The Independent / Sept. 4, 2008
As the owner of a friendly pit-bull mix, I wasn't quite sure what to make of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's off-script line last night at the Republican National Convention: "Do you know the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? Lipstick!" Did the vice presidential nominee mean that hockey mothers are smart and loyal but bred for the wrong reasons?
I admit: She delivered the line well. She delivered many of her lines—described by Slate magazine as a "succession of happy little kicks in the groin"—in a fashion that was simultaneously homespun and forceful. Her criticism of Sen. Barack Obama was the type of "red meat" (a favorite Republican phrase) that delegates here in St. Paul, Minn., have been craving. When she said, "I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a ‘community organizer,' except that you have actual responsibilities," the crowd broke into a frenzy. Her attack on the news media was the most cathartic moment of the convention so far: The entire arena turned to the press section and booed.
"My voice was almost completely hoarse from yelling, and my hands hurt from clapping, and you could see the tears in people's eyes," said Justin Burr of Albemarle, N.C., who is running for the state House, after the speech. "I'm energized. I'm ready to go home now and put up 10,000 signs."
Besides her compelling "hockey mom" narrative, Palin energizes the Republican base with her conservative issue stands. She favors oil drilling both off the Alaska coast and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. She sued the federal government to remove the polar bear from the endangered species list. She opposes all non-lifesaving abortions, even for women who have been raped. She's against the type of sex education that might have kept her 17-year-old daughter unpregnant. She doesn't believe global warming is a manmade problem.
Oh, and she appears to be a creationist.
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