The speech that changed the game (but maybe not the outcome)

For anyone who thought that the mainstream media was so irrevocably tilted to the left that Republicans could expect nothing but sarcastic coverage and nonstop barbs from them, the reaction to Sarah Palin’s knockout speech last night at the Republican Convention should have set them straight. The pundits and prognosticators all swooned over a period of 40 minutes that they called “brilliant,” or “sensational” or any number of heady compliments. The positive chatter has hung on all of today. Indeed, Palin’s speech was a superficial masterpiece.

I say “superficial” because that is the best word used to describe it. It was pure GOP red meat with enough charm to maybe play to the independent or moderate crowd. It gleefully ripped Obama without enough facts to bog things down. It was spectacularly written (By Mike Scully, not Palin) but only delivered in a tolerable manner. A mish-mash of teleprompter to written notes to off-the-cuff humor made it uneven. And it is only one night, one night with a friendly crowd already in love with the Alaska “hockey mom” before she even took the stage.

On the other end, it’s no debate that the speech was a real knockout for Palin. Coming in the midst of simmering scandal and aggressive digging from the press into this unknown’s mysterious past, last night provided her with a moment to reach beyond the coverage and speak directly to the GOP base and, somehow, to swing voters everywhere.  Scully wrote a speech that amazingly managed to pull in conservative red meat, a gender solidarity message for Hillary voters, and a moderate angle to woo those “bitter” residents of Ohio and Pennsylvania still unsure of Obama. But props to Palin for giving the speech enough life and barely enough authenticity (and stage presence - always important) to make it all seem real. Palin defined herself last night in a way unassailable by the press - for now - and ultimately appealing to voters who happen to buy it.

Will those voters buy it? Through the magic on stage was visible an angry partisan who lashed out at all who challenge her, someone comfortable with demonizing the god awful media and sliming Obama as a phony,  a “community organizer” whose only organizing responsibilities were tuned to his own political ambitions. That is very cold; also very ripe for an Obama counterattack (cue the Chicago residents he “organized” back in the day). That and her penchant for touting McCain’s POW time and military service (”John McCain has actually fought for his country”) shows that she may be a neophyte and a “reformer” of the political world but that she is all too willing to engage in the same old distortions carried out by both sides; she basically says Obama’s past is open to attack but that we all must stay off John McCain. That’s old school hardball politics.

And did she really  speak to the working/middle-classes with her speech? She basically ignored the economy and never brought up her controversial social views. No abortion, no creationism, no guns. Will that be able to dupe Hillary supporters into falling for her? Harsh attacks, just like lofty rhetoric (Obama), are no match for a true sense of understanding the issues and being able to tell it like it is. The economy’s bad, people are antsy, etc. McCain can’t do it and Palin surely didn’t do it last night. At its core the speech was like a big McCain TV ad; Obama’s a weak celebrity elitist, McCain’s a hero, Palin’s one of “us” - all nice, but where is the substance? Isn’t that what the McCain campaign chides Obama about?

McCain, of course, is the true beneficiary of Palin’s wunderkind aura and golden speech from Wednesday. Palin has energized the base and made the Right Wing forget all about Joe Lieberman and immigration. That may not turn the election, but it certainly takes care of a real worry at McCain HQ.

McCain’s image gets a makeover, too. His campaign has a new angle as they portray the selection of Palin as the move of a “real maverick,” and the McCain-Palin team as a corps of reformers headed to clean up Washington and carry out the wishes of what they see as the true conservative majority in America. He can put out a broad and very murky message that has at least the impression of meat behind it - thanks to last night. No question that Palin would be shoved to the background if the speech hadn’t panned out, working the conservative side of the aisle to bridge the enthusiasm gap and staying out of the media limelight.

So treat the almighty Palin speech as a brilliant piece of speechwriting and stage presence, just as Obama’s speech at Invesco was last week. They’re both similar in how they unfolded; great moment followed by more questions. Palin made it clear she was ready but not so much if America is ready to believe her and McCain. Like Obama’s Denver moment, Palin’s St. Paul throwdown was great theater but not something that will change it all come November.

M.P.

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