World | USA
Palin energises Republicans hoping for presidential win
US Republican presidential nominee John McCain has a new attack dog. Her name is Sarah Palin, and she bites hard.
- Agencies
- Published: 00:20 September 5, 2008
St. Paul: US Republican presidential nominee John McCain has a new attack dog. Her name is Sarah Palin, and she bites hard.
Palin's mocking critique of Democrat Barack Obama and the Washington elite charged up Republicans looking for signs of hope that she and McCain can win the White House on November 4.
Now it is McCain's turn. The Arizona senator was due to deliver a televised address later Thursday night accepting the Republican nomination for president.
Palin, 44, Alaska's governor and McCain's vice presidential running mate, drew shouts of "Sarah, Sarah" on Wednesday in her national political debut, unleashing red-meat rhetoric against Obama that had been largely lacking from this four-day event.
She cheerfully shot down criticism from Obama that her experience as governor and ex-mayor of tiny Wasilla, Alaska, did not match his own as leader of a large presidential campaign.
"I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a 'community organiser,' except that you have actual responsibilities," she said in a swipe at Obama's own early career in Chicago.
Democrats argue that McCain, by picking the relatively untested and unknown Palin, had ceded his argument that Obama was too inexperienced to be president.
Palin also found Obama's lofty style of rhetoric wanting and devoid of details of where he would take the country if elected although she offered few policy specifics of her own.
"Listening to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform - not even in the [Illinois] state senate... What does he actually seek to accomplish, after he's done turning back the waters and healing the planet?" she asked.
Small towns
She resurrected Obama's comment from his primary battle with Democrat Hillary Clinton that people in small towns are bitter and cling to guns and religion.
"I might add that in small towns, we don't quite know what to make of a candidate who lavishes praise on working people when they are listening, and then talks about how bitterly they cling to their religion and guns when those people aren't listening," she said.
The crowd loved it, roaring with approval and waving signs that said "Palin Power."
Experts said Palin was a plus for the Republican ticket, especially in attracting the conservative base that has sometimes been at odds with McCain.
They say she could be a huge advantage in helping Republicans hold Western states like Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico that are flirting with voting for Obama this year. "She is immediately going to be a huge attraction," said Merle Black, a political science professor at Emory University in Atlanta.
Vice-presidency: vital role, but not at polls
It may at times seem the least consequential high office, but the US vice-president is only a heartbeat away from one of the toughest jobs in the world.
Here are a few facts about the job:
- Under the US Constitution, the vice president has only two responsibilities: He is the presiding officer of the US Senate, but only votes if there is a tie. More importantly, he takes over if the president leaves office for any reason before his term ends. If that happens, the new president nominates a candidate for vice-president who must be approved by Congress.
- For most of US history, the vice-president did very little. Formal functions and state funerals were near the top of the list. John Nance Garner, a crusty Texan who served as vice president under President Franklin Roosevelt in the 1930s, famously said the job was not worth a bucket of warm spit.
But in the last quarter of the 20th century, vice presidents started having more input and played bigger roles in their administrations. Democrat Al Gore and Republican Dick Cheney are considered two of the most powerful vice presidents.
- Presidential candidates pick their running mates for a variety of reasons. Sometimes a liberal candidate will pick someone more conservative to gain ideological balance.
Other times a candidate might pick someone to ensure the support of a specific state or region, as John Kennedy of Massachusetts did when he selected Texan Lyndon Johnson in 1960. An older candidate could choose a younger running mate to offset worries about age. A less experienced politician might select a more seasoned running mate.
- While Gore and Cheney put a brighter spotlight on the job, there is little evidence that who runs for vice-president has a big impact on voters' choices.
Share this article
News Editor's choice
-
Into an oasis of values
A place to snuggle in the warmth of old manners away from the bustle of city life
-
The walking MP
Rory Stewart's long walk in life has taken a new turn
-
What drives Africa's new kind of refugees?
Warming-driven factors have led many in the continent to flee their homes
