Palin GOP's Attack Dog: All Snark, No Substance

I am relieved the conventions are over. Gonna go have a stiff drink which, believe me, I deserve having watched the convention on C-Span for the last two days.

So, the question is, how did Palin do?

First of all, I have to tell you I wanted to like her when she was announced. I finally got to the point that I wanted to find one thing--just one wee thing--about her I liked. I was a dismal failure. I couldn't find a thing. In fact, the more I read about her (I have scoured the archives), the more alarmed I became.

I listened intently tonight. Her speech cadence was very strange (I find Obama's cadence odd, too), and I personally find her voice grating. Her cadence tonight comes, no doubt, from having to so carefully focus on a speech she didn't write (it was written by a Bush speechwriter). Remember, she has NO history on any of the issues, came into this not knowing what the vice president does, and really hasn't paid much attention to Iraq by her own admissions. Sigh.

I found her, personally, snarky and focused on criticism. She didn't cover issues, she didn't compare data. If you were looking for information on what she believes, you learned nothing.

Her gnashing at the press was pretty ugly, really. Was the American public and press supposed to just ignore her past and present?

Above all, I remain extremely concerned about her religious views and how they inform her policies. This entire election cycle has turned into a battle for God and in Sarah's case, a battle for largely unrecognized dominionism. It is very troubling.

How do I see it? McCain will probably get a bounce from this from independents that like snark. For more selective independents who care about issues, they will likely move away from Palin. Women? If choice is their major issue, they have already made that decision one way or another. Once they learn more about her views on birth control, many women will move left. For independents with concerns on energy, her "drill, drill, drill" mantra won't fly. For environmentally inclined folks and animal lovers, her dreadful stance on wolves and bear will make them flee to the left. For those seriously concerned about global warming, they could not possibly support the GOP we saw tonight. As a near-coastal dweller who spent most of my early life in the ocean, like many here, her position on off-shore drilling will never fly. I have seen the results of oil spills. I don't want more.

Because of her snark, I have to wonder how she will play with men especially undecided men older than she. If it made me uncomfortable, I have to believe it must have made many of them uncomfortable, too. She appeared nasty, attacking and hard. It is one thing to debate an issue, it is a whole 'nother to make personal attacks especially since she appears not to appreciate them much herself. When one is in the house or senate (experience lost to her), decorum is important. You won't find Olympia Snow, for instance, acting like Palin. Or Kay Baily Hutchinson, Dianne Feinstein, Barbara Boxer, etc. It just isn't done.

It seems like the GOP has culled her as their attack dog--not a pretty picture.

Her party-line mantra for more nuclear plants (especially since she doesn't live near one and knows zero about nuclear power and radioactive waste) is very troubling. That she repeated her lie about the "bridge to nowhere" makes it appear that she doesn't care, and that the public is somehow unaware (they are not) or that the real information on this is invisible. Obviously, she doesn't spend much time on the net.

Now we get to work for Obama. We have sixty days. We need to get down to it.
I will continue to update my post on her stand on issues, so keep an eye on it. It's important to know what this unknown believes.

So, now, off for that drink. We will see what the polls show soon.

Turn the lights off when you leave, please.