After days of misogynist and elitist attacks by her opponents, Sarah Palin delivered a speech that was substantial and given with poise, humour and rhetorical flourish. Hurricane Palin swept through the Republican Convention in a way that few imagined.
She successfully turned the tables on her critics by standing up for small town America and stuck the boot into the Obama Campaign for inverted snobbery. This was a speech that reached out to Reagan Democrats. Hard working, small 'c' Conservative, aspirational voters, concerned about the Washington elite.
Mrs Palin showed that she was not afraid to take on her enemies and that she is no patsy. She also illustrated a deep attachment to Conservative values but showed that she would challenge the Republican establishment when wrong. The Vice Presidential Candidate also demonstrated a deep understanding of the threats of a resurgent Russia by her comments about the Russian activities in Georgia and elswehere. Even a former Clinton operative, Howard Wilson, interviewed after the speech, stated that her performance was 'priceless'.
This was not just a speech to reignite John McCain's campaign - which it clearly did, this was a speech of a future Presidential Candidate. President Palin in 2012.
