Well the war is on. Last night, Sarah Palin electrified the Republican base. It was surreal to see her and so many women on the stage of the traditionally male party. I don't recall ever seeing conservatives that excited. Usually I fall asleep during Republican speeches. But not Sarah's.
Sarah Palin (and Rudy Giuliani) delivered withering attacks on Barack Obama and all Democrats and on my progressive worldview. And she defended small town America from Barack Obama' s "bitter" criticism. She got rave reviews from the cable news pundits, though they were kind of subdued over at MSNBC. Mark Halperin pretty well sums it up:
Mother, fighter, small town girl, patriot, reformer, energy expert, hockey mom, McCain attack dog, America's political sweetheart — she did everything she had to do, and more.
The crowd loved her and then some. Well, actually they loved her before she said a word. The sexist pile-on and the attacks on her family by lefty bloggers and the msm were so over the top and beyond the pale that Sarah Palin had a passionately loyal fan base before she said a word.
Rudy Giuliani was actually railing against the sexism! But these days, Republicans are the warriors against sexists, and Democrats are the sexists. Apparently embracing the term, Harry Reid issued a statement accusing Sarah Palin of being "shrill." That's right, he said "shrill." The word has such a history of being used to belittle and trivialize and mock women that even Campbell Brown suggested right there on the air that the Democratic Senate Majority Leader guy might be a sexist Neanderthal. Way to go Dems!
Republicans are seriously energized, or palinized, and I fear many Republican and Independent women will soon discover an urgent compulsion to vote. Women may well bring us another nightmare Republican regime. Women are beginning to be viewed as a scary potential voting bloc. Isn't it amazing how much respect voting blocs get? You should have picked Hillary, Barack.
"I guess a small town mayor is sort of like a community organizer except that you have actual responsibilities."
-- Sarah Palin
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