Tag: john mccain

Meet the Palins

Last night I saw Sarah Palin accept her party’s nomination for Vice President of the United States. I was sitting a couple of rows behind the VIP stand and watched as Palin’s family, the subject of intense media scrutiny (both fair and unfair), were seated and as they watched their mother, wife and daughter make history as the first woman on the GOP Presidential ticket.

Governor Palin’s family faces a phalanx of cameras

A riser (top-left) focuses their attention and telephoto lenses on Palin’s family.  At the time, the Governor of Hawaii was speaking on stage making introductory remarks about Sarah Palin.  Nobody seemed to notice.

and from above

Governor Palin accepts her party’s nomination for VPOTUS.

Senator John McCain joins Governor Palin and her family on stage after her speech.  Presidential candidates do not usually appear in person at a convention until the final day, but Obama broke with the orthodoxy and it came as no surprise that McCain showed up last night.

Here is Palin’s speech.

From the convention floor, a few observations for those watching the speech on television:

– Michigan delegates wore hockey jerseys emblazoned with “RNC”.  They chanted “hockey mom” at Sarah Palin during the speech.  Palin recognized them and seemed to integrate it as a point in her speech.

– At one point Palin emphasized that regular folks will decide who becomes President of the United States and not the media elite.  A few in the crowd stated chanting “N-B-C” and much of the convention joined in.

What to expect from Sarah Palin’s speech tonight

Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin will address delegates tonight at the RNC at the Xcel Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. Here’s what to expect from her speech.

Expect Palin to introduce herself to the American people and give a deep auto-biographical account of herself.

Expect Palin to also address the deeply personal attacks from the left-wing blogosphere on pregnancy rumours and attacks on her daughter. Strong messages of the family value of support and a call for american empathetic reflection is what we will probably see.

Expect Palin to address her special experience as the Governor of Alaska and what this means for energy independence in America. Palin and McCain will address drilling ANWAR as gas prices are on the rise for families and business.

Expect Palin to address her unique position as a woman on the VP side of a presidential ticket this year. Expect Palin to make direct reference to Hillary Clinton and thank her for putting 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling. Expect Palin to appeal to Clinton supporters, independents, Republicans and Democrats to break that glass ceiling together and move America forward with the GOP.

I’m going to the Republican National Convention

I’ve been enjoying this week’s coverage of the Democratic National Convention on CNN (the only network anchoring coverage from the floor). Whether you agree with Democrats or not, you must admit that they’re putting on a great show and the stars of the party have woven some fantastic speeches together.

Therefore, I’m very excited to be headed to Minneapolis St. Paul on Sunday to attend the full week of the Republican National Convention.

I’m intending to blog the convention top-to-bottom and to bring you guys the behind-the-camera perspective of the greatest political stage show on Earth (a label that could apply to the RNC or DNC though Obama’s address in Mile-High Stadium to about 80,000 might raise the bar well above terra firma (or at least mare supra)for the GOP. Wi-fi has been intermittant to non-existant at the Pepsi Center according to some reports, so hopefully the RNC will have it humming along through the convention.

If any other folks (observers or reporters) are heading down to the RNC from Canada or if you’re a delegate/blogger from the US, I’d love to hear from you. I’ll be available via Blackberry during the convention and even if you aren’t able to make it, I’d be happy to share my thoughts about the goings-on and nomination of John McCain as the Republican nominee for President of the US.