Palin reminds me of a televangelist.

[Anonymous]

Am I the only one? I think that's why some people like her. When I listened to her speak, it was a combination of Tammy Faye, and Suze Ormon.
It was a sermon.

[Anonymous]

I think you could equally well say she reminds you of Jay Leno. It was a superbly timed monologue, with lots of laugh lines. Compare her to Cindy McCain, who is very articulate in interviews, but seemed at a loss for how to handle audience reaction.

That's not meant to either praise or attack either woman about anything other than their different skills at addressing a large audience.

[Anonymous]

I always think she sounds like she's accepting an award at an annual Elks banquet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I always think she sounds like she's accepting an award at an annual Elks banquet.

Have you been to a lot of Elks banquets?

[Anonymous]

Actually she reminds me of an eyeglass model! When I realized that, I appreciated the fact that she wears glasses instead of contacts. Can't stand her politics but good for her for being brave enough to wear glasses.

[Anonymous]

She's not being brave--she's trying to look "frumpy". There's an interview from a while back where she claims her updo and her glasses are her attempt to distract from her looks.

[Anonymous]

her updo and her glasses are her attempt to distract from her looks

I don't get it - is she really that pretty? NOT being catty here, but to me she just seems mildly attractive. I don't get all the "babe" comments.

[Anonymous]

Heterosexual male here (and almost 44 myself!) who also doesn't get the chatter about her sex appeal, but hey people have all kinds of tastes, and I suppose if the comparison is to McCain himself there's something in it.

Regarding OP's point: I admired Palin's showmanship but thought the content awfully snide. I was not already onboard with her program, and certainly did not get on board after hearing her--just made me shake my head in wonder (yet again) as how not-conservative I am...even when I agree with the people who claim the label Conservative on the merits, which happens rather often, I find their persons so disagreeable (belligerent, self-righteous, and ostentatiously proud of their unwillingness to consider different points of view) that I end of voting left of where I actually stand (not really a problem since True Left is never on the menu in the US, anyway).

So Palin's convention performance left me feeling kind of sick and alienated, as in 'can't we just cut the country in half and give the wacko right whichever half they want so I can get on with my life?' More to the point, what's turned my undecided into a firmly anti-GOP vote is the video of her talking about how a new pipeline in Alaska is God's will. I don't know how anyone of any religious or political flavor can watch that and not be freaked out by the idea of (another) President who thinks God's will aligns itself with the President's will. Delusional and very scary.

So I still have almost no idea what an Obama presidency would mean, but I'm praying (in my own little atheistic way) that he wins, b/c the alternative is really depressing.

[Anonymous]

Hmm...just watched the video where she exhorts people to pray to God to help unify people to work for the pipeline. "Pray for that!" she says.

I fervently hope, given that she could be our president in the not too distant future, that she expects people to do more than "pray" to make things happen.

No wonder she was so snide about community organizers who do real work to mobilize people (with or without prayer) to make things happen.

[Anonymous]

Can someone post a link to that video?

[Anonymous]

There's a two-part extended version, better for getting the whole feel of what she stand for:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QG1vPYbRB7k&feature=related

If you're in a hurry, there's an edited version that shows her claiming the war in Iraq is God's plan:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9H-btXPfhGs&feature=related

[Anonymous]

Wow. Just watched the whole thing. Parts were quite charming. Loved her description of her reaction to her son's tattoos.

That said, she also claimed that the pipeline won't come unless the people's heart is right with God (thus the need to pray). So....does that mean she thinks the mortgage crisis will continue unless the people's heart is right with God?

I certainly appreciate that she is talking to her fellow church members and she is relating to them within their own cultural framework but she is addressing them as their governor. So if she becomes V.P. will she expect me and other Americans to accept that framework as well?

May John McCain be healthy and live long!

[Anonymous]

Whoah! Just watched part 2 of the church presentation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k84m2orSOaM.

The emcee announces that Alaska will be a "refuge state" for the Lower 48 in the "last days." Hundreds of thousands of people will come to the state to seek refuge in the last days and the church has to be ready for them.

Good thing I kept my felt-lined boots from my winter camping days!

Oh, right, I'm not a Christian so I guess I'll be going straight to hell.

[Anonymous]

Please don't bring up churches as an issue in this campaign. Please do not suggest that voters watch video clips from the candidates' churches. Going there only gives the opposition an excuse to revisit Reverend Wright's greatest hits, or the video of Father Pflegler mocking Hillary Clinton. Not a good idea.

[Anonymous]

I see your point here. Nevertheless, the video is interesting from the perspective of what she says and especially how she says it in an unscripted but friendly situation.