Sarah Palin klippte första häcken

Jag hörde tyvärr inte Sarah Palin tala tidigare i morse, men det är inte svårt att föreställa sig hur delar av hennes tal sökte sig rakt till solar plexus hos väljare som är av helt central betydelse för republikanerna att mobilisera.

Som när hon talar om småstads-Amerika:

A writer observed: ”We grow good people in our small towns, with honesty, sincerity, and dignity.” I know just the kind of people that writer had in mind when he praised Harry Truman. I grew up with those people. They are the ones who do some of the hardest work in America … who grow our food, run our factories, and fight our wars. They love their country, in good times and bad, and they’re always proud of America. I had the privilege of living most of my life in a small town.

Eller när hon skickar ett par snygga passningar till Barack Obama. Till exempel den här:

I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a ”community organizer,” except that you have actual responsibilities. I might add that in small towns, we don’t quite know what to make of a candidate who lavishes praise on working people when they are listening, and then talks about how bitterly they cling to their religion and guns when those people aren’t listening. We tend to prefer candidates who don’t talk about us one way in Scranton and another way in San Francisco.

Och den här om Irakkriget:

This is a man who can give an entire speech about the wars America is fighting, and never use the word ”victory” except when he’s talking about his own campaign.

Palin missade förstås inte tillfället att berätta om erfarenheterna hon gjort som guvernör i Alaska och hur hon förverkligat löftena att hålla hårdare i skattebetalarnas pengar:

That luxury jet was over the top. I put it on eBay.

I den heta energifrågan talar hon både om strategiska framtidssatsningar och hur man ska tackla situationen här och nu:

Our opponents say, again and again, that drilling will not solve all of America’s energy problems – as if we all didn’t know that already. But the fact that drilling won’t solve every problem is no excuse to do nothing at all. Starting in January, in a McCain-Palin administration, we’re going to lay more pipelines … build more new-clear plants … create jobs with clean coal … and move forward on solar, wind, geothermal, and other alternative sources. We need American energy resources, brought to you by American ingenuity, and produced by American workers. I’ve noticed a pattern with our opponent.

Och så hyllar hon förstås John McCain:

Harry Reid, the Majority Leader of the current do-nothing Senate, not long ago summed up his feelings about our nominee. He said, quote, ”I can’t stand John McCain.” Ladies and gentlemen, perhaps no accolade we hear this week is better proof that we’ve chosen the right man. Clearly what the Majority Leader was driving at is that he can’t stand up to John McCain. That is only one more reason to take the maverick of the Senate and put him in the White House. My fellow citizens, the American presidency is not supposed to be a journey of ”personal discovery.” This world of threats and dangers is not just a community, and it doesn’t just need an organizer. And though both Senator Obama and Senator Biden have been going on lately about how they are always, quote, ”fighting for you,” let us face the matter squarely. There is only one man in this election who has ever really fought for you … For a season, a gifted speaker can inspire with his words. For a lifetime, John McCain has inspired with his deeds.

Well, Sarah Palin har mycket kvar att bevisa och många prövningar framför sig, men de som fruktade eller hoppades att hon skulle falla på första häcken, de lär vara lättade eller besvikna i dag.