Posted in The New York Post on October 3, 2008
Last night was a big, big win for Sarah Palin.
She showed originality, charisma and sass - a style that is refreshing and different in our politics. She didn’t just win the vice-presidential debate, she showed that she belongs with Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton as among the best communicators of our modern political times.
Her sallies against big government were brilliantly conceived and well executed. Her line that she didn’t understand how Washington worked because politicians vote for something right after they vote against it, for example, was just wonderful.
Another classic came when she bit back at moderator Gwen Ifill and opponent Joe Biden and said she’d answer the questions as she wanted to, not necessarily as they wanted her to do.
Gone, long gone, are the worries about how good or well-prepared Sarah Palin is.
Most important, she showed how John McCain would bring change to Washington. Would that McCain could articulate his own sense of change as well as his running mate did!
For his part, Biden sounded like the warmed-over has-been that he is - he seemed to be on downers. Where she was thrilling and exciting, he was hypnotically boring. He seemed like more of the same, while she seemed like a breath of fresh air.
Without trepidation, she tossed aside the Bush years and spoke of the “blunders” in Iraq. She was able to skewer Wall Street and show Republican opposition to the greed there.
She even handled Biden very well on his turf, foreign policy - meeting him head-to-head on every issue, and winning.
Everyone realizes that Palin has been in this field for only five weeks; her ability, nonetheless, to prevail against a veteran like Biden is a testament to her intellect and skill.
That smiling face, those novel phrases, that informal style - it was all a pleasure and a refreshing change.
And she got her ticket off on the right foot for October - making the tax issue stick and zinging Barack Obama’s economic programs and his big-spending plans.
The Alaska governor did a wonderful job of displaying her experience and justifying her candidacy in terms of her expertise on energy issues. It’s now far harder to dismiss her as an unqualified flake.
More, she connected in a way that few politicians do: She speaks for us.
Palin did a lot to help McCain last night - illustrated the best about him. But she did more to help herself - vaulting to a leading role among women in American politics. Her authenticity and unique style will be with us for years to come.
Last night’s Palin victory will have an immediate impact on the presidential race - arresting McCain’s fall and slowing Obama’s surge.
The only question is whether it will be enough to reverse Obama’s gains of the past week. It might go a long way in that direction.
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Comments
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Sarah was fantastic last night……engaged and spoke with true passion. John would do well to take a few pointers from his running mate…she looked Reaganesc. It’s all about the economy and John really needs to find his voice in this area. John can speak about foreign policy with confidence, conviction and passion, but when it comes to the economy, it seems to me, John just doesn’t have that conviction or clarity of thought. McCain would do well to watch Reagan’s 1964 “A Time For Choosing” Speech and brush up on the fundamental and clear differences between the Liberal Point of View and the Conservative. Let’s win one for the Gipper!
Eric K.
Dear Mr. Morris,
At what point will Sen. McCain start using Sen. Obama’s associations with Fanny Mae and Fredddy Mac and their giant campaign contributions as well as Bill Ayers, Rev. Wright and other left-wing radicals against him. The national media (with the exception of Fox News) slide past all of this and I’m afraid that the time for McCain to strike at the character of Obama is at hand. Bring up his comments in San Francisco about guns and religion. Bring up the notion that he was involved with shady business man Tony Resko in Chicago. Bring up that he is an elitist who believes that this country “needs” to have a better international image when that is a non-issue. Bring up the comments his wife made. I realize that McCain doesn’t want to run his campaign this way, but he should take some of his own advise and FIGHT! He is too passive and I find that unacceptable when Obama is ripe with scandals, contradictions, and cooperate dealings.
Respectfully,
Jason
p.s.
Fleeced was astounding and i have since bought it as gifts for friends and relatives alike who had their eyes opened. Thank you.
[…] be enough to reverse Obamas gains of the past week. It might go a long way in that direction. PALIN WINS BIG WITH A REAGAN-LIKE FLAIR at DickMorris.com __________________ Forward motion makes you sway like the ocean The herb is more than just a […]
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Well said. The Governor did a great job by any standard, explaining in plain language a populist conservative agenda. It was even more remarkable given the scorn heaped upon her day after day, leading up to the debate, by the elitist MSM.
Governor Palin had a very good grasp of basic foreign policy issues, which was my main concern. I had expected her to be quite weak in that area, since she has only been in the race for about 6 weeks and governors and mayors have little exposure to foreign policy issues.
If she does this well after 6 weeks, she will learn very quickly in office. And, if McCain-Palin do not prevail this year, she will be very well-positioned as the future standard-bearer for reform Republicanism.
[…] “She showed originality, charisma and sass - a style that is refreshing and different in our p… […]
She did fine. Dick, I think you are a bit over the top on your assessment of her. On the other hand I thought Biden did what he had to do as well. Regardless, she didn’t sink the ship and it is up to McCain and his strategists to get it moving again. In my opinion, McCain really hurt his campaign and may have sunk the ship himself by not voting against the bail out legislation. I am not saying against the bailout but what was put forward was not a good plan particularly with the last minute absurd line items. “Wooden arrows”…really. Having missed that chance I would be interested in a piece from you on what he needs to do now.
Sarah Palin is indeed a refreshing resurgence of populist fervor very much in the style of the “great communicator”. But for all of her populist attraction, Sarah cannot save John McCain from defeat. It saddens me that the majority of the voting population has apparently succumbed to membership in Abraham Lincoln’s naive demographic “some” group that can be fooled all or most of the time.
Too bad. The signpost up ahead is not as Serling described it. In lieu of entering a zone of messianic imagination, we are instead headed full speed into a confrontation with reality–the kind that requires long years of recovery assuming survival.
I am surprised that Bush has not come to the aid of the McCain-Palin campaign–their disdain for eachother must run quite deep, much deeper than Bush’s love of country. I still believe that Bush can deal the Bin Laden card most any time as we have had SF/CIA in the Afghanistan/Pakistan theater for nearly 8 years (he can at least make the effort to rattle the foreign policy issues).
Bush is walking Obama and this country into a quagmire that causes shame, emabarassment, and defeat to the Oval Office and hopefully returns control of Congress to the Republicans in 2010. This must be the long term Republican counterattack–concede the White House in ‘08 and defeat the Democratic party. I still remember the glee in Tom DeLay’s voice when he was asked about the Democrats winning the 2008 election. DeLay described the demise of the Democratic Party at the expense of the country. Not too different from the price that Speaker Pelosi paid in engineering this perfectly timed economic collapse.
I am truly surprised that Israel has remained quietly content to save their Iranian salvo for President Obama. They must have brass balls to take on the Russian-backed Iranians without any help from the Obama Americans.
Sorry John, Sarah can’t pull your ass out of this fight. You will have to stay in the cage, find your feet, and squarely face Obama. Only one guy can step out alive. Hopefully, Sarah convinces her son to forego re-enlistment when Obama wins the White House. His life or that of my SF nephew won’t be worth a plugged nickel with Obama as Commander-in-Chief.
sarah sounded great but there were so many things she could have said to counterattack Biden such as when he said Obama has worked across party lines. oh yes it was for securing Loose Nukes. i wish Sarah would have said, ” Great, loose Nukes, who doesn’t want to secure those. that is a bipartisan issue. i would like to hear how Obama once, went against his party on his own on an issue that was a little controversial.”
Palin is a pretty puppet, whose strings are pulled by unnamed and unaccountable Republican insiders who are writing the Q-cards that she is memorizing. As we saw from the Couric interviews, without the memorized lines or teleprompter Palin is a vacuous rube. Comparing her to Reagan is a stretch. Reagan was no Ivy League genius, but he was well-read, smart and had a lot of experience before he became President.
Dick, I think you - and the Republican establishment - are delusional when it comes to Palin. She is stirring the hearts of the faithful, but most Americans are figuring out that there is nothing behind the winks and the folksy sayings but a lot of hot air. It reminds me of the old joke: a kid puts his hand on another kid’s head. “What’s this?” A: “It’s a brain-eater.” “What’s it doing?” A: “starving.”
Palin lacks intellect, education and experience. But there’s more. She’s fascistic. Hearing Mrs. Joe Six-Pack call Obama a terrorist sounds like one of Joseph Stalin’s hand-picked “patriots” calling out an erstwhile ally so that Stalin can execute him. You find a pretty face and then smear your opponent with worst possible charges. Was McCarthyism any different?
I’m surprised that Dick Morris - a fellow Jew - defends Palin. When she rails against Wall Street, Hollywood, Media Elites and Ivy Leaguers - does anyone doubt the anti-Semitic undertones?
Shame on you Dick. Shame on the ever impulsive McCain. Shame on the Republican establishment and shame on any American who votes for Palin - she is an absolute disgrace.
I am no great Obama fan. In fact I voted for McCain in 2000 and was set to vote for him this year. That is, until he chose Palin. I’m not alone out there and that is why McCain is down by 9 points in the polls. It has nothing to do with the economy.
McCain and his team have crafted an economic plan that contradicts the candidate’s recently held fundamental views and is far out-of-touch with the needs of the country. This might have not been a big problem, except for the fact that a series of events, including the middle-class squeeze generated by stagnant incomes and rising prices, recession, and financial meltdown, have made the economy front and center in this campaign.
McCain”s economic platform, especially on taxes, is so out of sync with his past views that it is anything but “mavericky. Ms. Palin is a newcomer on the national scene with scant governing experience, little knowledge of the major issues, and few deeply held views, she serves as a talking head for the people behind the curtains, the staff and advisors running the campaign. The debate was a strong reminder–it is the same neocons that wrote the Bush agenda which wrote McCain’s.
And Sarah Palin stated, “Patriotic is saying, government, you know, you’re not always the solution. In fact, too often you’re the problem so, government, lessen the tax burden and on our families and get out of the way and let the private sector and our families grow and thrive and prosper.” That recipe has certainly worked wonders over the past eight years, hasn’t it? She and McCain still wants to turn part of the dollars flowing into Social Security over to the stock market. Palins’ mentions new, change–but at the same time still supports failing policies established by the Republicans.
It is a time in history, where being likeable is nice, but I believe that the American voter want someone who is knowledgable and can make decisions independently other than reading from “crip notes.” McCain’s choice of politics-over-country of a running mate who is dangerously unprepared to step into the presidency have left his campaign empty, with no spiritual or intellectual core; and his tactics have devolved into a series of crass surprises and Hail Mary passes.
ENOUGH of the Republicans…….we will see if the Democrats can make a “difference”with their agenda.
I originally thought Senator McCain was a weak choice for Repubicans. Only when Governor Palin was chosen did I get on board with McCain. As a Republican and having voted for Governor Palin, I know she is capable not only as a VP, but as President. She is tough and optimistic for a better future if old methods are replaced with governmental transparency and fiscal responsibility. Her predecessor Frank Murkowski was an example of what’s wrong with Washington DC. He was part of the politics as usual, no-change Republican party. Senator McCain should capitalize on Governor Palin’s practical abilities to turn Alaska’s State finances around, and not just her ability to stand up to big oil corps., but How she did it. People want to hear about the practical know-how the McCain/Palin ticket can offer to pull us out of this financial disaster toward a better future.
This is a ’suggested summing up’ my retired State Representative cousin from Iowa suggested for David Asman’s presentation on FOX:
QUOTE:
David did an excellent job of researching the history of the current economic “bail out”. However, he missed the opportunity of summing up so the average viewer could put it all together.
It needs a short tag line that reads:
As a community organizer, Barrack Obama trained the Acorn organization to demand that banks give risky loans to unqualified home buyers under the banner of “affordable housing.” Later as a member of the Illinois and U.S. Senate, Obama earmarked state and federal funds to Acorn and it’s affiliates.
Sen. Obama then took campaign dollars from Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, the beneficiaries of these loans, under the leadership of Franklin Raines and Jim Johnson. Raines and Johnson departed Freddie and Fannie in “golden parachutes” because of their mismanagement of Freddie and Fannie. Where are they now? Advisors to the Obama campaign for President.
Where are Cong. Barney Frank and Sen. Chis Dodd who, early on, rejected legislation to provide greater oversight, claiming there were no problems with these two agencies? They are attacking President Bush and Republicans for not doing their jobs while keeping mum on the amount of campaign funds they received from Freddie and Fannie.
And how fares Acorn? It has endorsed Barrack Obama for President, Acorn’s affiliates are busy registering voters who are beneficiaries of “affordable housing” in the inner cities, and was accorded a $20 billion dollar earmark in the initial $700 billion bail out bill! END QUOTE
I wish this information was getting out. I also am hopeful that some agency is investigating the questionable voter registration being done by the Obama Campaign in the battlebround states. I was just worried before, but the way things look now I am actually pretty panic stricken. There is a lot more to this man than meets the eye or has come to the light of day. We need to all wake up before it is too late. IMHO Moey
It is a time in history, where being likeable is nice, but I believe that the American voter want someone who is knowledgable and can make decisions independently other than reading from “crip notes.” McCain’s choice of politics-over-country of a running mate who is dangerously unprepared to step into the presidency have left his campaign empty, with no spiritual or intellectual core; and his tactics have devolved into a series of crass surprises and Hail Mary passes.
ENOUGH of the Republicans…….we will see if the Democrats can make a “difference”with their agenda.
__________________________________________
And you want to turn this all over to the very ‘experienced’ Obama??? What a laugh. He’s experienced okay - in giving money away and lining his and other people like Raines and Johnson with their Golden Parachutes and now work as ADVISORS to Obama. You just better hope you don’t get what you think you are hoping for. Moey
I think you folks are over-analyzing this and lending way too much credence to “knowledge” and “experience.” The average voter wants a connection with the candidate. If they were concerned about actual political attributes Barack Obama would not be the democratic presidential candidate. A lot of voters will be choosing McCain merely because they love Palin. I like them both, lets hope its enough to prevent Obama from seizing our government.
moey on October 6, 2008 11:18 am Moey; and you to leave the status quo in place? The Republican’s receipe of the last eight years has made moolash out of filet meion….They are all “licensed to steal and line their pockets. That is the nature of politics. I would like to know how many pockets and linnings have been greased over the years…few get caught, but the majority gets away. If this is the best that our society has to offer to run the country……we are scraping the bottom of the barrel, and it doesn’t say much for us as a society…because we keep electing them…..Americans are the ones who need the “bailout,”…..not Wall Street. It is a change….it’s not perfect……it maybe good…..it maybe bad….but for us….it will remain constant….go to work….and pay your taxes.
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