Reaganesque

It's hard to find a better single word to describe Sarah Palin's speech last night.

Palin's combination of boldness, clarity, humor, confidence, and authenticity was something we've hardly seen from a candidate in twenty-five years.

A Democratic critic claimed he observed Palin intently watching the teleprompter when she spoke about international issues, thereby demonstrating her inexperience in speaking on such matters. Sure. It turns out the teleprompter kept scrolling during periods of extended applause, occasionally scrolling past the point where Palin was to continue. So she resumed her speech - from memory!

None of this was obvious to those of us watching at home. Palin had poise, finesse, and charisma, and could deliver unscripted wit worthy of the Great Communicator himself: "What's the difference between a pitbull and a hocky mom? Lipstick." Then she'd return to the fickle telepromter without missing a beat.

In contrast, those of you who saw CBS's coverage might have caught Katie Couric's gaffe in which she referred to Palin as the governor of Arkansas. I almost disbelieved my ears until it was confirmed by the closed-captions a few seconds later.

My Top Eight Favorite Quotes from Sarah Palin's Acceptance Speech

8. "I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a 'community organizer,' except that you have actual responsibilities."

7. "... we don't quite know what to make of a candidate who lavishes praise on working people when they are listening, and then talks about how bitterly they cling to their religion and guns when those people aren't listening. We tend to prefer candidates who don't talk about us one way in Scranton and another way in San Francisco."

6. "... there are some candidates who use change to promote their careers. And then there are those, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change. They're the ones whose names appear on laws and landmark reforms, not just on buttons and banners, or on self-designed presidential seals."

5. "... listening to [Obama] speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform — not even in the state Senate."

4. "This is a man who can give an entire speech about the wars America is fighting, and never use the word 'victory' except when he's talking about his own campaign. "

3. "... When the cloud of rhetoric has passed ... when the roar of the crowd fades away ... when the stadium lights go out, and those Styrofoam Greek columns are hauled back to some studio lot - what exactly is our opponent's plan? What does he actually seek to accomplish, after he's done turning back the waters and healing the planet? The answer is to make government bigger ... take more of your money ... give you more orders from Washington ... and to reduce the strength of America in a dangerous world."

2. "My fellow citizens, the American presidency is not supposed to be a journey of 'personal discovery.' This world of threats and dangers is not just a community, and it doesn't just need an organizer."

1. "... though both Senator Obama and Senator Biden have been going on lately about how they are always 'fighting for you,' let us face the matter squarely. There is only one man in this election who has ever really fought for you."


I urge anyone to read the full text of what I believe will be remembered as an historic speech, keeping in mind this was only the script. You won't find the pitbull joke.