Legalities
Life, Politics and the Law From ABC News Correspondent Jan Crawford Greenburg
Jan Crawford Greenburg is a correspondent for ABC News' bureau in Washington DC. She covers politics, the Supreme Court and provides legal analysis for ABC News. She is a graduate of the University of Chicago's law school and is a member of the New York bar.
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A Voice for America?
September 04, 2008 10:23 AM
John McCain’s campaign manager, Rick Davis, told the Washington Post this week that a “very masculine” draft of the VP nominee’s speech had been written before McCain announced his bombshell of a pick in Sarah Palin.
They obviously tossed that one. Because the speech Matt Scully, President Bush’s former speechwriter, came up with last night for Palin could not have been delivered by any other of McCain’s top VP contenders. I’m not saying it was “feminine” (whatever Davis meant by “masculine”), but it was uniquely tailored to the person at the podium. And she delivered.
The picture of Palin was painted last night: She’s a small-town rebel with a cause, a pit bull of a hockey mom who believes America is great, no matter what the New York Times says. And Palin’s message was unlike anything we’ve seen in this campaign—or in the past decade or so, for that matter.
She delivered it directly to all those people she said make the country what it is--the people in those small towns “who do some of the hardest work in America, who grow our own food, run our factories and fight our wars.”
“They love their country, in good times and bad,” said this small-town gal from Wasilla. “And they’re always proud of America.”
That was the best moment of her compelling speech last night, and it captured the message John McCain has consistently failed to deliver in this campaign. So far, it’s been a campaign about change, and we’ve seen this narrative emerge and almost become conventional wisdom: America overstepped its bounds, disgraced itself on the world stage and must repent for its ills.
But that’s not a narrative a large swath of this country believes or accepts. Go to a place like rural Alabama, where I grew up. Or, I suspect, many small towns in Ohio and Michigan and Pennsylvania and Florida. There are a lot of Americans who don’t particularly care what the New York Times thinks, much less the Europeans.
Yet McCain, inexplicably in this campaign, has never stirringly delivered a Reagan-esque defense of America as a shining city upon the hill, with lights blazing as brightly as ever. That may be because McCain, after all those years in Washington, doesn’t get it. He wasn’t raised a common man, but an officer’s son, and he’s been a US Senator for 20 years now.
But he’s got a running mate, we saw last night, who can say “hell yeah” and “yee haw” with the best of them. (I’d love to ask McCain if he’d ever heard “Redneck Woman,” made wildly popular by the singer, Gretchen Wilson, who was on the stage after Palin last night.) He’s got a running mate who proudly clings to her guns and her religion---and can disparage Barack Obama for “talking about us one way in Scranton and another in way San Francisco.”
Palin showed last night she can talk to all those people who want to believe in their country’s greatness as they struggle to pay their bills. They may not like George Bush--but they want to believe America is the best country in the world, and they want to sing Toby Keith loud and proud.
On the national stage, Palin presented herself as someone who is perfectly willing to pull out her boot and---well, if you know Keith’s “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue,” you know where I’m going with this.
So regardless of why McCain picked her and how suddenly he made his choice---because he thought she was a reformer or would appeal to women voters or reinforce his maverick image---he got a candidate who can talk to a large part of America that none of the candidates really have.
That’s obviously not why he picked her—if he’d put a premium on that, he would not been determined (until last Sunday) to tap Joe Lieberman as VP. That thought kept going through my mind last night—how staggeringly different Palin is from Lieberman---and how do you explain McCain turning away from one and picking the other?
In Palin, McCain got a running mate who could almost not be more different than Joe Lieberman-- and a running mate who, in many ways, is nothing like McCain himself.
And that means regardless of what the next two months hold—and the stories by the journalists crawling through Alaska, the upcoming clash with Joe Biden, the ongoing debate over whether Palin is qualified right now for the Oval Office—we got a race that just got a lot more interesting.
September 4, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (78)
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That it was written by HER, assisted by the Bush speechwriter....
Posted by: SandyB | Sep 4, 2008 12:07:29 PM
As much as Obama has been attacked for speeches he has learned,BEEN VETTED for 4 years and is now ready to lead.
Palen is praised for 1 speech and is now ready to lead.
GIVE ME A BREAK!
Posted by: citizen | Sep 4, 2008 12:16:49 PM
Palin rendered Obama naked last night when she pointed out Obama had two tongues - one for the little people an one for the elite and his two tongues contradict each other depending on a situation.
Posted by: Obama-Yah-Wright | Sep 4, 2008 12:18:03 PM
C'mon folks. The McCain's VP speech was largely written (for a man)before the selection was ever decided upon. Her speech was written by Matthew Scully, former speechwriter for Dan Quale and George W. She had input of course, and she practiced delivering it, but it was written by someone else for her. They all have speech writers. Some of the great presidential quotes of our time were penned by speech writers. Her talk was indeed motivating and her diction and elocution was great, but I'm more interested in her record and her ideals.
As a Hillary Clinton and now Barack Obama supporter, I'm not particulary moved.
Posted by: Lee-Ann | Sep 4, 2008 12:20:23 PM
The Governor Sarah (Pontius Pilate) Palin vs. The Community organizer (the one) Barack Obama.
I wonder what would Jesus do? We know what the governor will do, AGAIN if givin the opportunity. Abuse of power charges? yea we need more of that in Rome/ Washington.
Posted by: CFMA | Sep 4, 2008 12:28:52 PM
i'm sorry - Hoooorayyyyyy!!!! Fantastic post. I loved it so much that I copied and pasted it onto an email to share with friends. Bravo!!!
Posted by: Lee-Ann | Sep 4, 2008 12:59:07 PM
Palin is in a position that will make her look very ineffective. She accepted a position that makes her look like one of the boys and she is not. She read a speech that did not define who she is - they wrote it and she read it. When the Obama camp slams her, let's not hear the cry of sexism. She painted herself as a pit bull and undoubtedly she will be treated as such. Let's see how tough she is when her true records are revealed. There are many women who are totally disappointed that she is being used as a puppet.
Posted by: Nancy | Sep 4, 2008 1:20:02 PM
ABC can we get more information on her church and the sermons? They closed their site? I would really like to know why the site was closed and what they are hiding. ABC you have done a great job this week.
Posted by: beck | Sep 4, 2008 1:30:11 PM
When you have no records to run on, the first thing you do is to attack your opponents for having no records to run on. It's an attempt to gain first mover's advantage. Big O said McCain wanted to focus on personality because of McCain's lack of records. What records does Big O have? For that matter, what has the Dem-controlled Congress done in the last few years?
Posted by: Obama-Yah-Wright | Sep 4, 2008 1:40:41 PM
WOW, Sarah didn't write her own speech. Imagine that. Of course we know no one writes The One's speeches, he just speaks, thanks to Divine inspiration.
Palin, when asked if she wrote her speech should simply reply:
"Well, I wrote part of it and the parts I didn't write, I wouldn't claim credit for writing, unlike my plagiarist opponent, Slow Joe Biden."
She didn't write her own speech, that's all you lefties have this morning.
I hope O'Reilly unpeels more of Barry's phoniness in his interview.
Posted by: PC14 | Sep 4, 2008 2:04:29 PM
Jan Greenberg,
Can you start a discussion concerning Palin's husband and his connection to the API. I remember people spinning Michele Obama's "Proud of her country" statement to mean something opposite of what she meant. What do people think of Palin's husband not wanting to be part of the USA???
Posted by: pt | Sep 4, 2008 2:12:57 PM
The article states "Palin showed last night she can talk to all those people who want to believe in their country’s greatness as they struggle to pay their bills."
____________________
Republicans need that. Most of us can't afford the $315,000.00 outfit Cindy McCain wore the first night of the convention.
Posted by: Peggy | Sep 4, 2008 2:15:48 PM
Do any of these Bush clowns have anything original to say? Four more years? Not.
Posted by: imacrank | Sep 4, 2008 2:17:55 PM
TrooperGate - Wasn't that the name of the scandal where Clinton sent state troopers out to fetch him some trim? That scandal name is already taken
This is TaserGate - where Palin risked the appearance of impropriety to get rid of a state trooper who 1) tasered his 11 year old step son and 2) made public death threats against Palin's father and ... well the list goes on and on but I think the scandal would have been if she did not take steps to remove him as well as those who were apparently protecting him.
I hope no one is still trying to spread the lie about Palin belonging to the ASP. It has been denied by that party's leadership. It's now lying to repeat the story.
Re: clinging to guns and bibles ... the full context does not make it better, just longer.
Re: the speech writer ... she may have had a speech writer, but she delivered half it without a teleprompter or notes.
Re: her experience. You've got to be kidding! As little as it is, its more that Obama's and Biden's put together and more than Ferraro's ... 'course that didn't matter cuz she was of the right political stripe. Right?
Posted by: quasimodo | Sep 4, 2008 2:29:54 PM
Are you kidding me Jan? Were we even listening to the same speech? Palin's time at the podium was filled with nothing but maliciousness, spite and vindictive vitriol. She used fallacies and unsubstantiated claims to smear her opponents who have treated her with nothing but respect since she was given the VP nod, and blatantly distorted their platform and stances on issues. On top of that, she used LIES about her own achievements to puff up herself, going so far as to continue claiming credit for things the media has already called her out for lying about (e.g. the bridge to nowhere).
Sarah Palin is an epic failure.
An attack chihuahua in a Snowmobile Barbie package with no substance. She may claim to be a pious Christian but the falsehoods coming out of her mouth and the venom she uses to smear her rivals proves that she's not only a bad Christian - she's a hypocrite.
Not surprising, considering her old pastor in Alaska is the Republican's own version of Jeremiah Wright. Just listen to his sermons damning John Kerry's voters to hell.
This female voter from a small town here was NOT impressed.
Posted by: Sarah Epic Failin' is Finished | Sep 4, 2008 2:49:46 PM
Randi wrote at Sep 4, 2008 11:23:53 AM ...
=-=-=-=-=-
... some of the best this country has to offer has come from community organizers:
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Susan B. Anthony
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
(just to name a few)"
=-=-=-=-=-=
Agreed, but these folks stayed involved as activists and organizers for decades, and ACTUALLY ACCOMPLISHED SOMETHING, even if they didn't reach their goal.
What did Barack Obama accomplish during his time as a community organizer? Heck .. around what cause was he organizing the community?
Posted by: tomjedrz | Sep 4, 2008 8:54:19 PM
Wow that convention was a JOKE. Could anyone tell me ONE thing they will do for the economy besides DESTROY it like they have the past 8 years?
Posted by: Patrick | Sep 5, 2008 12:33:18 AM
Wow, that community organizer line really chaps the butts of some folks!
Posted by: Blue | Sep 5, 2008 12:33:51 AM
Agreed, but these folks stayed involved as activists and organizers for decades, and ACTUALLY ACCOMPLISHED SOMETHING, even if they didn't reach their goal.
What did Barack Obama accomplish during his time as a community organizer? Heck .. around what cause was he organizing the community?
Well for starters more US citizens died in violent crimes in his his former community than died in Iraq. Thats a start.
Posted by: Kjmf11 | Sep 5, 2008 12:36:37 AM
Agreed, but these folks stayed involved as activists and organizers for decades, and ACTUALLY ACCOMPLISHED SOMETHING, even if they didn't reach their goal.
What did Barack Obama accomplish during his time as a community organizer? Heck .. around what cause was he organizing the community?
Well for starters more US citizens died in violent crimes in his his former community than died in Iraq. Thats a start.
Posted by: Kjmf11 | Sep 5, 2008 12:36:38 AM
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