PrintSeptember 3, 2008
What Sarah should say (roundtable)
Rick Richman, editor of Jewish Current Issues, writes in anticipation of Sarah Palin's speech:
I hope Governor Palin says something like this in her speech:"Since I was nominated, some have questioned whether I have the experience necessary to assume the presidency, should I be called upon to do so, since a vice-president must be ready to assume the position of chief executive officer in a heartbeat."I can only say that I am the only person on either ticket who has been a chief executive officer of a local government, and then a state government, and who has succeeded at both. I have had to implement decisions, not simply express opinions or give speeches. I have not spent the last two years running for office but rather running an effective state government in a manner that has reached across party lines."I have negotiated with our country's largest oil companies. I have as much expertise as any candidate on perhaps the most important foreign and domestic issue facing our nation: energy independence."When I assume office next January, I will be part of an administration with an overriding goal of reforming our government and changing the way business is done in Washington. I will bring to that effort the experience I have gained as a chief executive officer over the last six years. I plan to be an active member of an administration that will be committed to more than rhetoric and that will begin executing on our promises with respect to both foreign and domestic policy from Day One.If I am ever called upon to be the chief executive officer of that administration, I will be more than ready."
Thomas Lifson adds:
Governor Palin seems to know how to use political jiujitsu on her opponents, taking the energy behind their attacks on her and turning it against them. I don't think Sarah Palin should (or could - it's not in her) play victim. But she would do well to discuss those who came after her when she sought reform. If she could quote someone who dismissed her as just a mother, or as an outsider, that would help pull the rug out from under the media, who have done their utmost to destroy her and her family.
Of course she must not be perceived as whining. I don't think she has that in her, either.
Rosslyn Smith writes:
Rosslyn Smith writes:
She's gotten this far without advice from the pundit class, so I advise that we all just let her be herself.
Gail Carver writes:
Here' is my red meat line for those at the convention...."And who do you think will shake up Washington more? B A R R Y O B A M A ..... or B A R R I C U D A S A R A H P A L I N.." (delivered in a measured booming voice of course) And on a lighter note.. "Our vice-president candidate looks good with hair mousse...or her field-dressed moose."
Kyle-Anne Shiver writes:
Sarah Palin, obviously, does not need one snippet of advice from anyone on how to engage with the American people. One should never, ever underestimate the capabilities of a hockey/socker/football/baseball/etc Mom, especially one who honed her people skills in the bosom of one of the most difficult-to-maneuver channels of American life: the PTA.
Sarah Palin has already fought for the taxpayers of Alaska with the tenacity of a mother lion on behalf of her own cubs. I'm counting the minutes until she appears this evening, with her manicured verbal claws that are sure to leave liberals bleeding and maimed, while she comes through it all without so much as a broken nail.
