Palin connects, but faces hurdles over policy and experience
ST. PAUL - Sarah Palin last night showed why she should be an asset to John McCain on the campaign trail - a smiling fighter with an earthy, common-sense manner.
She told her unique personal story, introduced her appealing family, and launched some promising attacks on Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama: The presidency, she declared, "is not supposed to be a journey of personal discovery."
In the process, she managed to connect with both her party's conservative base and stake a claim on the coveted soccer mom - or hockey mom, depending on which state is in play - constituency.
It was a good night's work in the service of the GOP.
But Palin is also facing some serious qualms about her experience, particularly in foreign affairs, and she chose not to address them directly, or even to try to assuage them by giving a speech heavy on policy.
Facing concerns that she lacks the gravitas for the presidency, she chose instead to demonstrate that she has the wit, composure, and aggressiveness to be an effective vice-presidential nominee.
"It was quite a good vice-presidential speech," said Dartmouth College political scientist Linda Fowler. "She introduced her family in a low-key way. She spent most of her speech talking about the presidential nominee, John McCain, which is what vice presidents do. And she got in some good digs on Obama."
"The only place she sounded over her head was when she talked about policy," Fowler added.
Palin offered some details on energy policy - an outgrowth of her experience as governor, when she played a key role in promoting a major pipeline project. Major issues like healthcare and education weren't discussed, though she highlighted her membership in the PTA.
A deeper discussion of issues might have insulated her from the inevitable questions about whether she, a governor for only 20 months, has a sufficient command of national issues to step in for her 72-year-old running mate. Instead, she suggested that all the questions about her fitness were largely carping from "the Washington establishment," "the other party," and especially "the media."
Her shots at those familiar targets were effective at galvanizing her audience - and perhaps at getting some people nodding along at home. They also probably appealed to the Republican Party's middle-class constituents, who are skeptical of elites in all forms.
To that end, she included big oil companies among the special interests she targeted in Alaska, and trumpeted her simple solution to getting rid of a luxury jet used by her predecessor as governor. "That luxury jet was just over the top," she said. "I put it on
The governor who used the jet happened to be a Republican - a fact she politely chose not to mention to the mostly well-heeled, partisan delegates.
But as the GOP convention so far has made clear, McCain and Palin are trying hard to present themselves as free-lance reformers, ready to clean up messes left behind by either party.
McCain, with his fighter-pilot integrity, and Palin, with her mom-of-five practicality, hope to restore good government - a tacit acknowledgment that all has not been good in the Bush administration.
Three of McCain's former rivals for the GOP presidential nomination sounded those notes, portraying McCain and Palin as mavericks who march to their own drummers.
Each of the former rivals showcased his own style - with former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney offering some partisan sarcasm, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee providing a preacherly parable about children having to earn their school desks, and former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani launching attacks on Obama's fitness and patriotism.
None were close to being as effective as Palin, and their presence on the rostrum almost seemed designed to validate McCain's choice of her over them.
But Palin still has some hurdles to overcome before she proves to the country that she can be an effective president, if the need arises. Last night, she showed she was a worthy vice-presidential nominee.
Peter S. Canellos is the Globe's Washington bureau chief. 