Palin = Lightweight
It's my sense that Palin played very well to the room, but not very well to the TV audience. She came across as a bit thin, lacking any emotional connection with what she was saying. Except the attack lines which generally seemed way too sharp in delivery.
She delivered all the lines and had a decent sense of timing, but it didn't feel like her speech. It felt like she was reading (which, of course, she was.)
I could well be wrong, because I am unquestionably biased, but that's my sense of it.
Later: That's it? That's the woman who was supposed to upend the election?
Later Still: I'll be very curious at the difference in reviews between those reporters that were in the stadium and those that were without. Wolf Blitzer (inside) just said, "It's clear a new star has been born."
Am I that far off?
PS. I think having to cut the Palin bio piece to keep her speech in primetime was a big mistake.
She delivered all the lines and had a decent sense of timing, but it didn't feel like her speech. It felt like she was reading (which, of course, she was.)
I could well be wrong, because I am unquestionably biased, but that's my sense of it.
Later: That's it? That's the woman who was supposed to upend the election?
Later Still: I'll be very curious at the difference in reviews between those reporters that were in the stadium and those that were without. Wolf Blitzer (inside) just said, "It's clear a new star has been born."
Am I that far off?
PS. I think having to cut the Palin bio piece to keep her speech in primetime was a big mistake.
posted by mikevotes at
9:57 PM
16 Comments:
In all honesty, I don't like either party. My politics don't fall 100 percent within either category. But I was entirely captivated with Obama's speech last week, while tonight I spent most of my time cracking off one-liners at the hollow attack attempts Palin was making, and the other portion getting genuinely angry at what she was trying to say.
By
Anonymous, at 10:04 PM
And she just pulled the P.O.W. card. Because he's supposedly much more "honorable" than Obama.
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Anonymous, at 10:05 PM
Maybe I'm wrong, but the bits of the night I've seen seem on the wrong tone.
They seem way too angry and way too sharp. They seem outside the middle, you know?
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mikevotes, at 10:06 PM
Yeah, very, very right. Almost like they have to take potshots to get laugh lines because they don't have any kind of rebuttals with substance.
She can rip on Obama's policies, but didn't offer anything to counter that would make their ideas seem superior.
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Anonymous, at 10:14 PM
We'll wait and see, the first media reaction will be from inside the room, so that will likely be more positive.
I'll be curious as the comments begin to stretch outside the arena.
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mikevotes, at 10:16 PM
Republican "humor" is violent. They joke about death, assassination attempts, rape, etc. I don't get it.
So far it seems the Republicans are doing everything they can to prove Obama's point about the politics of divisiveness. If his message is resonating with people -- and I think it is -- that all he need do is point to this RNC and say "Need I say any more about why we need change in the White House. And not change that is MORE extreme, MORE divisive, MORE out of touch than the crew that is currently in office."
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-epm, at 10:23 PM
Maybe that's just what's putting me off.
I was thinking about that too. The Republicans were preaching bipartisanship while violently perpetuating the partisan war.
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mikevotes, at 10:26 PM
Remember, to a Republican "bipartisanship" means "do it my way, NOW, a-hole." They have a whole different dictionary than the English speaking world.
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-epm, at 10:37 PM
Yeah. It just struck me as very funny.
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mikevotes, at 10:39 PM
Oh please. Blitzer is about two notches from Larry King on the political savant scale.
Now I wish I was watching PBS.... At least they have folks commenting who possess some form of self-respect and care about their reputations.
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-epm, at 10:40 PM
And Blitzer's opinion always shifts after he hears what everyone else has to say.
I'm going to bed, folks. I'll check in tomorrow.
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mikevotes, at 10:45 PM
Palin's speech was way too snide in tone. We've seen these themes pushed for far too long. Hillary was doing "inexperienced" almost a year ago, and nobody bought it. We've had Corsi's book, we've had "that's not change you can believe it", "celebrity", and all of the various smears, plus talk radio and FNC have been pushing all of this stuff for several months now.
And Obama is ahead in the polls.
And now Palin goes out there and recites the same tired lines and somebody thinks that now, this time, it's going to really, really work.
Obama's "favourables" are equal to McCain's. In other words, they are each as vulnerable to smears as the other, and their numbers are so high that the negative approach seems like a long-shot from the start. And we've already heard that this election won't be on the issues. The GOP has chosen the losing strategy.
Look, making Obama look like a joke is a bad move if you are trying to win undecided voters. Obviously those voters don't think Obama is a joke, or else they wouldn't have been seriously considering voting for him. Obviously they don't think he's scary, or they wouldn't have been on the fence - they would have gone to McCain's side already. All she has done is appeal to the base, which might make them feel nice but wins no new votes.
And there is considerable evidence coming out now that she energised Obama's base with her attacks.
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Todd Dugdale , at 9:26 AM
Todd, that's my hunch, but I was definitely not a target audience for that speech.
The tone in the room also felt really nasty to me. Again, could be me, but it doesn't seem to match the tone in the broader campaign.
As for the broader election points, we tend to agree. Base versus base this year is likely an Obama win, and I don't see how that speech moves the middle.
On the other hand, it does raise money, it does raise volunteers which they desperately need.
(And I'm waiting for the Obama August fundraising number.)
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mikevotes, at 10:57 AM
Tone...
The Dem convention had the feeling of a celebration...
The Rebup conventions has the feeling of a Braveheart war rally. I almost expect to see them rapping swords against shields! "Drill, baby, Drill!" instead of "Freedooooom"
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-epm, at 11:36 AM
I agree with everyone that the attacks were way too sharp all night. Moreover, I just wanted to say that as far as Obama's base is concerned, I can say that after last night, after hearing the GOP say Obama didn't mention terrorism (he did), didn't have experience (he does), and making fun of his time as a community organizer (something, which I think, means he knows and cares about what faces everyday Americans, and probably knows how many houses he owns), I'm not only voting, I'm driving people to the polls and I'm doing everything I can to stop these mean-spirited lunatics. I can appreciate disagreement. I can't appreciate nastiness.
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Anonymous, at 12:43 PM
EPM, that was one of the weirdest moments, when the entire convention was shouting drill, drill..
The oil execs must have been chuckling at their success.
....
Anon, I've heard the increased passion from a couple of people. Personally, I didn't feel it, but I'm kinda detached by nature. That's why I do analysis.
And, the anecdotal I'm seeing from the center seems to be "too sharp in attack, no discussion issues."
The Republicans loved her, but if that's the reaction from the center, I'm pretty happy.
By
mikevotes, at 1:18 PM
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