WSJ(9/4) 3rd UPDATE: Gov. Palin Makes Her Case
(From THE WALL STREET JOURNAL) By Gerald F. Seib and Laura Meckler
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin went straight at the critics of her vice-presidential nomination, using an intensely watched national address to portray her experience as governor as sufficient, her time as a small-town mayor as an asset, and the attacks on her record as the work of an elitist media and political establishment.
Speaking to a loudly enthusiastic crowd of delegates at the Republican National Convention, and to a national audience drawn into days of debate about her selection, Gov. Palin used the large stage to introduce both herself and her family. In the process, she also countered a grueling barrage of accusations that she's not ready for the job.
Throughout, Gov. Palin attempted to take all the problems and controversies that have arisen since Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain announced her nomination Friday -- the criticism of her level of experience, her lack of exposure on the world stage, her family's profile -- and turn them into assets with mainstream voters.
'Here's a little news flash for all those reporters and commentators: I'm not going to Washington to seek their good opinion -- I'm going to Washington to serve the people of this great country,' she said. Delegates responded to her slam at the media with vigorous boos; many pointed, as in a sign of indictment, at reporters in the hall covering the speech.
The speech had much higher stakes than the typical vice-presidential convention speech. The Palin nomination has become by far the riskiest undertaking of Sen. McCain's campaign, a move that has galvanized his party's base but become the subject of intense scrutiny and controversy that has overshadowed all else at the convention. Facing those stakes, Gov. Palin went on the offense.
Her framing of the controversy over her nomination went down well with the party stalwarts in St. Paul's Xcel Energy Center. As she took the stage, she was greeted with a boisterous three-minute standing ovation from delegates who have largely been defending her staunchly all week.
The broader question was how her speech would play to the audience beyond, a question that was impossible to answer immediately.
Gov. Palin addressed the experience question head on, speaking at length of her life story -- mother, mayor, governor -- and almost challenging voters to dismiss small-town America if they were to dismiss her.
'I had the privilege of living most of my life in a small town. I was just your average hockey mom, and signed up for the PTA because I wanted to make my kids' public education better,' she said.
She also broke away from her prepared remarks to toss in a joking aside about her life as a mother: 'You know the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull?' she asked. 'Lipstick.'
Where Democrats derided her background as a small-town mayor, she replied that such experience gave her a feel for real Americans. 'Before I became governor of the great state of Alaska, I was mayor of my hometown,' she said.
'And since our opponents in this presidential election seem to look down on that experience, let me explain to them what the job involves. I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a 'community organizer,' except that you have actual responsibilities.' That was not only a retort to the Obama campaign, but a dig at Sen. Obama's own experience as a community organizer in Chicago.
As if in response to fascination with her family, particularly the announcement this week that her 17-year-old daughter is pregnant, she pointedly introduced her children, her husband and her parents to the audience by name, having each stand for an ovation.
'Our family has the same ups and downs as any other . . . the same challenges and the same joys,' she said.
She portrayed her slim resume as a sign that she isn't part of an official Washington that has slipped in the public's estimation. Above all, she framed the skepticism among commentators and news analysts as a sign that she's being victimized by a press establishment already unpopular with Republican Party regulars.
'I've learned quickly . . . that if you're not a member in good standing of the Washington elite, then some in the media consider a candidate unqualified for that reason alone,' she said.
On policy, she highlighted one area where she has expertise, oil drilling, and which the campaign has pounded for weeks now. It was an indication that Sen. McCain will use his new partner to press the point as she begins traveling on her own next week.
She and Sen. McCain both support new offshore drilling. Gov. Palin also supports drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, something the man at the top of the ticket has declined to do. |
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