The Palin Teleprompter Myth

I can second what Danny Glover writes here:

Word on the cable networks this morning is that Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin is a superstar because she delivered her rousing speech at the convention here last night despite a broken teleprompter.

MSNBC reported that tidbit. So did Fox News, with an aide to GOP presidential candidate John McCain talking about the teleprompter woes. Now the blogs are running with the story.

Don’t believe the myth. I watched the speech from the area to the left and behind the stage in the Xcel Center and had a perfect view of the teleprompter. It worked fine. I have the footage to prove it.

Because of the positioning of the PJTV booth, I had a clear view of the teleprompter as well, and it never conked out. On the other hand, I also noticed that Palin’s hilarious “What’s the difference between a pit bull and a hockey mom” line–and she may have been the only person on the planet to successfully sell such a joke–was an improv; it wasn’t on the teleprompter.

(H/T: IP)

Update: Ed Morrissey (who’s my kind of community organizer!) deflates the Palin speechwriter meme–with a little help from Barack Obama and Joe Biden.