Great Speech?

Cute? Definitely cute, beautiful even. Smart? You better know it. Sassy? With a touch of extra sarcasm for flavor. Feisty? She came out clawing against the Democrats like an old Republican pro last night. Sports fan? Yes! I've got the pictures to prove it. SuperWoman in her own right? You betcha! Husband or no husband, the fact that she is handling five kids and one with Down Syndrome is no joke, and you have to give Alaska Governor Sarah Palin credit where credit is due. She is definitely a class-act model for working mothers.

A great speech? Uh - I'd say...no.

Now I'm no Barck Obama, Tony Robbins, Cornel West, Bill or Hillary Clinton, or Les Brown, but I've done my share of public speaking and know a good speech when I hear one, and I know a good speech when I see one. Public speaking involves presentation, delivery, and content. It's well known that Palin had to deliver this speech on short notice and therfore, did not have much time to prepare. Maybe that's the problem. Maybe she's not good off the cuff. Maybe she's not quick on her feet. From what I saw last night (no bias involved), I saw a sarcastic, cynical, divisive robot reading a teleprompter that didn't spew a single piece of John McCain's policies. Folks, that's a problem with the vice-presidential debate less than a month away.

We heard zero when it came to the economy. Zero on foreign relations except to criticize Obama. Zero on our energy crisis. Attacking the opponent is not equivalent to articulating your position on the challenges that face our country. Tonight, John McCain must be policy driven in his speech because the person he chose to be the second-most powerful individual in the free world left those outside the convention clueless as to what his policies are. Additionally, it cast a long shadow on whether she actually understands McCain's policies. She sounded more like McCain is planning for her to stand in front of the White House behind a sign that says, "Beware of Attack Dog."

Kuntal Warckick, an indepedent voter from the King of Prussia, Pennsylvania stated, "She came across as angry and overconfident. Palin had little to say about policy, and her speech was full of smugness and mockery." See CNN article.

I couldn't have said it better myself. Yes, be opposed to Barack Obama. Attack him at will, but please tell us WHY you disagree with him. Articulate your position. Palin sounded like a high school cheerleader who lost her top spot and was voicing her displeasure over the school's public address system.

If you listened closely last night one thing you noticed was that the Republican party continues to try to paint Barack Obama as elitist and out of touch. I will got out on limb and say that it is next to impossible for any African-American over the age of 45 in the U.S. to be elitist and out of touch because our experience has not allowed us that privilege. And if you are, you don't know where you come from.

The problem with the canvass that was painted last night is that getting to the heart of people and to the heart of the matter is what got Barack into politics in the first place. And if it's true that a leopard can't change its spots then Barack doesn't have anything to worry about because his track record has proven that even in a country that has socially, economically, and legally denied his ethnicity certain inalienable rights, he continues to place country over self.