Evaluating Sarah Palin's RNC Acceptance Speech - TNR Editors

New Republic Senior Editors John B. Judis and Michael Crowley evaluate Sarah Palin's Vice Presidential acceptance speech at the 2008 Republican National Convention, and discuss its possible impact on the upcoming election.

FORA.tv coverage of the RNC: http://fora.tv/topic/republican_convention

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John B. Judis, a senior editor at The New Republic, has been a contributor since 1982. He received his B.A. in 1963 and his M.A. in 1965 from the University of California at Berkeley. An active member of SDS and the left of the Sixties, he taught philosophy at Berkeley and at the San Francisco Art Institute.

Judis was a founding editor of the Socialist Revolution in 1969, now called Socialist Review. In 1975 he started a new monthly called East Bay Voice. He moved to Washington in 1982 as the Washington correspondent for In These Times. Soon afterwards, he began writing for TNR and for GQ. His articles have also appeared in The American Prospect, The New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post, Foreign Affairs, The Washington Monthly, American Enterprise, Mother Jones, and Dissent.

His books include The Paradox of American Democracy: Elites, Special Interests, and the Betrayal of Public Trust, William F. Buckley: Patron Saint of the Conservatives, and Grand Illusion: Critics and Champions of the American Century.

Michael Crowley is senior editor at The New Republic. He joined TNR in 2000 after working for The Boston Globe and The Boston Phoenix. His writing has also appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, GQ, Slate, and other publications. He is also a contributing editor for Readers Digest and a frequent political commentator on MSNBC. He is a 1994 graduate of Yale University and lives in Washington, D.C.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• sarah
• palin
• vice
• president
• presidential
• vp
• veep
• john
• mccain
• barack
• obama
• negative
• speech
• rnc
• convention
• attacks
• foratv
• conventions2008
• fora.tv
• fora
• tv

[alphacause]

Who would actually be moved by Palin's speech? The answer is someone who actually believes in the myth that people from small town America are somehow morally superior in comparison to people from big cities. The people who will be swayed by Palin's speech are those who believe that old ideas are infallible while new ideas are corrupt and immoral. Unfortunately, given how pervasively credulous the American public is, many will be moved by this type of rhetoric. I am sorry to say it.

[flamablesteve]

She knows how to shoot a gun. and God knows how important that is!

[Aner2557]

She should have presented herself as a dignfied person rather than simply a right wing rant.

Couric exposed that she was not only ignorant but illiterate. Who wudda guessed...

[CreoleInDC]

This just made me laugh. LOL!

YES WE DID!

[maskedphrogg]

Yep, as a nation we are blowing it.

Now then, how does one delineate two virtually identical platforms? There is no "lesser evil" here.

I fear a violent revolution on the horizon. There is little doubt there will be more false flag attacks on innocent Americans regardless the Nov outcome. Unfortunately bloodshed is the likely responce from those trying to defend against these inhuman acts. Fighting fire with fire too often leads to larger conflagrations.

[goodtimesroll101]

I agree completely that Ron Paul is a much better choice than Mccain or Obama. My only fear is that since we don't really actually have the choice - I would choose the lesser of the two evils.

Eventually we have to come to a point where we need to completely overhaul our government from all areas - we (our government)have failed us as a nation (and world) and given in to greed at the expense of our health, our freedom and our earth.

[UKSecretCourts]

Sarah Palin is an idiot.

She thinks Georgia is in NATO. She thinks Russia was the invader, they were not, GEORGIA killed the civilians and Peace Keepers.

Palin is a total idiot - an even bigger idiot than McCain, and I'd thought that was impossible.

[psychowabbit]

I agree it's very sad that people won't even vote for a change for 4 years.... The Republican right wouldn't vote for a Dem. even if it was Jesus it seems....

[maskedphrogg]

Palin is the same fetid sewer water we've been getting from the R's since Reagan left office. Nice talk, no follow thru, trash time honored Constitutional principles.

To promulgate the idea that Obama's policy/platform is any different than McCain's is to promote the sham of there being two, and only two, ideologically separate political parties in the US. The one significant differing viewpoint was virtually banned from attending RNC, though an elected Republican congressman from Texas.

C4L

[stone1home]

Well, anyone that crosses her, she can always pot shot them from 1500 yards with a sniper rife. -s-

[maskedphrogg]

How to subvert Rule of Law

and get away with it?

Gotta agree with Mr Judis on this one. Only heard about 1/4hr of the speech live, I work 2nd shift caught it at lunchtime, but I think I have a reasonable perception of the entire speech. It was a welcome change of heart from the R's but when Palin's short political history catches up to her it will be more damning than supportive of her having a leadership role in Gov.