BY CRAIG GORDON craig.gordon@newsday.com
September 3, 2008
ST. PAUL, Minn. - When Sarah Palin takes the stage here, Republicans want voters to see a steely God-and-family conservative with heart, a lifetime NRA member ready to take aim at Washington - a sort of Annie Oakley of the tundra.
Democrats hope voters see something entirely different - a rookie candidate out of her depth, whose relatively thin resume is filled with contradictions and whose vetting raises questions about John McCain's judgment.
The battle between the two parties to define Palin - as a successful pick or a stumble, as a worthy No. 2 to John McCain or a Dan Quayle-like liability - kicks into gear tonight at the Republican convention here. The one person missing from the debate for four days - Palin herself - is expected to make her case in prime time.
McCain's campaign refused to say yesterday whether Palin would explicitly bring up the biggest story of the week here - her pregnant teenage daughter, Bristol Palin - or only make an oblique reference to it. "I think it's a unique opportunity that's a chance for her to get out and tell her story and let people see beyond the media froth that's existed for the past 48 hours," McCain adviser Rick Davis said.
Palin's job tonight is twofold. First, she must demonstrate she has the political heft to be sitting down the hall from a 72-year-old President McCain, without overreaching. The McCain campaign's claims that she has command experience because she runs the Alaska National Guard might sound like a stretch to some voters.
But the other part of her job tonight is to come across as the everywoman, the hockey mom who could make history - and that's one area where speaking of her daughter's pregnancy might help some viewers see her as someone like them, even if they disagree with her anti-abortion views, experts said.
"These imperfections of her family are the same kind of thing that makes her relatable to people that have had similar things in their lives," such as her husband's two-decade-old drunken-driving charge, said Dianne Bystrom of Iowa State University. "People are looking for someone they can relate to."
Delegates here have stood staunchly behind Palin. But some liberal bloggers have posed the question of whether Palin should be running for vice president when she's got a 4-month-old baby with Down syndrome and a pregnant daughter at home - causing conservatives to say that's a sexist question, one that Barack Obama would never be asked even though he has two daughters.
Some Democrats say the party shouldn't turn its fire on Palin at all - except to use her selection to raise questions about McCain's vetting process, which even Republicans fret was badly managed.
"We know he had the wrong call on Iraq. Now we have this big decision, his first real presidential-level decision, and he's made a pick that by any objective standards has generated a bunch of questions. So what does this say about what kind of president he's going to be?" Democratic strategist Chris Lehane said.
Democrats also have begun trying to puncture Palin's image as a reform-minded governor. She opposed the "bridge to nowhere" in Alaska - but only after first supporting it. She also sought $200 million in congressional earmarks for Alaska - McCain refuses to take any.
"The challenge is that she has got to hit the toughest track in the world running and she can't stumble. And we'll see if she can do that. If she can do that, then I think she's probably a tremendous asset," said Tony Blankley, a one-time top aide to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. "If she doesn't make a bad stumble, then she's probably home and dry."
TONIGHT'S LIKELY MAIN SPEAKER SARAH PALIN
Early life: Born in 1964 in Idaho, her family moved to Alaska when she was an infant. She was a star high school basketball player and beauty queen, placing second in the 1984 Miss Alaska pageant.
Parents: Her father, Chuck Heath, is a retired schoolteacher and high school cross-country coach. He shared his passion for hunting with his four children, especially Palin, who eagerly describes moose-hunting trips with her father. Her mother, Sally, was a school secretary.
Education: On a beauty pageant scholarship, she attended Hawaii Pacific College and North Idaho College before graduating with a journalism degree from the University of Idaho.
Professional life: She worked as a television sports reporter in Anchorage before marrying Todd Palin, an oil worker and fisherman. She was elected to the Wasilla City Council in 1992 and was mayor from 1996 to 2002, when she was prevented by term limits from making a third run. In 2006, she defeated incumbent Gov. Frank Murkowski in the GOP primary and former Gov. Tony Knowles, a Democrat, in the general election for the office.
Children: The Palins have five children, Track, 19; Bristol, 17; Willow, 14; Piper, 7; and Trig, 4 months.
from; http://www.newsday.com
September 3, 2008
ST. PAUL, Minn. - When Sarah Palin takes the stage here, Republicans want voters to see a steely God-and-family conservative with heart, a lifetime NRA member ready to take aim at Washington - a sort of Annie Oakley of the tundra.
Democrats hope voters see something entirely different - a rookie candidate out of her depth, whose relatively thin resume is filled with contradictions and whose vetting raises questions about John McCain's judgment.
The battle between the two parties to define Palin - as a successful pick or a stumble, as a worthy No. 2 to John McCain or a Dan Quayle-like liability - kicks into gear tonight at the Republican convention here. The one person missing from the debate for four days - Palin herself - is expected to make her case in prime time.
McCain's campaign refused to say yesterday whether Palin would explicitly bring up the biggest story of the week here - her pregnant teenage daughter, Bristol Palin - or only make an oblique reference to it. "I think it's a unique opportunity that's a chance for her to get out and tell her story and let people see beyond the media froth that's existed for the past 48 hours," McCain adviser Rick Davis said.
Palin's job tonight is twofold. First, she must demonstrate she has the political heft to be sitting down the hall from a 72-year-old President McCain, without overreaching. The McCain campaign's claims that she has command experience because she runs the Alaska National Guard might sound like a stretch to some voters.
But the other part of her job tonight is to come across as the everywoman, the hockey mom who could make history - and that's one area where speaking of her daughter's pregnancy might help some viewers see her as someone like them, even if they disagree with her anti-abortion views, experts said.
"These imperfections of her family are the same kind of thing that makes her relatable to people that have had similar things in their lives," such as her husband's two-decade-old drunken-driving charge, said Dianne Bystrom of Iowa State University. "People are looking for someone they can relate to."
Delegates here have stood staunchly behind Palin. But some liberal bloggers have posed the question of whether Palin should be running for vice president when she's got a 4-month-old baby with Down syndrome and a pregnant daughter at home - causing conservatives to say that's a sexist question, one that Barack Obama would never be asked even though he has two daughters.
Some Democrats say the party shouldn't turn its fire on Palin at all - except to use her selection to raise questions about McCain's vetting process, which even Republicans fret was badly managed.
"We know he had the wrong call on Iraq. Now we have this big decision, his first real presidential-level decision, and he's made a pick that by any objective standards has generated a bunch of questions. So what does this say about what kind of president he's going to be?" Democratic strategist Chris Lehane said.
Democrats also have begun trying to puncture Palin's image as a reform-minded governor. She opposed the "bridge to nowhere" in Alaska - but only after first supporting it. She also sought $200 million in congressional earmarks for Alaska - McCain refuses to take any.
"The challenge is that she has got to hit the toughest track in the world running and she can't stumble. And we'll see if she can do that. If she can do that, then I think she's probably a tremendous asset," said Tony Blankley, a one-time top aide to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. "If she doesn't make a bad stumble, then she's probably home and dry."
TONIGHT'S LIKELY MAIN SPEAKER SARAH PALIN
Early life: Born in 1964 in Idaho, her family moved to Alaska when she was an infant. She was a star high school basketball player and beauty queen, placing second in the 1984 Miss Alaska pageant.
Parents: Her father, Chuck Heath, is a retired schoolteacher and high school cross-country coach. He shared his passion for hunting with his four children, especially Palin, who eagerly describes moose-hunting trips with her father. Her mother, Sally, was a school secretary.
Education: On a beauty pageant scholarship, she attended Hawaii Pacific College and North Idaho College before graduating with a journalism degree from the University of Idaho.
Professional life: She worked as a television sports reporter in Anchorage before marrying Todd Palin, an oil worker and fisherman. She was elected to the Wasilla City Council in 1992 and was mayor from 1996 to 2002, when she was prevented by term limits from making a third run. In 2006, she defeated incumbent Gov. Frank Murkowski in the GOP primary and former Gov. Tony Knowles, a Democrat, in the general election for the office.
Children: The Palins have five children, Track, 19; Bristol, 17; Willow, 14; Piper, 7; and Trig, 4 months.
from; http://www.newsday.com
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