Sure, Sarah Palin gave a great speech. But she is going to have to face the press in coming days — and it appears that they’re already pressing her on some tough questions, if Treacher is to be believed:

Palin Dodges Tough Questions About Existence of “Alaska”

By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 3, 2008; A1

Media Bubble, Sept. 2 — Embattled former beauty queen Sarah Palin* continued to wilt yesterday under the pressure of fair, evenhanded media questions about the alleged state of “Alaska.” Palin has claimed to be what she calls “governor” of the legendary land mass, which was once rumored to contain “eskimos.”

One of the things they’re likely to grill her about is her invoking God in matters of war, with prayers like this:

Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity.

Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith.

They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.

. . . .

Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom.

It goes on like that, ending: “With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. . . . Thy will be done, Almighty God. Amen.”

Good Lord.

[Patterico handed a piece of paper.] Wait. This just in.

I’m sorry. That’s not Sarah Palin. That’s Franklin D. Roosevelt from June 6, 1944. (Thanks to jot.)

Well, even if that issue falls flat, we have the word of Unbiased Journalist Ron Fournier of the Associated Press that the scrutiny will continue:

“This nonsense,” [senior McCain adviser Steve] Schmidt said, “is over.”

Not likely.

You have Ron Fournier’s word: the nonsense will continue!

[Guest post by DRJ]

Following Sarah Palin’s speech at the Republican National Convention, the Politico published this article noting support for Palin from unlikely sources – an academic and a former Clinton aide – who believe Palin has been the victim of sexism.

That must have been hard for the authors to swallow because later on, in a section that was both smug and snide, Palin was compared to some surprising people:

“A choice that was intended to shake up the race did so with more ferocity than McCain ever intended. The mother of five — with one pregnant teenage daughter and an infant son with Down syndrome — has joined a parade of personalities from Anita Hill to O.J. Simpson to Monica Lewinsky to become a cultural flash point.

As the controversy over her qualifications and McCain’s vetting process overwhelmed events here, hypocritical rhetoric was flowing at full tide on all sides of the debate.

Many conservatives, who spent a generation ridiculing the politics of victimhood and group identity, are now zealously invoking both in the Twin Cities. A common GOP talking point here is that Palin’s gender and experiences as a mother should be counted as an asset among her qualifications.”

Hick that I am, I still get the point. The Politico thinks Palin is just another flash in the pan getting her 15 minutes of trailer-trash fame.

If they keep this up, Palin could be the beginning of a permanent Mainstream Media Meltdown.

— DRJ

Posted by WLS:

Just saw this posted at NRO Mediablog:

Chuck Todd and Tom Brokaw, at about 8:10 tonight, just told Keith Olbermann that Troopergate will be, at best, a “speed-bump” and likened it to “the petty Little Rock politics” that never amounted to anything with Bill Clinton.

Sullivan has the text of some of these emails posted on his site, like they were smoking guns the equivalent of the Valachi Papers.

I can imagine the spin Olbermann tried to put on them, and then tossing the question out to pros like Brokaw and Todd — only to find that they are not Rachel Maddow or John Dean.  They tossed it right back marked “Return To Sender.” 

“But, but, but…. I get big ratings with this stuff.  WAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH” 

We knew Sarah Palin’s speech would be good, but this is really, really, really good.

UPDATE: You know what? If she can endure what the media and the Internet has thrown at her over the last few days — with the phony rumors about her child, the intrusion into her family, the phony bikini photos, the phony videos of her husband, the lies and the sexism and the derision and the snickering — if she can endure that, and give a speech like that, with that confident, smiling delivery . . . we have nothing to worry about.

Nothing at all.

Always hate to cause Patterico potential work-related headaches on his own site, but I happen to give a personal thumbs up to this.

Naturally, it can be abused by a lone nutcase among any 12 random people on the street, but the general concept remains valid.  The challenge is how to preserve the legitimate right of a collective check on government overreach, without empowring anarchists and their fellow travelers with a ‘heckler’s veto’. 

– Justin Levine

Althouse is right: this is brilliant — and it’s a perfect set-up for the speech.

Be warned: there is profanity.

Power Glutes Sullivan is pre-moping:

In all likelihood, Sarah Palin will deliver a speech that will tear the roof off the Xcel Center tonight. Every single commentator on the cable and the networks will declare it a triumph. The base will exult at their Joan of Arc triumphing over the evil, despicable vile press, who have had the effrontery to ask a potential future vice-president of the United States basic questions about her life story and record.

Guess what, Glute-boy? You’re right. The speech will indeed cause her image to soar — even though anyone can read a speech, and it doesn’t really mean anything.

And it’s the fault of dimbulbs like you. Half-wits who have artificially depressed expectations, by taking a bright and capable woman and making it seem like she’s nothing more than an unqualified former beauty queen hick. Tonight, when the country sees otherwise, they’ll be shocked. Shocked to learn that tools like you had misled them so badly.

So, yeah. What would have been an impressive rollout will now be a blockbuster. You just realized that today, and so now you’re trying to raise the same expectations you’ve been dampening for days.

We, the newly excited members of the Republican Party, thank you for your utter idiocy.

Watch that video above. That is going to be the public image of Sarah Palin: an ass-kickin’, gun-shootin’, mooseburger eatin’ middle-class woman — regular folks, but with competence and a cheerful fighting spirit. If that’s the image of the Republican ticket, you guys lose.

Thanks for helping, moron.

Posted by WLS:

Obama named Biden as his VP pick on Sat., 8/23.

The first day that polling would have picked up on the electorate’s reaction would have been 8/24. The Dem Convention ran from 8/25 to 8/28. So, if you pick up the rolling averages at Gallup and Rasmussen, starting with the three day period ending 8/23 – before Biden was picked – and then going through until today, you will have a pretty good read on the “bounce” that Obama got from the Convention festivities. After today we will begin seeing some impact of the GOP Convention.

Polling after jump

(more…)

[Guest post by DRJ]

Sarah Palin speaks tonight at the Republican National Convention. I haven’t surveyed the internet but I did watch CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News this morning. It’s fair to say she is the number 1 story on those channels and there is widespread anticipation (or dread) at hearing her speak.

McCain’s announcement that Sarah Palin was his VP pick also energized the media and bloggers. I can’t possibly link all the Palin stories in the last few days but here are three that address how the story has been covered:

Via LGF, Reuters celebrates how the “online rumor mill” led by liberal bloggers forced Sarah Palin to reveal her daughter’s pregnancy.

Rich Lowry at NRO surveys some of the new Palin-haters.

In Tuesday’s lead article, the Politico claims Sarah Palin has single-handedly “reignited the culture war.”

The Politico wonders: Can the GOP stop talking about Sarah Palin?

It’s true the GOP needs to talk about McCain and Palin but there’s nothing unusual about several days’ coverage after the announcement of her selection as McCain’s VP. It’s news and right now Sarah Palin is interesting to the media and the public. But I don’t think many in the media are worried Palin will overshadow McCain. I think what they really mean is “Let’s talk about Obama.”

I also watched a group of Republican women on CSPAN criticizing the media and bloggers for their sexist response to Palin. I agree the response has been sexist and I’m glad they objected to it. But the overall point is a widespread bias for one candidate and against another. Sexism is the tool used to discredit Palin, just as sexism was used against Hillary Clinton and racism was used against Bill Clinton. I wonder if Hillary or Bill will say something further on sexism?

— DRJ

Posted by WLS: 

“Pray for our military men and women who are striving to do what is right. Also, for this country, that our leaders, our national leaders, are sending them out on a task that is from God. That’s what we have to make sure that we’re praying for, that there is a plan and that that plan is God’s plan.”

Sarah Palin of course.  Over at TPMElectionCentral, Eric Kleefeld concludes “Sarah Palin clearly doesn’t have a problem mixing politics and religion.”

But, who said this:

“Lord — Protect my family and me… Forgive me my sins, and help me guard against pride and despair. Give me the wisdom to do what is right and just. And make me an instrument of your will.”

Barack Obama — Wailing Wall note left 7/24/08.

Again, the duplicity of the press is on display.

William Saletan:

Remember [this] before you judge or poke fun at Sarah Palin. She’s not the candidate whose daughter messed up. She’s the candidate who didn’t get rid of the mess.

Thanks to Ace for the tip. He has further thoughts here that are definitely worth reading.