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Sarah Palin showed the Republican National Convention and television viewers that she can give a great speech when she took the podium to accept the GOP’s nomination as their candidate for vice president.  Sarah Palin also struck back at critics who said she had little experience by reminding them that she has more executive experience than Barack Obama or Joe Biden who have never served in executive branch positions.

My intial reactions to Sarah Palin and all of the swirl of “controversy” over her selection as the GOP’s vice presidential candidate:

1.  Silly rumors and conspiracy theories regarding her pregnancy — some lefty bloggers ran with the idea that Sarah Palin’s new baby — Trig — was actually her daughter Bristol’s.  These rumors were shown to be just another in the left’s bag of paraniod conspiracy theories when it was announced that Bristol is pregnant with her own child.

2.  That “questions” regarding Sarah Palin’s ability to be vice president because she’s a woman and because she has children do not advance Barack Obama’s cause.  My wife has kids and she works just like most of our friends, neighbors, and coworkers.  It’s insulting to women and men to suggest that having kids is a disqualifier to be vice president or any other job.  Also, making a fuss about having children before marriage is also a turnoff as there are many in America who have also experienced such moments in their own personal history.

Photo: Sarah Palin

3.  That Sarah Palin didn’t suffer a Dan Quayle “deer in the headlight” moment.  Some comentators love to underestimate the GOP’s ability to communicate.  I admit that the last eight years have seen some strained communication attempts, but just because one person in the group isn’t as eloquent as Ronald Reagan doesn’t mean that everyone in the group is the same.  Stereotyping can be an advantage, however, as political opponents “misunderestimate” and therefore are able to be “rope-a-doped” because of their overconfidence.  It also leads to more conspiracy theories when elites judge on superficial characteristics and fail to recognize someone who is different from their style can be appealing — we saw this effect in 2000 and 2004 with all of the crazy theories regarding the election.  Watch for Sarah Palin to win some points with voters because she is eloquent and will be underestimated by some of her opponents (crazy bloggers).

4.  That Sarah Palin has quality executive experience.  However, the GOP shouldn’t underestimate Barack Obama’s skill set.  Obama worked his way up through the rough and tumble Chicago politicial system and is able to pick off his opponents with skill and ease.  (Jack Ryan fell after a sex scandal in 2004 when Barack Obama was running for his first term in Washington).  Anyone able to run with the crowd that surrounds the Chicago political machine — and receive their annointment to rise from the community organizer street level of the organization to become their trusted political leader in Washington has some political savvy.  It does work to Sarah Palin’s advantage as the political maverick who is willing to fight against her party.  And, when Democratic operatives raise questions about her political allies — Sarah Palin worked with the Democratics in Alaska — it opens the door to raise questions about all of those interesting folks in Chicago who haven’t really been throughly examined in the mainstream media yet.  Folks in Chicago know the cast of characters — I say around October, you’ll see Papa Tony Rezko, Obama’s political rabbi — Emil Jones — who wants to appoint his son to his Illinois legislative seat, and some other Chicago connections start to get the Washington press corps examination.  Look for Rev. Wright to pop up again to exact revenge because he was cut out of Obama’s power structure.  Having a daughter with a kid out of wedlock and a fish license violation will cannot compare with what the opposition research must have been able to find in Chicago — the city with the most federal agents assigned to weed out political corruption in Chicago.

It will be interesting to see what happens this fall.  Sarah Palin is a fighter and her opposition will have to be careful in how they approach her — just as the GOP must tread lightly in its counter punches against Barack Obama.

Video: Sarah Palin impresses GOP with convention speech

Technorati Tags: Barack Obama, Joe Biden, John McCain, Sarah Palin

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