Republicans Love Her; Independents Not So Much

I was amazingly unimpressed with the Republican Vice Presidential nominee last night. I thought her snipey and snotty and sarcastic when she didn't have the chops for any of those. There was no substance but lots of lies. She had that "I got nothing so I'll attack you" tone that guys get when they haven't matured past the freshman year of hight school. Kind of like John McCain and George Bush. But when a beauty queen was introducing herself, it just convinced me that there is nothing there.

But I read the reports and everybody else -- well almost everybody -- seemed taken with the Governor. So I was pleased to discover that The Detroit Free Press conducted a focus group after Sarah Palin's speech. It included Republicans, Democrats, and Independents. The previous link contains quotations from each of the participants. Reading it is most interesting because it is clear that the independents are quite skeptical.

Here are a few quotes. Follow the link for more.

“Sarah Palin came across as the small town girl who made good. I knew that I disagreed with her on some issues before this evening. After listening to her speech … it appears that once she makes up her mind, that is the end of it. We live in a gray world, not every answer is black and white.”

-- Diane Murphy, 42, Sterling Heights independent

“Who is Sarah Palin? I'm sorry but I still don't know anymore about this young lady tonight than I did last night ... The way it looks to me, she's the Republican vice presidential nominee for one reason: because Hillary wasn't selected.”

-- Mike Kosh, 38, West Bloomfield independent

“Nothing worked for me. I found her barrage of snide remarksand distortions to be a major turn off. She is not a class act. The most important point she made is that she will be an effective attack dog.”

-- Jan Wheelock, 58, Royal Oak independent

“Sarah got as much applause as Hillary did, and had a friendly, appealing appearance.
Her delivery style reminded me of a high school valedictorian who also might have been a cheerleader. I thought she would appear more professional, more stateswomanly. She's no match for Joe Biden.”

-- Joellen Gilchrist, 64, Beverly Hills independent