Sarah Palin's speech, written by Matthew Scully:
Mr. Chairman, delegates, and fellow citizens: I am honored to be considered for the nomination for Vice President of the United States
Barack Obama's speech, written by Barack Obama.
Four years ago, I stood before you and told you my story - of the brief union between a young man from Kenya and a young woman from Kansas who werent well-off or well-known, but shared a belief that in America, their son could achieve whatever he put his mind to.
It is that promise that has always set this country apart - that through hard work and sacrifice, each of us can pursue our individual dreams but still come together as one American family, to ensure that the next generation can pursue their dreams as well.
It is why I stand here tonight. Because for two hundred and thirty two years, at each moment when that promise was in jeopardy, ordinary men and women - students and soldiers, farmers and teachers, nurses and janitors found the courage to keep it alive.
We meet at one of those defining moments - a moment when our nation is at war, our economy is in turmoil, and the American promise has been threatened once more.
Tonight, more Americans are out of work and more are working harder for less. More of you have lost your homes and more are watching your home values plummet. More of you have cars you cant afford to drive, credit card bills you cant afford to pay and tuition that is beyond your reach
These challenges are not all of governments making. But the failure to respond is a direct result of a broken politics in Washington and the failed presidency of George W. Bush.
America, we are better than these last eight years. We are a better country than this.
This moment - this election - is our chance to keep, in the 21st century, the American promise alive. Because next week, in Minnesota, the same party that brought you two terms of George Bush and Dick Cheney will ask this country for a third. And we are here because we love this country too much to let the next four years look just like the last eight. On November 4th, we must stand up and say: Eight is enough.
Now let there be no doubt. The Republican nominee, John McCain, has worn the uniform of our country with bravery and distinction, and for that we owe him our gratitude and respect. And next week, well also hear about those occasions when hes broken with his party as evidence that he can deliver the change that we need.
But the records clear: John McCain has voted with George Bush ninety percent of the time. Senator McCain likes to talk about judgment, but really, what does it say about your judgment when you think George Bush was right more than ninety percent of the time? I dont know about you, but Im not ready to take a ten percent chance on change.
You see, we Democrats have a very different measure of what constitutes progress in this country.
We measure progress by how many people can find a job that pays the mortgage; whether you can put away a little extra money at the end of each month so that you can someday watch your child receive her diploma. We measure progress in the 23 million new jobs that were created when Bill Clinton was President - when the average American family saw its income go up $7,500 instead of down $2,000 like it has under George Bush.
We measure the strength of our economy not by the number of billionaires we have or the profits of the Fortune 500, but by whether someone with a good idea can take a risk and start a business, or whether the waitress who lives on tips can take a day off to look after a sick kid without losing her job - an economy that honors the dignity of work.
The fundamentals we use to measure economic strength are whether we are living up to that fundamental promise that has made this country great - a promise that is the only reason I am standing here tonight.
Thats the promise we need to keep. Thats the change we need right now. So let me spell out exactly what that change would mean if I am President.
Change means a tax code that doesnt reward the lobbyists who wrote it, but the American workers and small businesses who deserve it.
Unlike John McCain, I will stop giving tax breaks to corporations that ship our jobs overseas, and I will start giving them to companies that create good jobs right here in America.
I will eliminate capital gains taxes for the small businesses and the start-ups that will create the high-wage, high-tech jobs of tomorrow.
I will cut taxes - cut taxes - for 95% of all working families. Because in an economy like this, the last thing we should do is raise taxes on the middle-class.
And for the sake of our economy, our security, and the future of our planet, I will set a clear goal as President: in ten years, we will finally end our dependence on oil from the Middle East.
Washington has been talking about our oil addiction for the last thirty years, and John McCain has been there for twenty-six of them. In that time, hes said no to higher fuel-efficiency standards for cars, no to investments in renewable energy, no to renewable fuels. And today, we import triple the amount of oil as the day that Senator McCain took office.
Now is the time to end this addiction, and to understand that drilling is a stop-gap measure, not a long-term solution. Not even close.
As President, I will tap our natural gas reserves, invest in clean coal technology, and find ways to safely harness nuclear power. Ill help our auto companies re-tool, so that the fuel-efficient cars of the future are built right here in America. Ill make it easier for the American people to afford these new cars. And Ill invest $150 billion over the next decade in affordable, renewable sources of energy - wind power and solar power and the next generation of biofuels; an investment that will lead to new industries and five million new jobs that pay well and cant ever be outsourced.
We are the party of Roosevelt. We are the party of Kennedy. So dont tell me that Democrats wont defend this country. Dont tell me that Democrats wont keep us safe. The Bush-McCain foreign policy has squandered the legacy that generations of Americans Democrats and Republicans - have built, and we are to restore that legacy.
As Commander-in-Chief, I will never hesitate to defend this nation, but I will only send our troops into harms way with a clear mission and a sacred commitment to give them the equipment they need in battle and the care and benefits they deserve when they come home.
I will end this war in Iraq responsibly, and finish the fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan. I will rebuild our military to meet future conflicts. But I will also renew the tough, direct diplomacy that can prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. I will build new partnerships to defeat the threats of the 21st century: terrorism and nuclear proliferation; poverty and genocide; climate change and disease. And I will restore our moral standing so that America is once more the last, best hope for all who are called to the cause of freedom, who long for lives of peace, and who yearn for a better future.
Palin speech, part 2.
Starting in January, in a McCain-Palin administration, were going to lay more pipelines
And my original response to Palin's speechy. Having now read the thing a second time, I still feel the same way...
Okay, so I read it today. I tried to watch it last night, honestly I did, and I found her voice so fucking grating I had to stop after about 5 minutes. She really has a horrible voice. Of course, I was watching streaming video over the Republican National Convention's web site, and maybe that made it sound extra horrible... in any case, I cannot listen to her. But I read her speech.
And here's what I got from it.
Palin is W. with a vagina.
When given her chance to stand up and elucidate on the ills of the country and her plans to fix it, she talked about--herself.
In the perfect forum to show how she could make the country work, she insulted Senators, Obama, and the Senate itself (where, IIRC, McCain serves). She cast herself as a Washington outsider--exactly like Bush did 8 years ago.
In a forum where we expect to see polish and class (and having just heard Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina, expecting some real smarts), I heard smack talk, white trash, and no class at all.
She did not mention the economy. She did not talk about the problems of working people. In fact, she gave a speech that sounded an awful lot like the speeches 4 years ago sounded... when all the Republicans talked about was 9/11.
In essence, she has the same exact approach as W. Judging by her first speech, division and nastiness is her calling card, and she is not looking for any sort of bipartisan country or government. She is religious, and knows how to appeal to the evangelical base--I caught a few Biblical references thrown in there. I can't think of one thing she elucidated last night that is not the same position as W.
In fact, this may be the stone that sinks McCain with people who hate Bush... McCain, alone, is different from Bush. But he picked a VP who could not be more like Bush.
Good for him:
Obama Dismisses Palin Criticism
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/09/04/obama_dismisses_palin_criticis.html
And his body of experience:
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/09/04/1349429.aspx