Sarah Palin: A Pit Bull with Lipstick

Main Topic

Palin Dazzles the Party with Her Speech, Values and Experience ()

Last night's speeches by Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and Rudy Giuliani were full of the kind of sarcasm Republicans are famous for. But it was the speech by vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin that had delegates on their feet again and again at the Xcel Energy Center. She described her family as typically American and boasted of challenging her own party, while delivering lines dripping of partisanship. Again and again she compared herself to John McCain as a maverick willing to challenge his own party and the ruling establishment in Washington. After a slow start, the convention is energized. But will Palin's message touch Independents and uncertain Democrats? How well did she set the stage for tonight's address by McCain?

Guests:

• Walter Shapiro: Washington Bureau Chief, Salon.com, @waltershapiroPD
• Mark DeMoss: former Advisor, Mitt Romney
• Noam Scheiber: Senior Editor, The New Republic, @noamscheiber
• Jennifer Rubin: Contributor, New York Observer, @JRubinBlogger
• Matt Welch: Editor in Chief, Reason magazine
• Kathryn Jean Lopez: Editor, National Review Online

Links:

• Freddoso's 'The Case against Obama'
• Palin on Obama (New Yorker magazine)
• Shapiro's article on Palin's debut
• Scheiber's article on GOP's use of sarcasm, snideness
• Rubin's article on Palin's historic speech
• Welch's 'McCain: The Myth of a Maverick'
• Lopez's article on Palin

Reporter's Notebook

Roundtable with Delegates ()

Since the late 1960's, party conventions only go through the formalities of nominating candidates, ratifying the results of primaries and caucuses. So what do delegates actually do? How to Republican delegates feel about this week's convention? We hear from several of them.

Guests:

• C. Mark Kingseed: GOP Delegate, Ohio
• David Schenck: Alternate GOP Delegate, Texas
• Jeremiah Johnson: Alternate GOP Delegate, Iowa