I’m sitting here watching Sarah Palin’s speech at the Republican National Convention, and she has done an amazing job. She was bold, confident, articulate, yet down-to-earth. In a word — Impressive. Very impressive. And tough. She describes herself as a “hockey mom”, and says that “the difference between a hockey mom and a pitbull — lipstick.”
When she was first announced as McCain’s choice as Vice Presidential candidate, I knew nothing about her. I assumed, as many probably did, that his choice was a shallow one. That he picked her first because she’s a woman and that she’s got looks on her side. But in the days since, she has more than proven herself to be up to the task. She’s got a solid record of leadership and reform in her home state of Alaska. She and her family are far from perfect, but she’s real enough to make it known that she isn’t in politics for the perks and the notoriety; she’s in it to get things done.
The left and the media have made a big deal over some of the warts that have been dug up regarding her family; that her daughter is pregnant, that her husband was picked up for DWI (24 years ago). Things like that just show that she’s real, that she’s familiar with the tough things that regular people face every day; shows that she is regular people. Her critics also think that she’s too busy as a mother of five to serve as VP, that she’s too inexperienced to be VP. But the more they insult her, she becomes a more likable candidate to me. And to many, many others.