Originally posted on Thursday, September 4, 2008 at 11:17pm
After the initial shock, many questioned the wisdom of McCain's choice. She's too unknown. She's too inexperienced. She's too risky. Liberals, too, expressed some shock. After the shock wore off though, they had a blast in pointing things about Mrs. Palin's background, many of which had nothing to do with her qualifications for office.
First, left-leaning blogs started to circulate a false rumor that her baby, Trig, is actually Bristol's (their teenage daughter) and that Mrs. Palin faked a pregancy to hide that fact. As it turns out, Bristol is currently pregnant. But the Palins were not hiding that. They readily acknowledged it after the rumor surfaced. NBC's Meredith Viera of the Today Show asked a McCain campaign official why this was not divulged when the senator first introduced Palin on live TV. Note to Meredith: that was not the Maury Povich Show.
Then liberals started to question her ability to be a mother and vice-president at the same time. Of course no one bothered to point out the fact that Obama is running for president and he has two young daughters. It is an apparent double-standard. As it turns out, however, liberals, the ones who are most likely to cry out gender equity and equal rights, conveniently dispose of their mantra as they see fit.
Then there was the annoying question about the vetting process. Liberals started to question the perceived hastiness of the decision. This is despite the fact none of them were privy to the selection process. The McCain campaign pointed out that the secretive way they came up with a decision does not mean it was a hasty one. An exasperated campaign official finally said that they were not going to answer any more questions about it.
So when I arrived work recently a liberal friend of mine gleefully pointed out those supposed flaws of Governor Palin. After that, whatever reservations I had about her gave way to strong expressions of support. Likewise, there was a feeling among Republicans that she was being ganged up on by the liberal hounds sent for by the other side. And so in spite of their initial hesitation, many have come to defend her. It seems like they were saying, "don't mess with our girl."
Her convention speech last night shows, however, that she is not to be messed with. She minced no words. She was no hockey mom that night. She was a pitbull in lipstick. It was, as one commentator said, a "how dare you speech." "A star is born," declared those even in the liberal media. In fact, with so many in the liberal media swooning over her speech, one could say it was a public mea culpa. Another friend of mine rightly told me that the media is going to shoot itself in the foot. And it did. Perhaps, Mrs. Palin's historic nomination was enough to energize the party. But the attacks were so vicious that it served to rally the troops even more. They are now waving the flag.
So, I am now among those who are waving the flag. Not only because she was unashamedly attacked, but thanks to those who did, I know more about her and liked what I saw. She is a mom who cares for her disabled son. She juggled the job of a governor and mother quite effectively. She can get really pissed off.
And she's hotter than Joe Biden.
Granted, whatever adulation given to her will die down. The very brief media honeymoon will be over (although they usually swoon over someone first before attacking the person). She will have deal with more substantive matters, such as an upcoming debate with Biden. For the meantime, everyone is excited for Palin. I have to admit, so am I.
- ASB
