ST. PAUL, Minn. - Adjusting her glasses and staring ahead, Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin on Wednesday scolded her critics for figuring she's not cut out for the job, sending the Republican National Convention into howls of praise.
"I've learned quickly, these past few days, that if you're not a member in good standing of the Washington elite, then some in the media consider a candidate unqualified for that reason alone," Palin said, drawing jeers from the crowd.
"But now here's a little news flash for 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 great country."
Palin, speaking to a crowded Xcel Energy Center on the Republican National Convention's third night, defended her first executive office, that of smalltown mayor, "since our opponents in this presidential election seem to look down on that experience."
"Let me explain to them what the job involved," said Palin, a "hockey mom" whose entire family and soon-to-be son-inlaw sat in the audience before joining her onstage. "I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities."
Palin, 44, didn't mention Barack Obama by name but her target was obvious: The Democratic candidate began his political life as a community organizer. The dig was one of many that brought down the house, including: "It's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs butnot a single major law or even a reform."
The first-term governor of Alaska spoke for 36 minutes. When she finished, John Mc-Cain, who will end the four-day convention tonight when he accepts the party's nomination for president, bounded onto the stage, sending an already electric crowd into overdrive.
"Don't you think we made the right choice for the next vice president of the United States?" he asked. The crowd howled back, some chanting, "Sarah! Sarah!"
Wednesday night's roll call made McCain, 72, officially his party's choice to be the 44th president of the United States.
Four-term U.S. Rep. John Boozman spoke when it was Arkansas' turn to vote.
"Madam secretary, the great state of Arkansas, a state with people who have a vision to lead and shape the future of our country, are very proud of our favorite son, Gov. Mike Huckabee. He has the ideals and values America needs. John McCain fits all of the qualities Arkansas would have in a leader. Sen. McCain has exemplified a lifetime of service, sacrifice and vision for America. We proudly cast our 34 votes for Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin."
Palin, who in a matter of days has leapt from a near-nobody to the political world's most famous grandmother-in-waiting, addressed a party gathering that has been both shaken by Hurricane Gustav and invigorated by the prospect of hearing from the party's first female vice presidential nominee.
"I accept the challenge of a tough fight in this election against confident opponents at a crucial hour for our country," Palin said. "And I accept the privilege of serving with a man who has come through much harder missions and met far graver challenges and knows how tough fights are won - the next president of the United States, John S. McCain."
Wednesday's program was by far the most boisterous of the convention. Delegates waved maroon signs calling for "Prosperity" and blue signs declaring "Country First." The dances they did between speeches carried more bounce and swing than those squeezed into Tuesday's truncated schedule.
As always, there were the hats, including one worn by Kendal Unruh of Colorado, who had affixed more than a half-dozen homemade pins to a leopard-print cowboy hat. "I support unwed mothers," read one. "God + Gun clinger for Palin," read another.
In addition to introducing her family and providing a broad biographical and political-background sketch, Palin kept at Obama, about whom she said there is "much to like and admire."
"But when the cloud of rhetoric has passed, when the roar of the crowd fades away, when the stadium lights go out, and those Styrofoam Greek columns are hauled back to some studio lot - when that happens," she wondered, "what exactly is our opponent's plan? What does he actually seek to accomplish after he's done turning back the waters and healing the planet?"
His plan, she said, "is to make government bigger and take more of your money and give you more orders from Washington and to reduce the strength of America in a dangerous world."
On the flip side, Palin said, is the six-term senator from Arizona. "There is only one man in this election who has ever really fought for you in places where winning means survival and defeat means death."
Palin was preceded onstage by three of McCain's primary rivals: Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romneyand Rudy Giuliani.
Huckabee said, "As much as I appreciate this magnificent opportunity to speak tonight, I've got to be honest with you: I was originally hoping for the slot on Thursday night called the acceptance speech."
Then the Fox News commentator and former Arkansas governor, who is writing a book to come out shortly after the election, added, "But I want you to also know that I am genuinely delighted to speak on behalf of my second choice ... John McCain."
Huckabee said the media's scrutiny of Palin had had the effect of "unifying the Republican Party and all of America in support of Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin." The news coverage, he said, has been "tackier than a costume change at a Madonna concert."
He said later of Palin, "She got more votes running for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, than Joe Biden got running for president of the United States." That drew laughs, cheers and whistles.
But, according to TheGreenPapers.com, a nonpartisan site that tracks elections, Biden's brief primary run this year netted him just under 80,000 votes. Wasilla has fewer than 7,000 residents.
Huckabee spoke for 14 minutes. He acknowledged the historic nature of Obama's candidacy - the first black nominee of a major national party. "But the presidency is not a symbolic job," he said.
"Obama was right when he said this election is not about him, it's about you."
Yes, Huckabee said, with gasnear $4 per gallon, people losing jobs and families losing homes, America wants change. "But let me say there are some things that we don't want to change - freedom, security and the opportunity to prosper."
"John McCain," he said, "doesn't want the kind of change that allows the government to reach even deeper into your paycheck and pick your pocket, your doctor, your child's school, or even the kind of car you drive or tell you how much you have to inflate your tires.
"And he doesn't want to change the definition of marriage. And, unlike the Democratic ticket, Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin believe that every human life has intrinsic worth and value from the moment of conception."
Arkansas delegate Barbara Deuschle stood on her chair and whistled as Huckabee spoke. "His speech was classic Huckabee," she said afterwards.
Where is it on a scale of 1 to 10?
"12," she responded.
Huckabee's sister, delegate Pat Harris, said, "I would give him an A+. You know I'm a teacher. I grade everything,"
Added delegate Ann Schmuecker, "It makes me want to say, 'Amen.'"
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, once closely considered as a McCain running mate, scored Democratic policies as dangerous to the American way.
"We need change all right - change from a liberal Washington to a conservative Washington.We have a prescription for every American who wants change in Washington: Throw out the big government liberals and elect John McCain."
That's because, Romney said, liberals will increase government welfare payments, which will lead to higher taxes and set off a perilous spiral of dependency.
"Dependency is death to initiative, to risk-taking and opportunity," he said. "It's time to stop the spread of government dependency and fight it like the poison it is. It's time for the party of big ideas, not the party of Big Brother."
Rudy Giuliani, who took the stage as the convention's keynote speaker, said voters should choose "substance over style" when they cast their ballots in November.
"Tough times require strong leadership, and this is no time for on-the-job training," said the former New York mayor. He said that since Obama clearly needs training, his campaign is trying to recast the contest as "about 'change' versus 'more of the same.'"
"But that's really a false choice," Giuliani said, "because 'change' is not a destination, just as 'hope' is not a strategy."
McCain, Giuliani said, would cut government spending, expand free trade and pursue nuclear energy and offshore drilling.
And he "will keep us on offense against terrorism at home and abroad," he said, using Mc-Cain's support for last year's surge of troops in Iraq as the candidate's willingness to fight U.S. enemies head-on.
"In the single biggest policy decision of this election, John McCain got it right, and Barack Obama got it wrong," said Giuliani, adding that most politicians would have acted "in their self-interest" by bowing to public pressure.
"How many times have we seen Barack Obama do this?" Giuliani asked. "Obama promised to take public financing for his campaign, until he broke his promise. Obama was against wiretapping before he voted for it."
"If I were Joe Biden," Giuiliani added, "I'd want to get that VP thing in writing."
Palin's turn at the podium came moments after Giuliani's. In the policy portion of her speech, she emphasized energy, one of her areas of expertise.
"Our opponents say again and again that drilling will not solve all of America's energy problems - as if we all didn't know that already. But the fact that drilling there won't solve every problem is no excuse to do nothing at all," she said.
Palin has been an aggressive advocate for drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. McCain opposes drilling there. Palin did nottouch on that difference.
Palin added, "We're going to lay more pipelines and build more nuclear plants and create jobs with clean coal and move forward on solar, wind, geothermal and other alternative sources. We need, we need American sources of resources. We need American energy brought to you by American ingenuity and produced by American workers."
That brought cheers from the crowd, which chanted, "Drill, baby, drill," throughout the night.
Except for an interview with People magazine the afternoon her selection was announced, Palin has not taken a single question from a reporter, and it remains unclear when she will speak to national news media.
Palin had been holed up in her suite in the Hilton Minneapolis since Sunday night. Sitting around a dining-room table, a parade of McCain's top advisers has briefed her on the nuances of his policy positions, national politics and, above all, how to introduce herself to a national audience.
Not anticipating that McCain would choose a woman as his running mate, the speech the McCain team had prepared in advance was "very masculine," according to campaign manager Rick Davis, and "we had to start from scratch."
Palin and her family, as well as Cindy McCain and all seven Mc-Cain children, were at the Minneapolis airport to greet McCain. The 16 assembled members of the two clans ranged in age from 4 months to 72 years.
There were hugs and kisses all around, but John McCain paid special attention to the two young people who have been receiving so much attention in recent days - 17-year-old Bristol Palin, who is five months pregnant, and her boyfriend, 18-year-old Levi Johnston. The two held hands as Mc-Cain approached. The senator stopped in front of them, hugging Bristol and putting his hands on each of their arms as he spoke excitedly, lifting his shoulders up and down for emphasis.
McCain also met the Palin's oldest son, Track, who is deploying to Iraq next week. He waved to call over his two youngest sons - Jack, 20, a midshipman at the Naval Academy, and Jimmy, 19, an enlisted Marine who returns to Iraq this winter - to meet Track.
Campaign instinct took over when McCain got to Palin's youngest son, 4-month-old Trig, who has Down's syndrome. He kissed him on the forehead.
The two families got on the Straight Talk Express and motored to their hotel.Information for this article was contributed by Frank Lockwood of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette; David Espo, Tom Raum and Liz Sidoti of The Associated Press; Jill Zuckman of the Chicago Tribune; Carl Hulse of The New York Times; and Robert Barnes and Juliet Eilperin of The Washinton Post.
If you watchJohn McCain will be the
featured speaker tonight at the
Republican National Convention
and will formally accept the
presidential nomination.
The original lineup included
speeches by Florida Gov. Charlie
Crist and Minnesota Gov. Tim
Pawlenty, both thought to have
been on McCain's short list of
potential running mates. Crist has
returned to Florida.
An official list of tonight's
speakers had not been released
late Wednesday, the result of
rescheduling brought on by
Hurricane Gustav.
Also on the original lineup, Sens. Sam Brownback of Kansas and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.
C-SPAN will provide gavel-togavel coverage, broadcasting from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m.
CNN, on the air from 5-11 p.m., plans to cover the evening's events.
ABC, CBS and NBC will broadcast from 9 to 10 p.m., Fox from 8:45 to 10:15 p.m.
MSNBC will provide 20 hours of commentary, from 5 a.m. to 1 a.m. Friday.
Other scheduled speakers include: Former U.S. Sen. and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee.
U.S. Rep. Mary Fallin of Oklahoma, is scheduled to speak about the
country overcoming adversity, such as Oklahoma City did after the
federal building bombing in 1995.
SOURCES: The Associated Press, news reports
Front Section, Pages 1, 5 on 09/04/2008