Seeing Sarah Palin

I often feel like the last independent voter in America and I don't have to venture outside my immediate family to feel pressure from both sides. My mother and son are staunch Republicans backing McCain-Palin, while my oldest brother lives in Nancy Pelosi's liberal San Francisco district and backs Obama-Biden.

Last weekend I had an opportunity to see one of the candidates up close. My mom and my son received tickets to a Sarah Palin rally and these were VIP passes to be in the front section of the tennis stadium where she was speaking. It was more like a political mosh pit, with people and cell phone cameras jostling for the best view. The kids allowed my 75-year-old mom to move to the front where she got Palin's autograph!

Observations:

-As a talent performance coach, I have to give Palin an A+ for her speech. When someone tried to heckle her, she responded with a smooth and witty adlib: "My son is in Irag fighting for the freedom that guy is exercising right now!" It was hard to believe she was the same person who stammered in response to interview questions from Katie Couric.

-She is knock dead gorgeous in person. TV doesn't do her justice.

-I can see why the rightwingers are so pissed off at the media. Of the entire speech, the only line that made the news was Palin's attack on Obama's past association with a Chicago radical. The coverage didn't remotely resemble the event that I experienced, the enthusiastic overflow Republican crowd in a state that is viewed by the media as already in the Obama victory column. What happened to the idea that the media is supposed to be your front row seat for what actually happens? On CNN, they simply referred to Palin's comments accusing Obama of associating with "terrorists" and said that Obama was demanding an apology while talking about "real issues" like health care. Well, Palin talked about plenty of issues, but I guess CNN didn't think any of it was newsworthy.

Don't get me wrong, I still haven't made up my mind because I think either ticket would be better than the current administration, and both tickets bring unique qualities to the table. However, I am disappointed in the obvious lack of impartiality in the coverage and continuing damage done to the image of professional journalism in the US.

-I can definitely see why Palin is compared to Ronald Reagan in a dress. She has that quality that is hard to define, but you know it when you see it. The people who are trying to pass her off as a Klondike Barbie doll are seriously underestimating her communication skills in front of a crowd. Although I will agree that she needs to bring more of that charisma and confidence to one-on-one interviews.