Update re:Palin

Two words: not impressed.

After all the praise of her public speaking abilities, maybe I was expecting too much. After a week of rousing speeches by Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Joe Biden, Beau Biden, Mark Warner, and not to mention one of the best speeches I've ever heard by Barack Obama, arguably the greatest orator in recent times, maybe I was expecting too much. But I expected more than a bulleted list of non sequitors.

I mean, really, how does being a victim of torture qualify John McCain to be our next president? I missed the connection.

Sure she's good at personal jabs. Sure she'll be a good attack dog. But am I any more comfortable about the fact that, should the Republicans win this election, the only thing standing between her and the presidency is a 72 year old man with a history of cancer? Not really.

She's also good at skewing facts and delivering outright falsities, or at least that's what examining public records shows you. Like when she mentions McCain's support of alternative energy. Sure he's claiming to support the development of alternative energy sources now, but if you examine his voting record (which, like all voting records, is available from Project Vote Smart) you'll see McCain either voted against or didn't show up to vote on every bill aimed at financing alternative energy research, such as the “Reduction in Dependence on Foreign Oil” amendment, or the “Energy Policy Act of 2005," which he voted against not once but twice. You want to talk about Obama saying one thing about people when they're listening and another thing when they aren't? Then let's talk about claiming to support something when the public favors it while you have a long history of voting against it.

And while we're on the subject, it's convenient for Palin to talk about her opposition to the "Bridge to Nowhere," when in reality she supported the bridge during her 2006 campaign to become Alaska's governor. I'm just waiting for her to say "actually I did support the Bridge to Nowhere before I opposed it." Then will all the Republicans line up with their flip flops like they did in 2004?

Or how about her claim to be the great crusader again earmarks, when she fails to mention that, before she fought against earmarks, she fought for earmarks worth more than $27 million in federal funds for her hometown (of about 7,000 residents) as mayor and continued to use earmarks as governor of Alaska; many of these earmarks she supported and benefited from were criticized by McCain. Even as recently as this year, Palin argued that earmarking is a vital part of government, saying, "The federal budget, in its various manifestations, is incredibly important to us, and congressional earmarks are one aspect of this relationship." And let's not even get into her connection with lobbyists with ties to Jack Abramoff.

Straight talk? Hardly.

And then there's her claims about the Democrats. I love her claim that the only man in this election who has ever worked for change in congress is McCain, when McCain himself has claimed to have voted with Bush over 90% of the time. Or how she says Obama and Biden have no experience creating law. Uh, lady, it's called The Violence Against Women Act and it was authored by a certain senator from Delaware. But what can you expect from a woman who opposes equal pay for women and is running with a man who has repeatedly spoken out against equal pay?

And that claim that Obama has never authored a bill or law? Well, how about the Fair Pay Restoration Act, a bill Obama co-sponsored and McCain did not support? Or how about the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act, which Obama sponsored and was passed into law? Oh, right, she wouldn't want to mention that one since she's not a fan of honest leadership or open government, especially when it shows her ties to lobbyists and special interest groups.

While Palin isn't the best speaker I've heard at a convention rally (in fact, during one of the audience shots, I saw a woman who I'm pretty sure had either fallen asleep or died of boredom, or perhaps just finds comfort sitting with her head tilted back, her eyes closed, and her mouth hanging open) she sure is good at one thing: spin. This, like their opposition to women's rights, is one thing she shares with McCain.

And if I'm CNN, as soon as she starts accusing the media of being sexist because of their scrutiny of her, when in reality they're trying to figure out who the heck this woman is because no one had heard of her a week ago, that's the last time I show a shot of the cute youngest daughter holding and licking the baby.