VP nominee Palin comes out swinging
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Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin addresses the Republican convention last night in St. Paul, Minn.
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ST. PAUL, Minn. -- After a week of public scrutiny that ranged from her daughter's out-of-wedlock pregnancy to an ethics dispute in her home state, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin accepted her party's call to the vice presidency and introduced herself to America last night, answering her critics and telling voters she is one of them, "just your average hockey mom."
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In a speech before a rapturous crowd that nominated Arizona Sen. John McCain for president and her for vice-president, Ms. Palin portrayed herself as someone whose lack of experience as a political insider, rather than disqualifying her, confirmed her as an agent of political change.
She also seized the occasion to deliver fierce rhetorical blows on Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama, alternately poking fun at his background as a community organizer in Chicago and painting him as a defeatist on Iraq.
"I had the privilege of living most of my life in a small town," Ms. Palin told thousands of delegates packed into the Xcel Energy Center here. She sketched a narrative of a small town upbringing and an almost accidental climb up the political ladder, joining the PTA "because I wanted to make my kids' public education better," then on to city council and, later, mayor.
After a nonstop buffeting, both by press accounts of her family and political life as well as slaps from the Obama campaign, Ms. Palin last night answered with a few swings at Mr. Obama's resume.
"Before I became governor of the great state of Alaska, I was mayor of my hometown," Ms. Palin 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."
The swipe at Mr. Obama's early career in Chicago brought a roar of approval from the crowd..
She added a lacerating reference to Mr. Obama's remarks at a San Francisco fund-raiser that some Pennsylvanians are "bitter" and "cling" to religion and gun rights.
"We tend to prefer candidates who don't talk about us one way in Scranton and another way in San Francisco," Ms. Palin said, again to large cheers.
She later hit even harder at Mr. Obama, saying "Victory in Iraq is finally in sight. He wants to forfeit. ... 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."
Ms. Palin stayed largely on script during the speech, pausing at one point to acknowledge the cheers of some women in the audience when she called herself a hockey mom.
"I love those hockey moms," she smiled. "You know [what] they say is the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? Lipstick."
Clearly undeterred by the weeklong pounding taken by Ms. Palin, Mr. McCain put in an unscheduled appearance on the convention stage last night alongside his running mate after her speech. She was also joined by her family and held her infant son, Trig, who was born with Down syndrome.
"Don't you think we've made the right choice for the next vice president of the United States?" Mr. McCain said. "What a beautiful family."
In her acceptance address, Ms. Palin bluntly sought to turn questions about her lack of national policy experience directly against her critics and the news media. Employing a staple of Republican rhetoric in recent years, portions of the crowd turned to the press galleries and chanted their disapproval.
"I've learned quickly these past few days 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. "But here's a 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 country."
Ms. Palin also touched on energy policy, a likely pivotal issue this year after a summer of record energy prices and $4-a-gallon gasoline. She has played a sometimes contentious role in her home state, where she pushed for an energy pipeline and for increased drilling on oil leases.
Ms. Palin's 17-year-old daughter, Bristol, was in the stands, alongside Levi Johnston, the high school sweetheart by whom she is pregnant. That unexpected pregnancy was the first in a series of snags Ms. Palin hit this week.
After a buzz of attention surrounding Bristol, Ms. Palin revealed that she has retained a lawyer to represent her in an ethics investigation in her home state.
Delegates insisted that those distractions would have little effect as the campaign moved into the general election.
Pennsylvanians bounded up and down, waving faux Terrible Towels throughout the speech. Republican National Committeeman Bob Asher called the speech "a home run," and state Attorney General Tom Corbett called the reference to Mr. Obama's past as a community organizer "great."
"I'm a working mother just about her age. I think it's absolutely fantastic," said Debbie Shuster, an alternate delegate from Hollidaysburg, Blair County.
First Published September 4, 2008 12:00 am
