At the risk of being labeled a "Slanted Republican Extremist", I have to say that I have seldom seen the enthusiasm amongst conservatives that I am seeing today following the speech by Sarah Palin last evening. To set the record straight, by the way, I belong to no political party and believe my self to be a fiscal and social conservative.
That having been said, I was very impressed with Ms. Palin last night. She strikes me as the person next door. I think she strikes many Americans as the person next door. She isn't the super-sophisticate that we see in the Speaker of the House. She isn't the elitist we see in the Senate Majority Leader. Sarah Palin is the person next door...and I hope she never changes.
I have been taken to task by liberals because Sarah Palin isn't perfect and her family isn't perfect. No one is perfect, and I don't expect that of anyone since I am far from perfect. I really don't understand some of the people who have made comments on the earlier Blog concerning Sarah Palin. I must simply not be 'with it'.
There seems to be a palpable fear emerging from the liberals today that must stem from her performance last evening when the press set her up to 'have to hit it out of the park'. She has befuddled them all because she did just that. She hit it out of the park and made it look easy. I have heard her labeled as a 'natural' speaker. I believe that may be true. She handled herself extremely well. She took shots with a smile on her face that made her seem much less shrill than Hillary when she took shots.
Sarah Palin will see some rough spots before this is all done, but I suspect that she'll see far fewer rough spots than I might've guessed a couple of days ago. She has a real gift of being able to connect with people. And her connection seems to be at a deeper level than simply surface. She seems able to touch people where they're unaccustomed to being touched.
There is a toughness that reminds me of Margaret Thatcher. I see a communicator that reminds me of Ronald Reagan. I see the person next door. She isn't unapproachable; she is very open and tells us what she is thinking without the typical feigned eloquence we've all come to expect and despise from the usual politico. As I said earlier, she is like you and me...at least I think of her as being like you and me. And that makes all the difference in the world.
I believe we are witnesses to something really special, and I suspect that liberals are simply beside themselves trying to determine how best to beat her up enough to keep that something special from happening.
The other thing we are likely going to be witness to are the downright dirty tactics that have already begun to be unrolled by the liberals. The mainstream press has finally dropped all pretense of impartiality. The 'talking heads' have almost begun to foam at the mouth. When the press finally steps back after this is all done, and it begins to understand the damage it has done to itself, I can only hope that it goes on a long soul-searching retreat so that it can look deep inside and maybe, just maybe, find the proper road to follow in the future. If it doesn't, the press as we've known it to this time will be gone.
Us 'working stiffs' aren't as stupid as they've given us credit for being. We can actually think for ourselves. We are able to reason and we are able to determine what we each think is right. We know what needs to be done for the country. We can actually make determinations for ourselves.
When a Sarah Palin touches us, we know we've been touched. And we know we've been genuinely touched; not manipulated as is the case with some others seeking office.
What an experience.
