Sarah Palin's Speech at Republican Convention Nails It. Really?

For a stranger to the national stage of presidential politics in America, Gov. Sarah Palin delivered an excellent speech for the Republicans at their convention. At last, she has lit the flames that the Republican grassroots have waited all these months to warm their partisan hearts and hands. It's kind of unusual that it took the bottom of the Republican ticket to fire up the campaign and the base of the party. But if you are Senator McCain, you get your fire any way you can, whether from the top or bottom of the hearth.

Having heard and seen Gov. Palin put on quite a show before the eyes of a nation curious to discover the newest political star, will Barack Obama finally be kicking himself in the pants for not picking Senator Hillary Clinton as his running mate? That would have been a double history-making ticket, but that's too late now, Senator Obama. Palin has stolen Hillary's show, it seems.

Gov. Palin's speech was historic, not only because she is the first ever female VP candidate on a Republican ticket, but also because she surpassed all expectations both in her demeanor and delivery of the most important speech of her political life thus far. Now, some broad and real-life observations on this ground-breaking speech that has America buzzing...

What Gov. Palin's Goals should have been for this Speech:

• Who I am: She did tell the nation who she is, from family background to personal qualities.
  
• What I have accomplished: She did outline her achievements, with emphasis on tackling corruption head-on in Alaska. She mentioned Alaska's budget surplus. She spoke of her reform in the energy sector, presenting herself as a champion of ending America's dependence on foreign oil, though her energy solution remains dipped and drenched in the expected oil wells of Alaska, for the most part.
  
• What I plan to do as McCain's vice president: She stressed that she will team up with McCain to bring change to Washington in maverick style and fashion. As she has done in Alaska, so McCain-Palin will do in Washington. OK...
  
• Why I'm tough enough to be John McCain's attack dog against Barack Obama: she did a very good job at that, though former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabe and former New York Mayor Rudy Guiliani already covered the "nail Obama" assignment.
  

Where the Speech Strayed Somewhat

• Palin touted the military record of Senator John McCain for the millionth time. This not gets old but keeps the accent on national security as the winning issue for the McCain campaign. The risk here is that November's election is not likely to be decided by military record or on national security, as America already has a hawk in the White House.
  
• She made her children a central piece of her speech, when we are being told that the family, especially the children of a candidate are off limits. How can the kids be off limit but be center-stage in your speech? Will she continue to walk this fine line and seek to have it both ways?
  

Three Biggest Questions with Regard to Winning the Election on November 4th

1. "Does the speech reveal that Sarah Palin is ready to take over from President McCain as Commander-In-Chief, just in case McCain becomes incapacitated?" Will the majority of Americans answer that question with a unreserved "Yes, she can!"
2. "Will the speech sway the swing voters, who will decide this election, as they usually do?" The speech was "great" for firing up the partisan, hardcore Republican base, but how will the speech go down with independent swing voters? Will that speech attract or repel those swing voters who are fed up with harsh partisan, personal attacks that have little to do with the issues? We shall find out.
   
3. "Does the speech give the impression that Gov. Palin and the Republican Party understand and care about those who are hurt by this recessive economy, those who are losing their homes to widespread foreclosures all across the fruited plain?" Could it be that the speech re-affirms the image of Republicans as callous and indifferent towards "the little guy"? The speech poked fun at at community organizers, when it is those organizers who roll up their sleeves to help victims of company shutdowns?

Does it really Matter Who Wrote the Speech and for Whom?

• Minus the biographical stuff, the speech that Gov. Sarah Palin delivered at the Republican Convention was a partisan, generic speech, written long before Gov. Palin was even chosen as McCain's veep. The speechwriter is Matthew Scully, described by one blogger as "a gifted pen and former speechwriter in the George Bush White House". It seems like Palin had no input into the speech, except for her biography. That shows just how closely and carefully she's being handled by the McCain campaign, who seems to be treating Sarah as McCain's daughter, rather than as his capable teammate. And that level of handling takes away from the image they want America to see of Gov. Palin as an intelligent and independent woman who can carry her on. It may not be unreasonable to say that until Mrs. Palin can use her own words to debate or discuss ideas of her own, until she can face questioning from the news media, without Matthew Scully's script, until she can get through the VP debates, the jury is still out on exactly what Sarah Palin's qualifications are to be next in line to the 72-year-old McCain, who, for health reasons, could by default make this woman the head of state of the world's sole super power and leader of the free world. I'm afraid it will take more than the reading of one good speech to settle that all-important question.