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Wed: Notes from RNC Night 2
posted at 2008-09-04 00:01 | Last modified 2008-09-04 19:37
Early reax: Meg Whitman – good speaker. Carly Fiorina – not. Kay Bailey Hutchison – who knows? She got bumped.
Mitt Romney got a very warm welcome. But you didn’t have to look too far to see the anger bubbling underneath his slightly melancholy air. After a strained metaphor praising McCain and Palin, he launched into his stump speech - with one new line.
Romney looked physically pained just saying it – sad eyes, furrowed brow, dropping his voice. But he perked up considerably when he hit his campaign lines, which he did frequently and well. In fact, it sounded a lot like his opening gambit for 2012. If so, he’s going to need an update. His Al Gore jokes are already 8 years' worth of tired.
Mike Huckabee received a substantially cooler welcome than Romney, despite starting off with an attack on the “elite media” for McCain/Palin coverage he called “tackier than a costume change at a Madonna concert.”
Aside from a couple of red-meat applause lines, his speech was met with little enthusiasm. He did what he had to do, but he left his A-game back in Arkansas, and everyone there knew it. If Lieberman’s reception was tepid, then Huckabee’s was downright chilly.
But when Palin’s time came, you could feel the energy shift. It was clear that’s what they’d all been waiting for. It’s hard to imagine a more academic introduction than Hawaii Republican Linda Lingle delivered, but it still got a better response than Huckabee or Romney.
Oops. Rudy Giuliani came next. The deflation was palpable. America’s Mayor got a polite response, but he clearly wasn’t the speaker the crowd was hoping to see at the podium.
Rudy had his ups and downs. He hit some points that the audience loved, but he went on way too long, and lost a lot of them in wonky policy details. Even Cindy McCain gave up and turned her attention to Trig Palin.
When he finally got around to a sarcastic attack on Obama, most of the folks in the hall had apparently tuned him out. Even Bristol’s baby-daddy Levi was rolling his eyes by the time Giuliani walked off.
Sarah Palin appeared to long and loud applause.
She started off by praising John McCain, then moved on to talking about her family, starting with her son who’s headed to Iraq. Track Palin looked really nervous for his mom, which was kind of adorable for a big guy with a shaved head.
Palin made no mention of her daughter Bristol’s pregnancy, or of the baby’s father in the stands, looking squeaky clean and understandably uncomfortable. Instead, she stuck to broad strokes.
“Our family has the same ups and downs as any other. The same challenges, and the same joys. Sometimes the greatest joys bring challenges.”
She also introduced her husband and her parents, none of whom looked the slightest bit political. In fact, cutaway shots showed Bristol looking like she’d rather be anywhere but St. Paul tonight. (Can you blame her?)
Palin invoked Harry Truman in talking about the values of small-town America – a topic that brought the crowd to its feet. Then she went on to talk about her own entrée into politics.
“You know the difference between a hockey mom and a pitbull? Lipstick.”
She poked a little fun at herself, more so at Obama, and even more pointedly at the media: “I’m not going to Washington to seek their good opinion. I’m going to Washington to serve the people of this great country.” (Standing O for that one.)
She talked about cutting spending in AK, starting with the former governor’s private jet: “I put it on E-bay.”
Other great lines:
- “I thought we could muddle through without the governor’s personal chef -- although I gotta admit that sometimes my kids sure miss her."
- “There is much to admire about our opponent. But listening to him speak, it’s easy to forget this is a man who’s authored two memoirs, but not a single major law or even a reform, not even in the state senate….what exactly does he seek to accomplish, after he’s done turning back the waters and healing the planet?” (Update: The AP says that's not true.)
- “Let’s face the matter squarely. There is only one man in this election who has ever really fought for you.”
Bottom line:
Presentation: A. You’d never have known she was addressing a crowd bigger than the town she led for 6 years. Well done.
Substance: a solid C. There was nothing new here to bolster either her political credentials or her preparedness for the VP position. On the other hand, she succeeded in presenting herself as a smart, likeable, plucky person. She could’ve done better, but she could’ve done a whole lot worse.
Gratuitous fashion note:
Palin is usually pretty well turned-out, but not tonight. The dove-grey suit was pure Eighties-meets-Nurse-Ratchet. If she was consciously trying to downplay her attractiveness, it worked -- but I really hope she didn’t feel pressured to do so.
Cindy McCain, in contrast, was effortlessly elegant in kelly green, and Palin’s youngest girl was beautifully turned out, too, though dark brown chiffon seems a tad mature for her. Still, very nice.
Comments? Drop me a line.
