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Thursday, September 04, 2008
Matthew Scully, speechwriter
Non-sports post. Enter at your peril, avoid at your pleasure.
Matthew Scully was Palin’s speechwriter last night. Interesting comments in the blogs.
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There are a million blogs out there to vent on one side or the other. This particular thread is not one of them. I will monitor this thread in particular, so be forewarned. You can talk about abortion, immigration, taxes, and the war if you like, but you must be even-handed. I would like that any comments advocate both positions. I want to take pride in this thread if it is to evolve. If you can’t participate in that evolution, stand aside, and let it blossom, or die, as the case may be.
It’s easy to say why a team that won 5-4 deserved the win and the team that lost 4-5 deserved the loss, if all you do is focus on the hits for one team and the outs for the other team. It is a biased and incomplete view that really does nothing than force the other side to fill in the holes and force each side to stand firm. Right now, there are millions of boring and useless conversations happening.
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I liked that Palin was foreful. I did not like that she didn’t address her opponents by name more often.
Biden’s kid didn’t say he was going to war when he introduced his dad, but Palin went out of her way to highlight the service of her kids. Neither way is good or bad, but once one side sets the tone on this issue, I think it would have been more respectful for her to do the same. At the same time, she took great pride in her kids’ decisions, and perhaps this should have been highlighted more on the Democrat side.
Does Obama have a speechwriter? Apparently he does:
http://www.newsweek.com/id/84756
His 2004 speech was his own, but as Obama’s communications director says: “If there were 48 hours in a day, we wouldn’t need a speechwriter,” Gibbs said. “But he needs to work with someone.” The speechwriter notes that he’s more of a collaborator, maybe editor. I’d like to know how Palin interacts with her speechwriter. Is she calling the shots, or is she a puppet. She doesn’t sound like she would be a puppet.
I don’t like how she described the tax issue, but at least it’s better than the way McCain frames it, but not as good as Fred Thompson said it. At least Thompson acknowledged that the direct tax hit would be on the companies not the individuals, but also noting that anything that hits the companies will indirectly hit the individuals anyway.
I’m left with the idea that a government of Obama, Biden, McCain, and Palin would be a wonderful government. I’d put Obama at the top, if only because he’s a more natural leader. Like in most companies in this country, the true brains and brawns are not found at the top, but in the middle and in the bottom. The top dog paves the way for you, inspiring you, leading you. Palin would seem like a natural too, if only we had a few more years of exposure to her. I like her, though as is the case with any good first impressions, what’s not to like? I just hope her advisors don’t tarnish her.