Just Thinking Out Loud

Actually, that's sort of what I always do when I post here.

But it seems evident that Sarah Palin excited a hell of a lot of conservatives with her speech last Wednesday, and that's all very well and good.

But think about her speech itself. It was strongly delivered, and it's clear that Palin is no shrinking violet. That's an admirable thing in a candidate.

The substance of her speech -- indeed, the vast majority of it -- was spent in criticizing Barack Obama. It was about forty minutes of that, and then about five more minutes talking about the heroic qualities of John Sidney McCain.

So, conservatives have gotten inspired by someone who they ONLY know, by and large, as someone who can deliver mean lines with a smile. Aside from that, the only thing most anyone knows about Palin is a crapload of allegations -- abuse of power, a crazy bigoted pastor of her own, evidence that she DID NOT say no to the bridge to nowhere, nor did she actually sell the former state plane on eBay. (She did list it, but it didn't sell there.)

They know nothing else about her, and yet they inspire her. You can argue - foolishly and errantly, but you can argue - that we don't know much about Obama either. That's inherently untrue, but he's been running for President for a year and a half. He's been on display for much longer than that.

Anyhow, unless or until (and it very well could be unless) Palin actually speaks to the press without a teleprompter, that's all we know. So it feels sort of like a fad - but it could last long enough to work. It's cynical, purely political, and a dangerous risk to put the country at, but McCain is willing to do it. (Because he puts country first, so he says.)