Palin Unleashes Small-Town Power

After the initial shock of Sen. John McCain's (R., Ariz.) choice for running mate wore off last week, the media ripped into Gov. Sarah Palin's (R., Alaska) record. Everything, including the vice presidential nominee's small-town roots and 17-year-old daughter's pregnancy, received scrutiny.

As a result, Palin took center stage at the Republican National Convention Wednesday night under tremendous pressure, but she responded fearlessly. She spoke proudly of her small-town upbringing, addressed her critics and took aim at her Democratic opponents.

Palin entered politics with the intention of improving her children's public-school education. She joined the PTA and got to know personally the voters in her eventual race for mayor. In her speech at the RNC, Palin mentioned another small-town VP who went on to become president:

"A writer observed: 'We grow good people in our small towns, with honesty, sincerity and dignity.' I know just the kind of people that writer had in mind when he praised Harry Truman. I grew up with those people. They are the ones who do some of the hardest work in America ... who grow our food, run our factories and fight our wars."

Palin hasn't served as a senator as did Harry Truman. She has served two terms as the mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, and nearly two years as governor of the state.

Palin worked to deflect attacks on her experience. She echoed former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who delivered his address directly before hers, in talking about how she has served as an executive as both mayor and governor. She argued she had more executive experience than either Sen. Barack Obama (D., Ill.) or Sen. Joe Biden (D., Del.). And she took a direct crack at Obama's experience, by saying:

"I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a 'community organizer,' except that you have actual responsibilities. I might add that in small towns, we don't quite know what to make of a candidate who lavishes praise on working people when they are listening and then talks about how bitterly they cling to their religion and guns when those people aren't listening."

Her attacks reflect the Republican campaign strategy of painting Democrats as elitists and out of touch with the nation's common people.

Palin also poked fun at the media pundits in Washington. "And I've learned quickly, these past few days, that if you're not a member in good standing of the Washington elite, then some in the media consider a candidate unqualified for that reason alone," she said.