Republican National Convention: Palin's support paling or expanding?

The Republican National Convention's now in full swing in Minnesota, and everyone is talking about it. McCain was interrupted by war protesters. Sarah Palin unleashed an attack on Democratic nominee Barack Obama. After Palin's speech, Obama reportedly raised $10 million in a single day. There's a lot going on in St. Paul.

Today, Alaska senator Sarah Palin seems to be the central topic in the news. There are many circulating articles about her speech, and plenty about her in general. How did Republicans react to her speech? What about Democrats? Did her speech gain any support from the undecided voters? And why did she make such a decisive attack on Obama? Here's a brief video from CNN discussing their thoughts on her speech and some general reactions to it.

(Psst... Terry Holt, on the far right, is wearing jeans! How's that for professionalism?)



Julian Epstein pointed out what everyone has been saying for the last few days--that Palin delivered a pretty decent speech, but she failed to address any plans to stimulate the economy or "any issues that people really care about. All you've heard is a swirl of controversy about [Palin] this week." I can't help but agree. In her speech, Palin described herself and her accomplishments, praised her running mate John McCain, and attacked Democratic nominee Barack Obama with bitterness and sarcasm. In the video above, John Roberts says that, in a focus group of women, that they didn't care for Palin's sarcasm or roughness, but that they an probably the rest of the public genuinely wants to hear more about her policies. Not once did she set a goal and explain how she and McCain would reach them. Pretty much the only goal she addressed was winning the election.

There are plenty of promises in her speech to harbor change in Washington, but they ring empty. Palin's energy is very appealing, but so far she has failed to deliver any significant contribution to the campaign other than gaining exposure.

These issues are echoed by an article on CNN.com. John Avlon had this to say about Palin and her speech's effect on independent voters:

"I think she has really helped close the enthusiasm gap which existed and really energized them," Avlon said, but "there is a substance gap that still exists, things we don't know about Sarah Palin in terms of what policy she supports."

Here's another little treasure:

CNN contributor Paul Begala said that Palin is the "new hero of the Republican right" but that her attack-dog style wasn't what the independents and swing voters want to hear.

Avlon, author of "Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics" went on to remind people of John Kerry's campaign strategy--attacking Bush and expecting it to win him support, which of course it didn't. Avlon warns that if McCain and Palin spend their time bashing Obama, the same thing could happen. In this case, the best defense is NOT a good offense. People just don't like mean politicians.


Keck, Kristi. " Will Palin's tough talk win over undecideds?." CNN.com. 4 Sep 2008. CNN. 11:30 pm 4 Sep 2008 <http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/04/palin.independents/index.html>.