For the past seven days the opponents of Sarah Palin have taken aim at her, attempting all manner and all lows to discredit her as a viable candidate for Vice-President. On Wednesday night Gov. Palin stepped out on the stage in St. Paul on the biggest night of her political career...and hit a home run!
Before last Friday many Americans, including me didn't know much about Mrs. Palin. When her name first surfaced in media reports I took to the Internet to pick up as much information as I could about Sarah Palin the person and the public servant.
She's been a member of the PTA, worked in commercial fishing, a television sportscaster, a councilwoman, a mayor and a Governor. She and her husband have five children and one grandchild on the way. In other words she's like any other parent in any community across our nation.
On the stage tonight she made her case to America and confirmed to Republicans why John McCain made the right choice. I especially liked how she informed her opposition about the qualifications to be in the PTA and to serve as mayor. Her opponents on the other side have never served as a mayor or operated a business.
My opinion, which I shared with Ryan Alessi when he called me shortly after her speech is that Sarah Palin's remarks coupled with the negative coverage from the national media only served to strengthen her support among Republicans. And I believe her speech will also convince working moms, military moms, soccer mom, Independent and Hillary Democrats that the McCain-Palin ticket is the choice for them.
I would be remised if I also didn't mention what an outstanding speech that former New York Mayor Rudy Guiliani gave before Gov. Palin. From where I was seated in the Xcel Energy Center it allowed me to see the teleprompter scrolling Mayor Giuliani's remarks. By my estimate more than half of what he said was ad-libbed and came from the heart.
This election is about straight and honest talk, not orchestrated speeches in front of fake Roman columns. That's why the McCain-Palin ticket was officially voted into nomination as the Republican ticket on Wednesday night. Tomorrow I expect Sen. McCain to follow up Gov. Palin's home run by hitting a grand slam!
