Palin SpeaksJeff Alworth

Given that Sarah Palin has spent the last five days in virtual hiding, you'd expect a respectful, cautious speech, yes?  Umm, no.  She is in the final stages of a jeremiad against Obama, one that is personal and mocking.  She called him elitist and charged him with a familiar attack: that his positions are based on political expediency, not the benefit of the country. 

I'll update the post as I get the text.  It's really quite shocking.  Two words spring to mind: glass houses.

We'll see...  Your thoughts? Discuss.

[Update.  Selected text after the jump.]

Selected sections from the Palin speech:

Characterizing Obama as anti-rural:

"Before I became governor of the great state of Alaska I was mayor of my hometown. And since our opponents in this presidential election seem to look down on that experience, let me explain to them what the job involved. I guess -- I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities."

"I might add that, in small towns, we don't quite know what to make of a candidate who lavishes praise on working people when they're listening and then talks about how bitterly they cling to their religion and guns when those people aren't listening.  No, we tend to prefer candidates who don't talk about us one way in Scranton and another way in San Francisco."

On her now dubious "reformer" cred:

"This was the spirit that brought me to the governor's office when I took on the old politics as usual in Juneau, when I stood up to the special interests, and the lobbyists, and the Big Oil companies, and the good-old boys.  Suddenly, I realized that sudden and relentless reform never sits well with entrenched interests and power-brokers. That's why true reform is so hard to achieve."

"I came to office promising to control spending, by request if possible, but by veto, if necessary.... Our state budget is under control. We have a surplus. And I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending, nearly $500 million in vetoes."

"We suspended the state fuel tax and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress. I told the Congress, "Thanks, but no thanks," on that Bridge to Nowhere. If our state wanted to build a bridge, we were going to build it ourselves."

She also went pointedly (and dubiously) after Obama:

"And now, I've noticed a pattern with our opponent, and maybe you have, too. We've all heard his dramatic speeches before devoted followers, and there is much to like and admire about our opponent. But listening to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or even a reform, not even in the State Senate.  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."

"But when the cloud of rhetoric has passed, when the roar of the crowd fades away, when the stadium lights go out, and those Styrofoam Greek columns are hauled back to some studio lot.  When that happens, what exactly is our opponent's plan? What does he actually seek to accomplish after he's done turning back the waters and healing the planet?"

"The answer -- the answer is to make government bigger, and take more of your money, and give you more orders from Washington, and to reduce the strength of America in a dangerous world."

Full transcript here.

September 3, 2008 | Jeff Alworth | Comments (120 so far) Permalink: Palin Speaks

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