Great speech, great delivery, great presence.
As far as I can see, she did what she needed to do. She defied expectations, she got some powerful and effective hits in on Obama. She got some good hits in on behalf of McCain, and also on her own behalf.
She spoke clearly and calmly in a voice that is soothing and reassuring and confident, without a touch of the grating bitchiness evident in the voice of someone like Hillary Clinton. Far from some air-headed, untested, unprepared beauty queen persona that the media wanted to assume her to be, she spoke in a way that seemed neither afraid nor arrogant.
As to her babe reputation, I’ll say that it goes much further than that. It’s not just that she’s beautiful with her large, sparkling eyes, gorgeous smile, perfect skin, and lustrous hair. It goes much, much deeper. It’s the personality behind the looks, and how that personality manifests itself in her features and bring them alive that makes her a very powerful force.
Sarah Palin is an extraordinary communicator on the non-verbal level. She radiates calm and poise and inspiration, all at the same time. Frequently people of power or high social status exhibit what are called “cathathetic signals”; things that indicate their awareness of their importance, signals that are also designed to make the listener aware that the listener is of less importance. Their ego manifests itself in postures, expression, and tone meant to reduce the ego of others. Think of the pompous arrogance of Joe Biden. Or even Hillary Clinton. They think they are better than you, and they can’t help but communicate it.
Sarah Palin communicates confidence and ease with power, without exhibiting any of these signals whatsoever. NONE. What’s interesting is that Obama tries extremely hard to accomplish this same goal, it’s part of what makes him an uplifting and inspiring figure. But with Obama it is not genuine; it’s very carefully managed and controlled and there are times when he loses his grip on it and a less flattering side of himself is revealed.
Personally, I don’t care much for McCain. And the campaign is still very young. But if tonight was any indication I expect some amazing things from Sarah Palin.
