Hit ‘em where it hurts
By B.J. Reyes
Nothing riles up the party faithful like a good jab (friendly or not) at the opposition.
And no one who took the GOP stage on on Wednesday night missed an opportunity.
Mitt Romney, a one-time rival of Sen. John McCain for the GOP nomination, took a stab at the Democrats’ energy policy, saying that if the party wanted to find another way to reduce consumption, “Let’s keep Al Gore’s private jet on the ground.”
Next up was former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, another presidential candidate earlier in the year, who first poked fun at himself, calling McCain his second choice for the nomination.
First in his sights was the media, for their coverage of vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s background, which he called “tackier than a costume change at a Madonna concert.” He got an even louder ovation when he made a reference to “Barack Obama’s excellent adventure to Europe.” (For those who didn’t quite get the reference, click here.)
Even Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle got in her shot, drawing one of her biggest ovations with a line about Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden of Delaware: “The other side has made a point that Alaska is a small state, but te last time I checked, it has the same number of electoral votes as Delaware.”
Take your pick from the punches thrown by another one-time McCain rival, former New York Mayore Rudy Giuliani. Although he was supposed to deliver the convention’s keynote speech on Tuesday, he took advantage of his speaking slot just ahead of Palin last night.
“She’s already one of the most successful governors in America – and the most popular. And she already has more executive experience than the entire Democratic ticket combined,” Giuliani said. “How dare they question whether Palin will have enough time to spend with her children while vice president? When do they ever ask a man that question?”
But the biggest haymaker was landed by Palin herself, with a line that probably received the second loudest ovation of the entire evening (the loudest round of applause coming at 10:10 p.m. CDT, when McCain stepped out from behind the curtain to join his newly minted running mate and her family).
Said Palin: “Here’s how I look at the choice Americans face in this election: In politics, there are some candidates who use change to promote their careers, and then there are those, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change.”
Here’s a look at some of the sights and sounds on the convention floor:
