Republican Convention

9/5/08
The Convention is over. I liked the shortened convention. This should be a template for future ones. They are, like the whole election process, way too long. The Republicans handled the hurricane issue responsibly and the media hopes and predictions for failure were proven wrong; just as they will be in November.

I worked evenings when it was going on, but had access to CNN to at least keep up somewhat, and had to accept the delivery source (CNN) like a dose of highly disagreeable medicine, and trying to focus on the speakers. The attendees seemed to be a responsible and respectable lot, refraining from obnoxious signs, banners buttons, etc.

The same cannot be said of those whom, while receiving almost no media attention, still sought to make their Leftist/Anarchist statements by damaging property, assaulting attendees, and acting as the reprehensible slime that they are. Many of their cowardly, terrorist types, wore bandannas or scarves to hide. Fortunately good police work kept this group mostly impotent and out of sight and lacking any influence over the proceedings.

The star was of course Sarah Palin. While I have felt she would be a good pick for the last 4 or 5 months, the speed at which she was selected and introduced to the nation was dizzying. I pray that she is not "too good to be true". She seems to channel the same excitement and common touch that Ronald Reagan had and her background is even more unlikely than his! Michael Reagan wrote his observation of the same thing in todays WSJ.

Laying in bed on that Friday morning, hearing the news on the radio from Fox news channel, I literally had a chill of excitement, and strange sense of deja vu that the unlikely "outside the box" person I had been in favor of- actually got the position! I had a sense that something had occured and that from that point on, nothing would be the same. I dont neccesarily mean in an all good way; but in a wild, crazy bet the farm and chance to score BIG dangerous kind of way. I wanted to attend the meeting they held in St. Louis that Sunday, even though I hate crowds......it would have been exciting to be among the first 20,000 that had a chance to meet her and measure her against media views and material I had read over the last several months. Work commitments prevented that. I wa glad that they had the meeting in St. Louis and hope they will return before November.

I got that same excited, exaulted, admiration in watching her speach on Thursday. But it was also coupled with the nervous worry over someone working without a net.
No net was needed.

I read a description of her that seems to be accurate at least to this point in her light speed career....she seems to be a "political savant" History shows that they dont come around very often. I hope for the country, she is as she appears. I feel it could be truly a historic time and one where America regains the footing that it lost since Reagan. It's not going to be easy and at this point seems to be more akin to watching an Evil Kneivel jump, than the mundane, frustrating political plodding that we've become accustomed to since 2002.