Thirty-seven million, two hundred thousand. That's how many people watched VP Nominee Palin's speech in the U.S. Obama's speech drew in 38.4 million. Biden's speech drew 24 million. It's encourage that this many people are tuning in to the election coverage, especially the raw speeches and messages by candidates. Little that is broadcast through mainstream media or the cable shows can really qualify as raw news anymore. It is beset by pundits and commentators; even the anchors lack much objectivity anymore.
Say what you will about Palin (and how can you, you don't know her?), she certainly delivered one of the better speeches a pol has given in quite some time. I personally found little meat or inspiration in Obama's speech. It was no different than the 'change & hope' phrases and structure he's been using for a year now. Palin had an advantage because we haven't heard her say anything. The spurious claims of scandal aside, she nailed her grand appearance with poise, aggression, and clarity. She's a hockey player! Don't expect that the bullying of the media or her opponents are going to make her flinch. She nailed a key pointthat I thought she really had to:
What's wrong with small-town America? She's been derided by Obama as a mayor of a village of "less than ten thousand." When listing her accomplishments, he conveniently neglected that she was governor of the largest state. Palin used the small-town image as a strength. Aren't all American political campaigns (at least the successful ones) imbued with at least a little bit of populism. She said rather adamantly, I am from a small town, and dammit, I'm proud of it. Peggy Noonan points out on her page at the Wall Street Journal that there are only 26 cities in this nation with 100,000 or more residents, while there are close to 100,000 towns with less than 10,000 residents.
You can grab the audio of her speech on iTunes here.
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