The Sarah Palin speech preview

In case there was any doubt, John McCain didn't choose Sarah Palin because she was a woman with a pretty face. He chose her for tenacity and for her ability to make a clear, succinct case on issues, which is what she will do tonight:

Gov. Sarah Palin has been working around the clock on a speech that will focus on introducing herself to voters, proving she has what it takes to handle the economy and making the case for John McCain, two McCain aides told CNN Wednesday.

The Alaska governor has spent most of the past 48 hours working in a hotel room with speechwriter Matt Scully and adviser Nicolle Wallace. On Tuesday, they worked nonstop from 11 a.m. until 1 a.m. She also did a read-through with the prompter at 10 p.m. – exactly 24 hours before the real speech, the aides said.

The Republican vice presidential candidate will continue practicing and tweaking all day, working up until the last minute before she leaves for the convention hall.

Palin has been educating Scully and Wallace on her experience and record as they have been helping her put the message into words. The governor has been “co-writing” with Scully, according to a source involved in the process.

According to a senior McCain adviser, the speech has three main goals:

First, Palin wants to leave no question about which ticket has a better hold on the economy.

Palin will emphasize her experience and understanding of the energy economy and talk about how Alaska is the “intersection of global energy markets and domestic production.” Here, she’ll try to combat questions regarding her experience.

Palin will also pit John McCain against Barack Obama, making the case for the Arizona senator on the basis of policy and character.

“After she delivers these lines, McCain’s decision to choose her will be much more obvious,” said the aide who has been working with her on the speech.

Finally, Palin will introduce herself to voters as a likable, funny and smart person.

“Every one in the staff has fallen in love with her,” insisted this aide.

Regarding expectations for the night, another senior adviser said, “The Democrats and the media have done a great job lowering expectations. We’re going to raise some expectations tonight. The elites will never give her her due, or middle America its due.”

“She is going to really going to connect with blue collar voters — illustrate that she has a common touch with an executive presence,” the aide said.

If she delivers the speech as well as she delivered her speech last Friday, she is going to knock this speech out of the park. All she has to do is maintain her composure, show the crowd that energy she has, and keep the focus on what she and John McCain will bring to Washington, DC. It won't be the phony hope and change that Obama and Biden are peddling. It'll be real change. It'll be real reform.

Thus far, the convention has been pushing this message, and if Sarah Palin's speech raises the roof, the voters will believe that they can bring a real change to Washington, DC. Furthermore, if between her speech and John McCain's speech tomorrow it excites the base, the down-ticket election, i.e. the congressional races, might not be the wipeout the media has been hyping for months. That's especially true if the GOP challengers and incumbents jump on the reform bandwagon, and mean it.

Publius II