Sarah Palin delivers brilliant historic acceptance speech at RNC

Palin Hits Home Run in the First Inning at the RNC

By Jean M. Heimann

(St. Paul, Minnesota) Governor Sarah Palin (R- Alaska) enthusiastically accepted the Republican nomination for the Vice President of the United States at the Republican National Convention tonight to thunderous applause. She began this historic speech by praising John McCain’s character and qualifications, referring to him as “a true profile in courage.”

Palin stated, “He's a man who wore the uniform of this country for 22 years, and refused to break faith with those troops in Iraq who have now brought victory within sight.” “And as the mother of one of those troops, that is exactly the kind of man I want as commander in chief. I'm just one of many moms who'll say an extra prayer each night for our sons and daughters going into harm's way”, Palin added.

She then introduced her family, beginning with her oldest son, Track, (who is 19 and will be deployed to Iraq on September 11) and her “strong and kind-hearted” daughters Bristol, Willow, and Piper. She shared that she and her husband, Todd, were “so blessed” in April when they welcomed their littlest one to the family – “a perfectly beautiful baby boy named Trig” (who was born with Down syndrome). To the families of special needs children, Palin promised that if she is elected, they will have both “a friend and an advocate in the White House.”

Palin gave a proud and endearing introduction of her husband, Todd: “He's a lifelong commercial fisherman ... a production operator in the oil fields of Alaska's North Slope ... a proud member of the United Steel Workers' Union ... and a world champion snow machine racer. Throw in his Yup'ik Eskimo ancestry, and it all makes for quite a package. We met in high school, and two decades and five children later he's still my guy.”

Palin delivered her speech with poise, confidence, clarity, and warmth, in a naturally appealing way, as if she were talking with friends and neighbors. When she spoke of Barack Obama, she made me laugh with her hard-hitting, direct attacks, which carried so much truth and were delivered with the perfect inflection and the expert timing of a seasoned speaker.

Sarah Palin’s speech tonight only confirmed my initial impressions of her: She’s a winner! Let’s keep praying for her and for her family – that they will continue to be blessed with the graces to persevere in the journey that they are on. It should be obvious to those watching tonight that they are the real deal – a family immersed in the culture of life.


Here are a few of my favorite quotes from the speech:

From the inside, no family ever seems typical. That's how it is with us. Our family has the same ups and downs as any other ... the same challenges and the same joys. Sometimes even the greatest joys bring challenge.

Children with special needs inspire a very, very special love.

I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a "community organizer," except that you have actual responsibilities. I might add that in small towns, we don't quite know what to make of a candidate who lavishes praise on working people when they are listening, and then talks about how bitterly they cling to their religion and guns when those people aren't listening.

..We are expected to govern with integrity, good will, clear convictions, and ... a servant's heart. I pledge to all Americans that I will carry myself in this spirit as vice president of the United States. This was the spirit that brought me to the governor's office, when I took on the old politics as usual in Juneau ... when I stood up to the special interests, the lobbyists, big oil companies, and the good-ol' boys network.

But listening to him (Obama) speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform - not even in the state senate.

"The American presidency is not supposed to be a journey of 'personal discovery.' This world of threats and dangers is not just a community, and it doesn't just need an organizer."

Starting in January, in a McCain-Palin administration, we're going to lay more pipelines ... build more nuclear plants ... create jobs with clean coal ... and move forward on solar, wind, geothermal, and other alternative sources.

We need American energy resources, brought to you by American ingenuity, and produced by American workers.

The Complete Transcript of Pallin's speech