CNN summarises the speech here.
Live blog - updates at the bottom
There'll be acres of stuff about family (we're already getting quite a bit of gynaecological stuff from the Hawaii governor as warm-up woman). There'll be hours of applause.
Foreign affairs will get a look in. Her son will be in Iraq soon after all. I expect a searing analysis of the situation in South Ossetia and the dynamics of Abkhazia. (I wish)
Wasilla is a "city" according to the Hawaiian lady. 10,000 citizens? 8,000? City?
While all this is going on tens of millions of dollars are about to be spent in negative attack ads on Obama by the McCain campaign. Roll on November 5th.
Obama and Biden have "no executive experience" - "never managed a budget". Not true.
Complete rubbish. Obama has managed his campaign budget which I think will be around $1 billion by the time the election is over.
Apparently you can fit Delaware over fifty times within the borders of Alaska. Vladimir Putin - you should be shaking in your shoes!!
"His decision to choose Sarah tells us a lot about John McCain". "He is truly a maverick and will be do the right thing for America". Really? Since when has the ideal choice for President been a "maverick" ?
Methinks she doth protest too much.
Mike Huckabee, by the way, preceded Mrs Aloa. He challenged Obama's world view. Nothing about the aerodynamics of bees, sadly.
The media are out to get Palin, apparently. Of course. It's because she's a woman. Of course. Nothing to do with experience. They would have done the same to Kay Bailey Hutchison is she had been chosen. Not.
Rudy is now on. Bless him. John McCain has been tested by crisis. Of course. Was his need to choose a Vice-President a crisis? Well, he passed that one.
There's some fuzzy math going on in St Paul:
A Political Wire reader notes that Mike Huckabee's convention applause line that Sarah Palin got more votes as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska than Sen. Joe Biden got running for president isn't even close to accurate. In the state of Florida alone, Biden got more votes from voters who didn't even know if their primary would even count -- after his his campaign was already suspended -- than live in Wasilla.
Here's a good one:
"It's over."-- Peggy Noonan, caught on a live mic talking to political consultant Mike Murphy about the pick of Gov. Sarah Palin as Sen. John McCain's running mate.
Rudy says Obama has never had to lead people in crisis. I'd say the battle against Hilary was quite a crisis and his campaign team have been led brilliantly.
Rudy says Obama has never had to answer that 3am call. "When Sarah Palin is awakened at 3am, it's because a moose has broken into the garbage can" (Daily Show).
The appearance of Rudy Guiliani reminds one of the extraordinary number of Veep candidates that McCain had to reject because they are pro-choice.
Palin is going to slam Obama in her speech, apparently. She will say all this - as long as the teleprompter holds up:
"I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a 'community organizer,' except that you have actual responsibilities."
"In politics, there are some candidates who use change to promote their careers. And then there are those, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change,"
"I had the privilege of living most of my life in a small town. I was just your average hockey mom and signed up for the PTA because I wanted to make my kids' public education better,
"I've learned quickly, these past few days, that if you're not a member in good standing of the Washington elite, then some in the media consider a candidate unqualified for that reason alone,"
"But here's a little news flash for all those reporters and commentators: I'm not going to Washington to seek their good opinion -- I'm going to Washington to serve the people of this country."
Great. I look forward to hearing she delivers all that. Really.
Rudy says it's "no time for on the job training." But Palin would be a 72 year old, four time cancer stricken, Ambien-gulping heartbeat away from the presidency, learning at "the feet of the master." If she can wake him up. BarbinMD on Daily Kos.
Some of this Guiliani stuff has a familiar ring to it:
Giuliani, who never served in the military, said McCain “has never run a city, never run a state, never run a government. He has never been responsible as a mayor for the safety and security of millions of people, and he has never run a law enforcement agency, which I have done. Hat-tip BarbinMD
Why write something new? A quick cut and paste and rehash - job done.
BarbinMD again: Has anyone else noticed that the Republicans are all touting Palin's executive experience? Does it ever occur to them that McCain doesn't have any himself?
Here we go. Levi Johnston is looking on. No shot gun visible. Lots of applause for Sarah. "Thank you" said five million times, as usual for these US conventions.
She's accepted the nomination. No going back now. CNN have a transcript already.
I had the privilege of living most of my life in a small town. I was just your average hockey mom, and signed up for the PTA because I wanted to make my kids' public education better. When I ran for city council, I didn't need focus groups and voter profiles because I knew those voters, and knew their families, too. Before I became governor of the great state of Alaska, I was mayor of my hometown. And since our opponents in this presidential election seem to look down on that experience, let me explain to them what the job involves. I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a "community organizer" [referring to Obama], except that you have actual responsibilities.
I'm not a member of the permanent political establishment. And I've learned quickly, these past few days, that if you're not a member in good standing of the Washington elite, then some in the media consider a candidate unqualified for that reason alone. But here's a little news flash for all those reporters and commentators: I'm not going to Washington to seek their good opinion -- I'm going to Washington to serve the people of this country.
Our opponents say, again and again, that drilling will not solve all of America's energy problems - as if we all didn't know that already. But the fact that drilling won't solve every problem is no excuse to do nothing at all. Starting in January, in a McCain-Palin administration, we're going to lay more pipelines, build more nuclear plants, create jobs with clean coal and move forward on solar, wind, geothermal, and other alternative sources. We need American energy resources, brought to you by American ingenuity, and produced by American workers.
Here's how I look at the choice Americans face in this election. In politics, there are some candidates who use change to promote their careers. And then there are those, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change.
We're onto special needs children now. Todd. Lots of family stuff.
No mention of South Ossetia yet.
Kindergartens. PTA. Small town.
I really am coming to the conclusion that Sarah Palin is over-qualified to be US Vice-President.
Now we're getting an explanation of what a small town mayor does.
Here's Wasilla City Hall courtesy of Georgia10:
Can I go to bed now?
She's ready for a tough fight. We're now getting screeds about being a governor. She drives herself to work. She really is over-qualified for Veep. She's balanced the budget. Well done.
She's really ready for the on-the-job training programme. Georgia10 again:
McCain advisor Charlie Black on questions about Sarah Palin's foreign policy competence. "She's going to learn national security at the foot of the master for the next four years, and most doctors think that he'll be around at least that long."
We're on to oil now. I wonder if she'll mention what we'll do when it runs out.
Venezuela might switch off its oil supply to the US apparently.
Put the shutters up then.
She's laying into Obama now. He doesn't use the word "victory" in connection with Iraq. "Victory". It's so simple isn't it?
Oh. That was the foreign policy bit. Two lines. Oh no. Here we go again. Terrorists are seeking nuclear weapons. We must have victory in Iraq.
Onto the economy now after (was it?) four lines on foreign affairs.
This reminds me of Peter Sellers' last film "Being There".
I've run a potting shed. What has Obama run?
Imagine Kay Bailey Hutchison as President. Now that would be good.
John McCain was tortured apparently.
It's all good stuff. But imagine Kay Bailey reading the teleprompter instead of Palin, and you have the dilemma in a nutshell.
Thank you and God Bless America.
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