The Palin Speech at the RNC: First Impressions

Wow!

Sharp effective speech, delivered with style and confidence, not a shred of doubt or nervousness, not a hint of the amateur. Lots of excellent lines and plenty of nice touches and moments of humor and real charm.

Sarah hit this speech out of the park. If this thing were a baseball, it'd be out of the stadium and flying into the next county. Her opponents underestimate her to their own peril. She punctured the Obamessiah hype as though it were a child's balloon. And she did it effortlessly.

I'm . . . impressed. Really impressed. If you thought I was enthusiastic about the Sarah-cuda at her introduction, you should see me now.

And I'm wondering if I can get the same kind of shoes she wore tonight, because I'd love to kick butt like she did. She's smart, tough, and yet still warmly human -- eloquent without being pretentious, sharp without being cruel, in command of herself and of the issues. AND, a smart, tough, capable, independent woman who succeeded in politics on her own, without needing the name and influence of a husband who was a career politician. Heck, yeah. Dude, I want to be like Sarah!

The moment that made me completely euphoric: Palin directly telling the MSM and media establishment that she doesn't care about impressing them -- she's going to carry on doing what she thinks is right. Some of the MSM is going to go nuts. But the message underneath all that is: "You will not be able to shake, rattle, or upset me. I know your game and tactics, and I'm not going to dignify them by letting them distract me from what's actually important." It's a take-no-BS declaration. It was flat-out electrifying . . . and I loved it. I loved it even more than I love ice cream, chocolate, multi-touch computer heaven, and Tony Stark. OMG. Bring common sense back into government, Sarah!

I repeat now what I said when McCain chose her to be his running mate: "Awesomely awesome." Really. And I don't give many political compliments. That speech is one of the best political speeches I've ever seen/heard. It was verbal fireworks. On now to the debates -- as I'm practically thirsting to see if she can disassemble Biden . . . and do it with a smile and a dose of down-to-earth practical common sense.

UPDATE 1: The Cine-Sib just on the telephone. "Are you watching the Palin speech??" we yelled at each other. "She's kicking butt and taking names!" Now, my dear brother is never, ever interested in political speeches. But this time was different. Maybe Sarah Palin really is the kind of sea change that the GOP needs -- and that the Dems fear.

UPDATE 2: Sib on the phone again, chortling with glee and repeating his favorite lines from the speech ("I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a 'community organizer,' except that you have actual responsibilities"!) He then proceeds to give the speech his ultimate accolade: "It was pretty good!" in tones of great enthusiasm. Plus now a text from him: "PS Palin kicks ***." Sarah is magic if she can inspire this kind of rapturous response from cynical folks who hate the political game, people like the Sib and me.

UPDATE 3: Here's the text of the Palin speech, but you really need to SEE it.

UPDATE 4: Response from Camp Obama is not just lame -- it's laughably so. Wailing about the speechwriter and moaning about Bush. More from Lorie Byrd.

UPDATE 5: Political jiu jitsu!

UPDATE 6: Best comment yet involving movies: "Sarah Palin is a force of nature. Like a Jimmy Stewart character channeled by Claudette Colbert."