Palin and Co.

Sarah Palin did fine on Wednesday night. Most of the post-speech commentators gave her high marks -- and I don't just mean the boys at FOX.
Then again, many of these same talking heads were flopping on the floor in ecstasy over Obama's so-so acceptance speech.
The problem for me from most of these speeches is their superficiality. Almost every line seems designed to earn one of those tiresome quick standing ovations from the audience or to hit a particular demographic.
"Hey, don't forget to stick something in there about Israel!" Or, "Be sure and mention guns!"
When the talking heads say someone made a good speech, largely what they are really saying is the speaker read a carefully plotted, heavily-vetted speech without too many stumbles.
What would be dynamite is if Palin had at some point looked the camera in the eye and said something along the lines of "I know most of you don't know me. I'm not perfect and I haven't made my last mistake. But if I didn't think I was up to this job, I wouldn't ask for it. Ask me anything you want to ask and I won't lie to you when I answer. If you don't think I've got what it takes to be vice president, vote for someone else. But in four years if you're lamenting the fact that Washington hasn't changed one iota for the better, don't say there was no one else running who would have done things differently. I would have."
Somthing like that.
Bill Clinton used to do this kind of thing brilliantly. There was that moment when his body language and tone would tell his audience that the next thing out of his mouth was THE thing to remember.
"I never had sex with that woman ..." was one of those moments. He was telling a lie of course, but that mean that he didn't connect with his audience in a galvanizing way."