Video: Michael Barone’s analysis of Palin speech

posted at 7:20 pm on September 4, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
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Michael Barone agreed to speak with me about the impact of Sarah Palin on the race and the results of her first speech, after a fortuitous meeting in a hallway.  Barone believes that Palin could generate a GOTV effort that may wind up rivaling that of Barack Obama, and that the McCain campaign could generate a juggernaut from Palin.  He doesn’t think much of Team Obama’s first attempts to push back against Palin’s attacks, either:

Barone’s analysis at US News — a star is born:

Sarah Palin’s speech to the Republican National Convention last night was a home run. A star was born. While the Obama campaign has attempted to disparage it by saying that it was written by a former George W. Bush speechwriter, Matthew Scully—and thus link it to the McCain=Bush meme that was one of the chief ideas thrust forward in their convention in Denver last week—it cannot be dismissed as such. Scully reportedly had written a generic draft that could have been used by whichever vice presidential candidate McCain had chosen. But once Palin was the choice, she and Scully reportedly worked together and produced a draft that was brilliantly designed to promote the McCain-Palin ticket, and not to look backwards and justify the Bush administration. This will surprise no one who knows the independent-minded Scully (who left the Bush team to write a book on the responsibility human beings have to animals) and a woman who was described, by Fred Thompson on Tuesday night, as the only major-party nominee, with the possible exception of Theodore Roosevelt, who knew how to field-dress a moose. According to accounts I heard, they worked together quite satisfactorily and produced a text that reflected the VP nominee’s convictions and the ticket’s political imperatives.

Be sure to read all of Barone’s analysis, and keep an eye on Fox News for his excellent reports.

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