Vice President Nominee's Comments in Nevada Including "The Bridge to Nowhere".

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) - Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin made her first solo campaign appearance outside her home state Saturday, sticking largely to a speech that has boosted her popularity among Republican faithful but drawn criticism for having misstatements.
The Alaska governor repeated her claim to have killed the now-famous "Bridge to Nowhere," which her running mate, Arizona Sen. John McCain, has derided as wasteful pork. Palin first approved of the project. She turned against it only after it proved to be a political embarrassment.
"We're going to take our case for reform, that needed reform in D.C., to voters of every background, every party, no party," she said. "We're going to shake things up."
Palin spoke less than 20 minutes, using a teleprompter, at the late Saturday event in a roller hockey rink. She drew a loud and boisterous crowd eager to get their first look at the previously unknown candidate who's brought a fresh energy to the McCain bid. A group of roughly 5,000 broke into chants of "Drill, baby, drill!" and "Sarah! Sarah!"
"We are going to drill now to make this nation energy efficient," she said. "You're right, drill, baby, drill!"
Palin's first steps alone on the trail without McCain have been cautious. After a morning rally in Anchorage, the Alaska governor flew to Reno, Nev. and drove 30 miles to the sleepy state capital, the sort of small community she is expected to win over.
The rally was the only public event planned in Nevada before Palin headed to Denver. She had no events scheduled Sunday, and is expected to rejoin McCain on the campaign trail next week.
Palin's bid to become the first female vice president and her appeal as America's latest "everywoman" have remained key elements of her stump speech. She repeated her hopes "to break a glass ceiling once and for all" and was introduced by Nevada Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki as a "hockey mom with attitude."
In the cavernous outdoor rink, where women appeared to outnumber men, Palin claimed to see her counterparts.
"I think I'm looking at a whole lot of other hockey moms for McCain out here!" she said, before introducing "Alaska's first dude," her husband, Todd.
The governor has limited her public appearances and chances to mingle with voters or reporters since leaving McCain's side earlier in the week. She returned to Alaska to say goodbye to her son, Track, whose U.S. Army unit was deploying to Iraq.
Palin arrived Wednesday in Fairbanks to an adoring crowd of 2,000 supporters and the next day spoke, in her capacity as governor, at the deployment ceremony. The military forbids campaigning at such events.
Palin spent much of her time in Alaska preparing for and conducting a series of televised interviews with ABC News.
As she left her home state early Saturday she told a crowd of more than 2,000 that she'd return at the end of the campaign.
"We've got a little travel coming the next 52 days," Palin told a cheering crowd of more than 2,000 gathered at the city convention center. "But I'll be home in November and I'd really like to bring my friend," she said, referring to McCain.
To critics who question whether her experience as a small-town mayor and as governor has prepared her to serve as vice president, she said: "We're small enough to be family, and we can put aside political differences to work as a family."
Asking for prayers and support for the victims of Hurricane Ike, she told supporters that "it's time for Americans to pull together and to help where the need is greatest."
About two hours after Palin's speech Saturday, hundreds of people protesting the policies of Palin lined a busy Anchorage street, waving signs and chanting "Obama!"
In addition to Obama supporters, the protesters included those who don't agree with Palin's positions against abortion, her support for the Iraq war and other issues. One woman held a sign that read, "I'm Bail'in on Palin!" Another said, "Pro Woman, Anti-Palin." Another read, "What About Healthcare?"
"We're not alone. A lot of people are worried about the nomination of Sarah Palin," said rally organizer Angie Doroff, 46, as cars drove by honking their horns in support.
Palin stayed for two days at her Wasilla home on Lake Lucille, missing a hastily planned rally of about 100 supporters gathered at a hotel near her home Friday evening. Organizers had hoped she'd stop by or say a few words through a special video conference connection they had set up.
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Associated Press Writers Mary Pemberton and Brett Blackledge in Anchorage contributed to this report.

Obama slips on TV: 'My Muslim faith'

Obama slips on TV: 'My Muslim faith'Presidential candidate drops line in interview discussing his belief
Posted: September 07, 20083:42 pm Eastern
By Aaron Klein© 2008 WorldNetDaily
Slip of the tongue or momentary confusion? In a television interview today discussing his religion, Sen. Barack Obama stated, "My Muslim faith." Obama, speaking to ABC's George Stephanopoulos on "This Week," was talking about what he described as "smears" that were claiming he was a Muslim when he maintains he is a practicing Christian. "Let's not play games," Obama stated. "What I was suggesting – you're absolutely right that John McCain has not talked about my Muslim faith. And you're absolutely right that that has not come." Stephanopoulos immediately interrupted Obama, stating, "Christian faith." "My Christian faith," Obama quickly said. "Well, what I'm saying is that he (McCain) hasn't suggested that I'm a Muslim. And I think that his campaign's upper echelons have not, either. What I think is fair to say is that, coming out of the Republican camp, there have been efforts to suggest that perhaps I'm not who I say I am when it comes to my faith – something which I find deeply offensive, and that has been going on for a pretty long time."
The statements came amid an exchange in which Obama accused Republicans of spreading "lies" that he is a Muslim. McCain, though, has strongly condemned such accusations. "These guys love to throw a rock and hide their hand," Obama said.But Stephanopoulos corrected the Illinois senator, stating, "The McCain campaign has never suggested you have Muslim connections."Obama replied: "I don't think that when you look at what is being promulgated on Fox News, let's say, and Republican commentators who are closely allied to these folks.""But John McCain said that's wrong," Stephanopoulos shot back.Obama's momentary slip was immediately picked up by scores of Internet blogs.Obama 'quote religious in Islam'Obama has long denied he was ever a Muslim. His campaign site states: "Senator Obama has never been a Muslim, was not raised as a Muslim, and is a committed Christian."
But as WND reported, public records in Indonesia listed Obama as a Muslim during his early years, and a number of childhood friends claimed to the media Obama was once a mosque-attending Muslim.Obama's campaign several times has wavered in response to reporters queries regarding the senator's childhood faith.Commenting on a recent Los Angeles Times report quoting a childhood friend stating Obama prayed in a mosque – something the presidential candidate said he never did – Obama's campaign released a statement explaining the senator "has never been a practicing Muslim."Widely distributed reports have noted that in January 1968, Obama was registered as a Muslim at Jakarta's Roman Catholic Franciscus Assisi Primary School under the name Barry Soetoro. He was listed as an Indonesian citizen whose stepfather, listed on school documents as "L Soetoro Ma," worked for the topography department of the Indonesian Army.Catholic schools in Indonesia routinely accept non-Catholic students but exempt them from studying religion. Obama's school documents, though, wrongly list him as being Indonesian.After attending the Assisi Primary School, Obama was enrolled – also as a Muslim, according to documents – in the Besuki Primary School, a public school in Jakarta.The Loatze blog, run by an American expatriate in Southeast Asia who visited the Besuki school, noted: "All Indonesian students are required to study religion at school, and a young 'Barry Soetoro,' being a Muslim, would have been required to study Islam daily in school. He would have been taught to read and write Arabic, to recite his prayers properly, to read and recite from the Quran and to study the laws of Islam."Indeed, in Obama's autobiography, "Dreams From My Father," he acknowledged studying the Quran and describes the public school as "a Muslim school.""In the Muslim school, the teacher wrote to tell mother I made faces during Quranic studies," wrote Obama.The Indonesian media have been flooded with accounts of Obama's childhood Islamic studies, some describing him as a religious Muslim.Speaking to the country's Kaltim Post, Tine Hahiyary, who was principal of Obama's school while he was enrolled there, said she recalls he studied the Quran in Arabic."At that time, I was not Barry's teacher, but he is still in my memory" claimed Tine, who is 80 years old.The Kaltim Post said Obama's teacher, named Hendri, died."I remember that he studied 'mengaji (recitation of the Quran)," Tine said, according to an English translation by Loatze.Mengaji, or the act of reading the Quran with its correct Arabic punctuation, is usually taught to more religious pupils and is not known as a secular study.Also, Loatze documented the Indonesian daily Banjarmasin Post interviewed Rony Amir, an Obama classmate and Muslim, who described Obama as "previously quite religious in Islam.""We previously often asked him to the prayer room close to the house. If he was wearing a sarong (waist fabric worn for religious or casual occasions) he looked funny," Amir said.The Los Angeles Times, which sent a reporter to Jakarta, quoted Zulfin Adi, who identified himself as among Obama's closest childhood friends, stating the presidential candidate prayed in a mosque, something Obama's campaign claimed he never did."We prayed, but not really seriously, just following actions done by older people in the mosque. But as kids, we loved to meet our friends and went to the mosque together and played," said Adi.Friday prayersAside from a new website to fight purported smears, Obama's official campaign site has a page titled "Obama has never been a Muslim, and is a committed Christian." The page states, "Obama never prayed in a mosque. He has never been a Muslim, was not raised a Muslim, and is a committed Christian who attends the United Church of Christ."But the campaign changed its tune when it issued a "practicing Muslim" clarification to the Los Angeles Times.An article in March by the Chicago Tribune apparently disputes Adi's statements to the L.A. paper. The Tribune caught up with Obama's declared childhood friend, who now describes himself as only knowing Obama for a few months in 1970 when his family moved to the neighborhood. Adi said he was unsure about his recollections of Obama.But the Tribune found Obama did attend mosque."Interviews with dozens of former classmates, teachers, neighbors and friends show that Obama was not a regular practicing Muslim when he was in Indonesia," states the Tribune article.It quotes the presidential candidate's former neighbors and third-grade teacher recalling Obama "occasionally followed his stepfather to the mosque for Friday prayers."Daniel Pipes, director of the Middle East Forum, notes the Tribune article – cited by liberal blogs as refuting claims Obama is Muslim – actually implies Obama was an irregularly practicing Muslim and twice confirms Obama attended mosque services.In a free-ranging interview with the New York Times, Obama described the Muslim call to prayer as "one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset."The Times' Nicholos Kristof wrote Obama recited, "with a first-class [Arabic] accent," the opening lines of the Muslim call to prayer.The first few lines of the call to prayer state:Allah is Supreme!Allah is Supreme! Allah is Supreme! Allah is Supreme! I witness that there is no god but AllahI witness that there is no god but AllahI witness that Muhammad is his prophet ...Some attention also has been paid to Obama's paternal side of the family, including his father and his brother, Roy.Writing in a chapter of his book describing his 1992 wedding, the presidential candidate stated: "The person who made me proudest of all was Roy. Actually, now we call him Abongo, his Luo name, for two years ago he decided to reassert his African heritage. He converted to Islam and has sworn off pork and tobacco and alcohol."Still, Obama says he was raised by his Christian mother and repeatedly has labeled as "smears" several reports attempting to paint him as a Muslim."Let's make clear what the facts are: I am a Christian. I have been sworn in with a Bible. I pledge allegiance [to the American flag] and lead the Pledge of Allegiance sometimes in the United States Senate when I'm presiding," he told the Times of London earlier this year.

Palin Now More Popular Than Obama and McCain

Friday, September 05, 2008
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A week ago, most Americans had never heard of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. Now, following a Vice Presidential acceptance speech viewed live by more than 40 million people, Palin is viewed favorably by 58% of American voters. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 37% hold an unfavorable view of the self-described hockey mom.
The figures include 40% with a Very Favorable opinion of Palin and 18% with a Very Unfavorable view (full demographic crosstabs are available for Premium Members). Before her acceptance speech, Palin was viewed favorably by 52%. A week ago, 67% had never heard of her. The new data also shows significant increases in the number who say McCain made the right choice and the number who say Palin is ready to be President. Generally, John McCain’s choice of Palin earns slightly better reviews than Barack Obama’s choice of Joe Biden.
Perhaps most stunning is the fact that Palin’s favorable ratings are now a point higher than either man at the top of the Presidential tickets this year. As of Friday morning, Obama and McCain are each viewed favorably by 57% of voters. Biden is viewed favorably by 48%.
There is a strong partisan gap when it comes to perceptions of Palin. Eighty-nine percent (89%) of Republicans give her favorable reviews along with 33% of Democrats and 59% of voters not affiliated with either major party.
She earns positive reviews from 65% of men and 52% of women. The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll shows that Obama continues to lead McCain among women voters while McCain leads among men. The Friday morning update—the first to include interviews conducted after Palin’s speech--showed the beginning of a Republican convention bounce that may match Obama’s bounce from last week.
Fifty-one percent (51%) of Americans believe that most reporters are trying to hurt Palin’s campaign, a fact that may enhance her own ratings.
(Want a free daily e-mail update? Sign up now. If it's in the news, it's in our polls. Get our daily update and we’ll let you know what voters really think.)
The Palin pick has also improved perceptions of John McCain. A week ago, just before he introduced his running mate, just 42% of Republicans had a Very Favorable opinion of their party’s nominee. That figure jumped to 54% by this Friday morning. Among unaffiliated voters, favorable opinions of McCain have increased by eleven percentage points in a week—from 54% before the Palin announcement to 65% today.
Fifty-one percent (51%) of all voters now believe that McCain made the right choice when he picked Palin to be his running mate while 32% disagree. By way of comparison, on the night after Biden gave his acceptance speech, 47% said that Obama made the right choice.
Eighty-one percent (81%) of Republicans say that McCain made the right choice while just 69% of Democrats said the same about Obama.
Among unaffiliated voters, 52% said that McCain made the right choice for his running mate and 45% said the same about Obama.
Forty percent (40%) now say that Palin is ready to be President, if necessary. That’s up from 29% last week. Forty-nine percent (49%) say the same about Biden.
However, following the Wednesday night speech, voters are fairly evenly divided as to whether Palin or Obama has the better experience to be President. Forty-four percent (44%) of voters say Palin has the better experience while 48% say Obama has the edge. Among unaffiliated voters, 45% say Obama has better experience while 42% say Palin.
Fifty-eight percent (58%) of voters say that Palin’s speech helped McCain’s chances of becoming President while only 10% believe it hurt those prospects.
While Palin’s numbers are stunning today, it remains to be seen how the Alaska Governor’s numbers will hold up through the next two months. She has made a tremendous first impression, but the country will get to know her a lot better between now and November.

Caribbean Navy Fears Hezbollah Briging Drugs, Weapons to the United States

FROM JOSEPH FARAH'S G2 BULLETIN

Posted: September 04, 200811:35 pm Eastern© 2008 WorldNetDaily
Editor's Note: The following report is excerpted from Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin, the premium online newsletter published by the founder of WND. Subscriptions are $99 a year or, for monthly trials, just $9.95 per month for credit card users, and provide instant access for the complete reports.
Hezbollah flag
The waters in the Caribbean and around Latin America for a long time have provided a path for illicit drugs to flow into the United States, but the U.S. Navy has increased its patrols in the region now looking for something else – Hezbollah terrorists, according to a report from Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.
The Navy, in trolling for mini-submarines sometimes used to transport drugs, has discovered that some of them apparently are being operated by Hezbollah.
The mini-subs are small semi-submersibles, made of fiberglass and capable of carrying up to four people plus a payload. They are popular with drug smugglers, and now the U.S. is concerned elements of Hezbollah have begun using them for drug-running or smuggling weapons.
"In 2006, we were tracking around three of these," said Navy Admiral James Stavridis, commander of U.S. Southern Command. "In the year 2007, (the number) jumped to about 30. This year so far, in three months, we've seen about 30."
In drawing the connection to Hezbollah, Stravridis said there is concern about the "tri-border area (of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay). It is, in my view, principally Hezbollah activity.
"There is clearly fund-raising, money laundering, drug trafficking," Stravridis added. "And, certainly a portion of the funds that are raised in that are making their way back to the Middle East."
The suspected Hezbollah activity is centered largely in the tri-border region, particularly Ciudad del Este in Paraguay, a focal point of Islamic fundamentalism to include the Sunni Hamas and Shiite Hezbollah.
Now it has branched beyond the tri-border area into other regions of Latin America to include Venezuela.
Indeed, as far back as 2000, Iran had designated the Hezbollah to be its liaison to Hamas and the Sunni Palestinian Islamic Jihad throughout Latin America.
Stravridis expressed concern over this linkage.
"(U.S. Southern Command) is concerned about linkage between the Iranian state and nascent Islamic radical terrorism in this region," Stravridis said.
Now, Iran itself is showing a growing presence in the region, to which sources claim the administration has paid little attention. This presence includes diplomatic and intelligence not only in Venezuela but also Bolivia, Nicaragua and Ecuador.

Secretary of State Rice to Visit Portugal's Prime Minister and Libya President Moammar Gadhafi

August5, 2008

LISBON, Portugal (AP) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says she's excited about a landmark trip she will make to Libya on Friday, becoming the highest-ranking American official to visit the North African country in more than a half-century.
"I am very much looking forward to it," she said here before leaving for Tripoli, where she will meet and shake hands with Moammar Gadhafi and close a nearly three-decade era of bitter animosity between the United States and Libya.
"It is a historic moment and it is one that has come after a lot of difficulty, the suffering of many people that will never be forgotten or assuaged, Americans in particular for whom I am very concerned," Rice told a news conference in Lisbon.
"It is also the case that this comes out of a historic decision that Libya made to give up weapons of mass destruction and renounce terrorism," she said. "Libya," she added, "is a place that is changing and I want to discuss how that change is taking place."

(AP) U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice meets with Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates...Full ImageThe visit is part of a dramatic turnaround in U.S. relations with Libya that hit their low point in the 1980s with Libyan-linked terrorist attacks and American retaliation. At one point, former President Ronald Reagan called Gadhafi a "mad dog."
As the first secretary of state to visit the former pariah, oil-rich country in more than a half-century, Rice's visit will represent a foreign policy success for a Bush administration badly in need of one in its final months.
Libya has agreed to pay compensation to the families of victims of the 1998 Pan Am 103 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, and those of a 1986 attack on a disco in Berlin, which prompted President Reagan to order retaliatory airstrikes on Libyan targets. The money is not yet all there, but U.S. officials say they are confident it will be paid soon.
Yet relations between the countries - once marked by violence and insults - still will face strains on a number of fronts, ranging from human rights to the final resolution of legal claims from the terror bombings.
Despite Gadhafi's 2003 decision to abandon nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programs, renounce terrorism and then begin to compensate victims, not all questions have been settled.

(AP) U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice meets with Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates...Full ImageEven as Rice prepared for her face-to-face meeting with Gadhafi, a fund set up last month to compensate U.S. and Libyan victims of those bombings remained empty.
A leading Libyan reformer, Fathi al-Jhami, whose case has been championed by the Bush administration and by Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden, remained in detention, where he has been near continuously since 2002. Rights groups say hundreds of other political prisoners are still being held.
Libya, now an elected member of the U.N. Security Council, has voted with the United States on issues related to Iran's nuclear program and has helped with the Darfur crisis. But its support on other key issues, notably the Middle East peace process, is far from clear.
Among the biggest question marks is the often unpredictable behavior of Libya's mercurial supreme leader, the sunglasses-clad Gadhafi, who has cultivated images as both an Arab potentate and African monarch since taking power in a 1969 coup.
U.S. officials say they expect Rice may see Gadhafi in a tent, his favored location for high-level meetings, surrounded by an all-female bodyguard corps, but that plans could change. By all accounts it will be a meeting to remember.

(AP) U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice meets with Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates...Full ImageIn an interview with Al-Jazeera television last year, Gadhafi spoke of Rice in most unusual terms, calling her "Leezza" and suggesting that she actually runs the Arab world with which he has had severe differences in the past.
"I support my darling black African woman," he said. "I admire and am very proud of the way she leans back and gives orders to the Arab leaders ... Leezza, Leezza, Leezza. ... I love her very much. I admire her, and I'm proud of her, because she's a black woman of African origin."
Rice will be the first secretary of state to visit Libya since John Foster Dulles in 1953 and the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit since then-Vice President Richard Nixon in 1957.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack noted that in that period, "we've had a man land on the moon, the Internet, the Berlin Wall fall, and we've had 10 U.S. presidents."
"It's a historic stop," he said.
Rice has yet to discuss her expectations for her talks with Gadhafi, but U.S. interests include combatting terrorism in North Africa - where al-Qaida offshoots have launched attacks in Algeria and Morocco, two countries Rice also will visit on her tour this week - and perhaps most importantly settling the claims for the Lockerbie and La Belle bombings.
U.S. officials had hoped that Libya would have deposited hundreds of millions of dollars into the compensation fund by the time Rice arrived. But the State Department said Thursday that the account remained empty.
Some of the families of those killed in the Lockerbie bombing have raised vehement objections to Rice meeting with Gadhafi, whom they consider to be unrepentant for the deaths of the 280 people, including 180 Americans, who died in the attack.
The Bush administration has expressed sympathy with the families but said it is time to move ahead with Libya, which is the first, and thus far only, country designated by the State Department to be a "state sponsor of terrorism" to be removed from that list by its own actions.
Rice's visit comes amid a surge in interest from U.S. companies, particularly in the energy sector, to do business in Libya, where European companies have had much greater access in recent years. Libya's proven oil reserves are the ninth largest in the world, close to 39 billion barrels, and vast areas remain unexplored for new deposits.

Attack Dog Rudy Lowers Boom On Obama

Former NYC Mayor's RNC Speech Focuses On Democrat's Inexperience, Defends Palin, Reinforces Party's Unity
ReportingMarcia Kramer ST. PAUL, Minn. (CBS) ― Rudy Giuliani has passed his hatchet man test with flying colors. Giuliani may have lost the presidential nomination, but he's relished his major role as party defender and attack dog at the Republican National Convention. The former New York City mayor and keynote speaker wasted little time Wednesday night before attacking Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama's inexperience.Giuliani took the stage at the Xcel Energy Center and first touted Republican nominee John McCain's credentials as a lifelong American leader. He then unleashed a scathing offensive against Obama. "On the other hand, you have a resume from a gifted man with an Ivy League education," Giuliani said of Obama. "He worked as a community organizer, and immersed himself in Chicago machine politics. Then he ran for the state legislature, where nearly 130 times he was unable to make a decision yes or no. He simply voted 'present.'" Giuliani said he was never afforded such a luxury as mayor of New York City and Obama is in for a rude awakening if he thinks he can take that kind of cavalier approach into the White House. "When you're President of the United States, you can't just vote 'present,'" Giuliani said. "You must make decisions." Giuliani referred to Obama as a "celebrity senator," with "no leadership or major legislation to speak of." "His rise is remarkable in its own right. It's the kind of thing that could happen only in America. But he's never run a city, never run a state, never run a business," Giuliani said. "He's never had to lead people in crisis. This is not a personal attack. It's a statement of fact: Barack Obama has never led anything." "So, our opponents want to reframe the debate. They would have you believe that this election is about change versus more of the same. But that's really a false choice because 'change' is not a destination ... just as "hope" is not a strategy." Giuliani also intimated that Obama is a politician who changes his position to suit his own interests. "How many times have we seen Barack Obama do that? Obama was going to take public financing for his campaign, until he didn't. Obama was against wiretapping before he voted for it. When speaking to a pro-Israel group, Obama favored an undivided Jerusalem, until the very next day when he changed his mind. "I hope for his sake, Joe Biden got that VP thing in writing." Earlier Wednesday, Giuliani told CBS 2 HD why Sarah Palin will be a great vice president. "She is one of the most successful governors in this country. She is one of the most popular governors in this country and the way she's being dealt with is really below the belt. And it is really, really unfair," Giuliani said. Whether defending Palin or boosting the campaign, Giuliani has casted a big shadow at the convention. He has been literally everywhere. "We didn't have any Republicans saying John McCain isn't prepared to be president the way Hillary Clinton said about Barack Obama, the way Joe Biden said about Barack Obama. This is a united party," he said. The man who likes to be known as America's mayor said he's gotten over licking his wounds from his failed attempt to get the GOP nomination himself. "It's a little bit easier for me because I'm supporting a good friend in John McCain," he admitted.Still, there is talk of a political future for Giuliani."I think he certainly could run for governor. He has good executive ability and would make a great governor and I hope he would consider it," said Edward Cox, Chairman of New Yorkers for McCain. Adds Upper East Side resident Bruce Blakeman: "Rudy's a viable guy. He was a great mayor and certainly if he wants a political future he can have one." Some say, however, based on his failed runs for higher office, they don't see the fire in the belly. "He pulled out of the Senate race against Hillary and he essentially pulled out of this thing. I don't know what's going on in his head, but he didn't see it through," said Rhinebeck Delegate Wayne Baden. So CBS 2 HD asked Giuliani about his future plans. "Right now I'm only thinking of one thing: getting John McCain elected for this country," he said. "We're not thinking about after that."

The Country Fell in Love With Sarah Palin

August 3, 2008
ELECTION 2008

A Star is Born

Posted: September 04, 20087:20 am Eastern
By Art Moore© 2008 WorldNetDaily
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul last night (WND photo)
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Sarah Palin introduced herself to America last night as "just your average hockey mom," but to the roar of ecstatic Republican National Convention delegates her convention speech rose above the expectations birthed last week when John McCain stunned the nation by choosing the Alaska governor as his running mate.
Making it seem easy to deliver a speech watched by millions worldwide amid a media frenzy over her personal life, she told her story and framed the argument for a McCain-Palin White House, delivering carefully crafted one-liners to Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's doorstep with a resolute smile.
McCain's assessment of the speech was clear as he appeared on stage afterward with Palin's husband Todd, their five children, and their pregnant teen daughter's fiancé.
"Don't you think we made the right choice for the next vice president of the United States?" McCain asked. "And what a beautiful family."
WND took a sampling of reaction from the convention floor after the speech, speaking with a dozen delegates, including Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma, former Gov. George Allen of Virginia, Rep. Peter King of New York, former Rep. Bill McCollum of Florida and Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett.

Texas delegate Matt Hayes of Dallas seemed to typify the mood at St. Paul's Xcel Energy Center.
"I'm more energized than I think I ever have been politically. I'm bubbling, I'm excited, I can't contain myself," he said.
Texas delegate Mike Hayes (WND photo)
Hayes said that after McCain announced his pick at a rally in Dayton, Ohio, Friday he called everyone he knew to get their reaction.
"To a person, every Republican I have talked to is excited about Sarah Palin as our nominee, and tonight just pushed it 10 times what it was before," he said. " … I feel sorry for Joe Biden."
WND also ran into pollster Frank Luntz, who called it "the best vice presidential speech I have ever heard."
"I don't know a vice presidential candidate that had a more powerful impact, and I've been to every convention since 1988," Luntz said.
"She talked about real people, using real words, real language, and I was very impressed," Luntz said. "This is someone who's got a natural appeal to working men and women across the country. The visual of her relating to her family and the message of the hardworking Americans on farms and in factories I think is going to have a lasting appeal. This is very impressive."
King called it a "phenomenal speech."
Rep. Peter King of New York (WND photo)
"It couldn't have been better," the New York congressman said. "Governor Palin knocked it out of the park. I couldn't have possibly expected any more than this. It was great."
King said he was surprised that anyone could be that good in a debut national speech.
"I've never seen anybody give a better speech, and it's the first one she's ever given," he said.
King said he's heard nothing but good reports about her from his New York constituents
"After tonight, it will be off the charts," he said.
Alaska delegate Bill Noll of Anchorage knows Palin personally.
"I think America just saw why she has an 80 percent approval rating in Alaska," he told WND.
McCollum said America has a "new star."
"She's just out there shining bright," he said, "She is going to be very effective as a vice presidential candidate, and she's gong to be a very effective vice president."
McCollum said he thought Palin "showed a toughness and a warmth all at the same time.
"She showed she is most capable of taking on the opposition and governing and being a leader," he said.
Former Rep. Bill McCollum of Florida (WND photo)
Prior to the speech, McCollum wasn't sure Palin had the ability to assume the vice presidential candidate's traditional role of challenging the rival team "in a way that is firm and convicted, and not just being a hockey mom."
"She is a hockey mom, but she showed tonight that she can really stand tall beside anybody, man or woman," McCollum said.
Palin, noting she served as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, took direct aim at the intense criticism from the Obama campaign about her qualification for the job of vice president.
"Since our opponents in this presidential election seem to look down on that experience," she said, "let me explain to them what the job involves, I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a 'community organizer,' except that you have actual responsibilities."
Palin said she "had the privilege of living most of my life in a small town."
"I was just your average hockey mom, and signed up for the PTA because I wanted to make my kids' public education better," she said.
Palin said when she ran for city council for her hometown, "I didn't need focus groups and voter profiles because I knew those voters, and knew their families, too."
Virginia's Allen called it an "outstanding speech" in content and delivery.
Former Virginia Gov. George Allen (WND photo)
"I think viewers across America fell in love with her," the former governor and presidential candidate said. "She showed great poise; I thought she handled her family wonderfully, notwithstanding all the invasions of her family's privacy."
Allen said some of the people who tuned in because of the "controversy created by the media" saw "someone who is ready to lead, ready to be a partner with John McCain in putting the people, in putting the people and the taxpayers of America first."
Allen said that prior to the speech he had hoped Palin would not dwell on the media fury surrounding the announcement Monday of her 17-year-old unmarried daughter's pregnancy.
"I thought she handled it perfectly," he said, noting Bristol was there with her fiancé.
Kay Kellogg Katz, national committeewoman for Louisiana, said she was not familiar with Palin prior to her introduction last Friday but was "quite taken" with her from that point.
"She has a special needs child, her father was an elementary school teacher, her mother was a support worker in the schools, her husband's a union member, they've owned a small business, her son's going to Iraq – how much more middle America can you be?" Katz asked.
"She's one of us, and I think will be a breath of fresh air."
Texas delegate Laura Woodhan of Lubbock said she was on the phone after the speech with her 22-year-old niece who watched it on TV and is now beside herself with excitement.
"I don't know that before tonight she'd given [the campaign] a second thought," Woodhan said. "But now, it's on the forefront of her mind."
Sarah Palin before adoring crowd at Republican National Convention (WND photo)
Pennsylvania's attorney general, Corbett, said he thought Palin "came across very, very well."
"This speech tonight I think astounded the country," Corbett said. "A woman who's up in Alaska – nobody got to know her. Tonight they got to know her, and they're going to see her for the next 61 or 62 days, and I think they see somebody who can lead."
Pennsylvanians were the subject of derision in secretly taped remarks Obama made earlier this year at a San Francisco fundraiser, and Corbett was glad to see Palin address it.
Palin said "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."
Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma (WND photo)
"We tend to prefer candidates who don't talk about us one way in Scranton and another way in San Francisco," Palin said.
McCain reportedly had considered former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge as a running mate to strengthen his chances in the battleground state, but Corbett said Palin makes it competitive.
"There are a lot of Reagan Democrats in Pennsylvania that are going to be looking at this race," he said.
Sen. Inhofe of Oklahoma said he didn't know as much about Palin as others, having had only one conversation with her, and "didn't know until tonight what really good communications skills she had."
"Her one liners – each one had a message, and that's not normally the case," Inhofe said.
Palin took aim at one of Obama's main campaign themes.
"Here's how I look at the choice Americans face in this election. In politics, there are some candidates who use change to promote their careers. And then there are those, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change."
The senator said he was pleased Palin was unapologetic about the need to drill for oil along with pursuing renewable energy sources, and he appreciated the administrative skills she has demonstrated in Alaska.
Palin advocates drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, while McCain is opposed
Gov. Sarah Palin's family on stage at the Republican National Convention last night (WND photo)
Palin said that in a McCain-Palin administration "we're going to lay more pipelines, build more nuclear plants, create jobs with clean coal, and move forward on solar, wind, geothermal, and other alternative sources. We need American energy resources, brought to you by American ingenuity, and produced by American workers."
Mississippi delegate Brian Perry, 33, of Jackson, said Palin exceeded his expectations.
"There's been a lot of concern that the Republican brand has been damaged," he said. "She comes from outside Washington ... she's showed she's experienced, she can do the job, she has the charisma to inspire and she has the knowledge."
Kansas delegate Randy Duncan of Brookville thinks Palin came across well in the heartland.
"I think she not only hit a home run, she hit it out of the ballpark," Duncan said. "I mean she was fantastic. I think the selection of Sarah Palin not only energized the base, but I think it's energized the entire Republican party. And I don't think there's any doubt we have a great opportunity to win.
"I think the country fell in love with Sarah Palin tonight," he said.

Governor Palin's Acceptance Speech

September 3, 2008

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Sarah Palin delivered. An embattled vice presidential candidate, a novice on the national stage, the head of a family suffering its "ups and downs," the first-term Alaska governor rocked the GOP convention with a star-turning performance.
Wielding a stiletto and a smile, Palin belittled Democrat Barack Obama and praised her new boss, John McCain, jolting the crowd of GOP partisans.
"Don't you think we made the right choice for the next vice president of the United States!" McCain said, hinting the controversy surrounding his pick. "And what a beautiful family."
Indeed, the family was on display for the TV cameras - five children, including a 17-year-old unmarried daughter who is pregnant. Their mother lacked the soaring oratory skills of Obama - a man she attacked as a tax-raising, terrorist-coddling, self-indulgent liberal. But the former TV sportscaster spoke in calm, TV-friendly tones reminiscent of Ronald Reagan. Like the former GOP president, Palin warmed the crowd with quips and jokes.
"What's the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull," she said, pausing for a beat and a smirk. "Lipstick."
She left the crowd smiling.
"For too many times, we've brought knives to gun fights," said Chuck Gast, a delegate from Maryland,
When asked if Palin brought a gun to the fight, Gast said: "Yes, I think she brings a big gun, like a moose gun."
It was the crowning moment of a roller-coaster week in which the first woman ever on a Republican presidential ticket has faced questions about how closely the McCain campaign scrutinized her. She also has heard a wide range of inquiries about family issues, her policy positions and her record of public service.
"Our family," she said, "has the same ups and downs as any other."
One speech does not a campaign make. Kept at arm's length from the media in the days leading up to the address, Palin now heads out on the campaign trail, where events are less rehearsed, crowds less friendly and the environment less controlled. Even as she spoke, airplanes in Alaska were unloading reporters and political operatives sent to pore through her personal and public life.
A big test comes at the Oct. 2 vice presidential debate with her Democratic counterpart, Joe Biden.
But tonight was hers.
Facing down her critics with smiling resolve, Palin took crowd-delighting swipes at Obama and what she called the Washington elite. "Here's a little news flash for all those reporters and commentators: I'm not going to Washington to seek their good opinion. I'm going to Washington to serve the people of this country," she said.
A new celebrity herself, Palin cast Obama as a little more than a fancy speaker with a compelling biography.
"The American presidency is not supposed to be a journey of 'personal discovery.' This world of threats and dangers is not just a community, and it doesn't just need an organizer," Palin said, a clear reference to Obama's time as a community organizer in Chicago.
The Obama campaign had less than a warm greeting, saying Palin's speech was "written by George Bush's speechwriter and sounds exactly like the same divisive, partisan attacks we've heard from George Bush for the last eight years." The speech was written by Matthew Scully, who met Palin for the first time last week.
Selected by McCain only last Friday, Palin addressed the convention amid questions about her qualifications and relative lack of experience.
The first-term governor had top billing at the convention on a night delegates also lined up for a noisy roll call of the states to deliver their presidential nomination to McCain.
Watching her speech were her husband Todd and their children, including daughter Bristol Palin, whom the Palins disclosed earlier in the week was five months pregnant. Bristol's 18-year-old boyfriend and apparent fiance, Levi Johnston, was seated with them.
McCain shook up the presidential race by picking Palin, a little-known governor less than two years in office. Since then, a bright spotlight has been trained on the life and record of the Republican governor who has bucked the state's political establishment.
Days after Palin made her debut on the national stage with McCain, the campaign announced her unmarried daughter's pregnancy. Other disclosures followed, including that a private attorney is authorized to spend $95,000 of state money to defend her against accusations of abuse of power and that Palin sought pork-barrel projects for her city and state, contrary to her reformist image.
"Our family has the same ups and downs as any other ... the same challenges and the same joys," she said.
Noting that the couple's oldest son, Track, 19, was shipping out to Iraq in eight days with the Army infantry, Palin praised McCain as "a true profile in courage, and people like that are hard to come by."
"He's a man who wore the uniform of this country for 22 years, and refused to break faith with those troops in Iraq who have now brought victory within sight. And as the mother of one of those troops, that is exactly the kind of man I want as commander in chief," she said.
Largely unknown outside her home state, Palin told the convention: "I had the privilege of living most of my life in a small town. I was just your average hockey mom, and signed up for the PTA because I wanted to make my kids' public education better," she said, speaking of her home town of Wasilla, Alaska, with a population of about 6,500.
"When I ran for city council, I didn't need focus groups and voter profiles because I knew those voters, and knew their families, too," she said.
Before becoming governor, Palin served as mayor of Wasilla, she recounted, adding: "And since our opponents in this presidential election seem to look down on that experience, let me explain to them what the job involves. I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a 'community organizer,' except that you have actual responsibilities."
Palin delivered her speech in a firm, cheerful voice. It was her first chance to introduce and define herself to the American public and, after it was done, her family joined her on stage. She cuddled her 4-month-old son, Trig, and waved at the adoring crowd like the beauty pageant contestant she once was.