Okay, I wasn’t expecting this. I’m sure Karl Rove, et al., really weren’t expecting it.
St. Paul delegates are giddy with Sarah Palin’s speech. The mood is buoyant, enlivened, energized. It’s a party. There are revelers. The faces shine with joy and pleasure at a convention finally fully underway. Their VP nominee did it – she hit it out of the park. There is joy in Mudville, here on the ground.
And it worked wonders – for the Dems.
In the past several hours, Dems I’ve spoken with and who’ve flooded my inbox are energized. A woman friend and Democrat who had not worked for Obama’s campaign: “I am volunteering tomorrow.” An Obama organizer who was operating on fumes five months ago: “They are not getting away with this. 10 hours of call time tomorrow.” A shorter read of the mood: “Let’s get it on.”
What? But the Dems were supposed to be depressed, angsty, and ashamed after Gov Palin’s Most Brilliantest Speech Evah!
The mockery went too far. They played the “Obama doesn’t love America, just himself” card, over and over and over. For people already inclined to believe that (i.e., the hardcore Republican base), the speech was a smashing success. Maybe they will work a little harder, volunteer a few more hours, dig a little deeper into their pockets. But so will partisan Dems, who are far more plugged into watching the election coverage.
So my reaction: St. Paul loved this speech… and so did Chicago. Palin swung for the fences, mocking the very notion of community organizing. So did Giuliani. This was the day after “Service” was the theme, and Republicans fell all over themselves praising their party’s commitment to give back to the community. Jarring.
Now is all that “energized Democrats” stuff just a lot of talking? Yeah … a lot of money talking.
An Obama aide confirms to Ben Smith that Sen. Barack Obama has raised about $8 million from more than 130,000 donors since Gov. Sarah Palin’s speech last night — and is on pace to raise $10 million by the time McCain reaches the stage tonight.
Update: The Republican National Committee tells Jonathan Martin that they raised “more than $1 million” since Palin’s speech.
I am a proud part of the $8MM.
As a woman in her 50’s, I have been delighted to see women rising to the highest rungs of politics in both your country and mine. Too bad that the GOP had to choose Sarah Palin to break through their glass ceiling. The more I learn about Sarah Palin, the more worried I become.
There’s a blog called Mudflats that focuses on Alaskan politics and gives a very detailed picture of her. That this woman could end up a heartbeat away from the presidency of the U.S. is, well, terrifying to me. Especially considering that John McCain isn’t exactly the picture of glowing health …
My favourite quote about the Palin speech comes from the Mudflats blog. I quote:
“But the cherry on top was her sneering, snarky comment about how being a mayor was like being a community organizer, only with ‘actual responsibility’.
A commenter on this blog summed it up so well: (hat tip MH& metafilter.com)
“Jesus was a Community Organizer, and Pontias Pilate was a Governor.”
Tee hee. Everytime I think of those words, I crack up.
Awesome quote Marn. 🙂
Oh, my. That’s wonderful.
Great quote! I know I made my first political contribution EVER yesterday. And yes, my $25 went to Mr. Obama’s campaign.
I’m still waiting for my “Part of the Pro-Obama Dungeons & Dragons Crowd” T-shirt to arrive! =)
It’s waiting in your mom’s basement.