and no real references that would appeal to Hillary.
2. I’m still deeply disturbed that they’ve got Trig up on stage. It’s after 10:00 in MSP and he’s four months old. I’m sorry, but that is bad parenting. By both parents.
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