Making their introductions

Earlier, Joe mentioned the massive television ratings for Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s speech last night. This is a similar situation to the also-huge ratings for Sen. Barack Obama’s speech in Denver last week. Today it crosses my mind that this can be a double-edged sword for both of these politicians. September is traditionally when a larger number of Americans finally begin paying attention to the election (as opposed the the politically-obsessed loons you find haunting the corridors of blogs such as this one.) We have a long history with John McCain from his many years in the Senate and his previous runs for the White House. Fewer people knew Joe Biden outside of his home state, but a quick check of his decades in the Senate and the extensive coverage of his campaign stops can bring them up to speed quickly. For many of these newly interested voters, though, these speeches may be the very first opportunity they get to take a look at Barack Obama and Sarah Palin. What sort of an introduction did they get? In both cases, the product may not have lived up to the billing.

In the case of Obama, if they heard anything about him previously, it was probably about his amazing powers of oratory. He was famous for his soaring speeches and messages of hope and change in the face of an apathetic, entrenched government machine. But when the viewers tuned in last week, they received a very workmanlike speech listing details of policy, how he planned to address the issues and a litany of soft complaints about the opposing party’s plans. Only in the last ten minutes or so did the speech begin to grow legs and take off on some emotional notes. Anyone tuning in expecting the Idaho “Yes we can” type speech was likely left wanting more.

Palin, on the other hand, was introduced over this incredibly-short period of time with a very different story. For those who bothered to ask, we were told about the very human story of the “hockey mom” and devoted wife, raising the large family and caring for a special-needs child. She was the small town girl suddenly thrust into the stark limelight of the national political stage. Palin was the new “It Girl” of the GOP and one could almost imagine her as Marlo Thomas (from “That Girl” vintage) newly arrived in the Big City and capturing everyone’s hearts. Instead, new viewers were treated to a Palin eagerly embracing her new assignment as Team McCain’s “attack dog” with both hands. Barely a paragraph of prepared text had crossed her lips before she launched into a series of blistering attacks on her Democratic opponents. She reinforced that image by describing herself as a “Pit Bull with lipstick” to the delight of the delegates.

Both of these performances may have left viewers feeling a bit short-changed. Was Obama actually not such an inspiring, uplifting speaker, but rather yet another wonk droning on and on about his plans for your tax dollars? Was Palin really not such a lovable homemaker, but actually a nasty-tempered, insulting, sarcastic politician who hectors anyone with the wrong letter after their name?

We have two months to find out. But if that’s the case, Obama may want to make time to deliver some more of the exciting rhetorical juice which originally brought his believers to the table. Palin, likewise, might want to break out of the media cone of silence which Rick Davis currently has her under and show up on some of the usual Sunday morning shows and demonstrate a bit of a softer side to which people can relate.