Ustream from HotAir:

Romney’s Speech – It wasn’t as effective as Fred Thompson’s last night.

Quote of the night so far is from Mike Huckabee – “Palin got more votes as Mayor than Joe Biden got as Presidential Candidate.”

The crowd seemed very responsive to Mike Huckabee’s speech.

Everytime that Palin’s name is mentioned the audience goes crazy. She gets the loudest pops.

Hawaiin Governor Linda Lingle is on the stage now. Governor Lingle is doing a good job introducing us to Sarah Palin.

Rudy Giuliani, former Mayor of New York City is speaking now. He says that this election is the most important. He says that this election represents a turning path. He says that we the people get to decide which way, not the media, celebrities, but the people.

Giuliani is likening this election process to a job application process. We have to make this decision, and we have to make it right. He says there is one man who has dedicated his life to the US, tested, by crisis. John McCain is a true American Hero.

Giuliani is talking about McCain experience as a POW. He says that America comes first.

“He has proved his commitment with his blood”

Giuliani takes jabs at Obama’s experience as a community organizer. The crowd chants “Zerobama” He says that Obama couldn’t vote yes or no, “it was too tough. He voted present.” The crowd boos. Rudy said he didn’t know he could vote present in NYC. He says that Sarah Palin didn’t get it as governor. He says it’s not good enough to be present, you have to make a decision. The crowd roars.

Giuliani is now talking about Obama in US Senate as a celebrity senator, with no leadership or position. He says he’s never run a city, state, business, or military unit. Obama has never lead people in crisis. They are chanting “Zerobama” again.

“Not a personal attack, but a personal fact. Barack Obama hasn’t lead anything. Zero, Nada”

Crowd is chanting Zerobama again!

“Tough times require tough leadership. This is no time for on the job training.”

“John McCain is ready to be Commander in Chief. We will be safe in his hands. Our children, and our country. No Doubt!”

The crowd is roaring again.

“Change is not a destination, just as hope isn’t a strategy.”

Giuliani says that McCain will bring jobs and prosperity. He will reduce taxes, reduce government, expand free trade, and he will lead us to energy independence. And he’ll do it with an all-of-the-above approach, nuclear power and offshore drilling.”

“Drill Baby Drill!”

“We need John McCain to save the economy and make sure it grows. John McCain will keep us on offense against terrorism at home, and abroad.”

Crowd is on its feet.

Giuliani says that the Democrats never said Islamic Terrorism. He asks who they are insulting? Terrorist.

He says that they rarely mentioned the attacks of Sept 11. 2001. He says that the Democrats are in the state of denial. He says that John McCain can face the enemy. He can win, and bring victory for this country.

Giuliani points out that McCain supported the troop surge in Iraq. He says that if Democrats gave up in Iraq, they gave up on America. The crowd boos when Giuliani said the Democrats said the war was lost. He asks who won then, Al Qaida, Bin Laden? The crowd boos. He says that John McCain got it right, and Barack Obama got it wrong. He says that John McCain was most associated with the surge and it was unpopular. He says that other politicians would change their position out of self interest. He says that Obama promised to take public financing, until he broke his promise. He says that Obama was against wiretapping before he voted for it. He says if he were Joe Biden he would want to get that VP thing in writing. The crowd roars again.

Giuliani said that John McCain would rather lose an election then a war. He talks about Russia/Georgia conflict. He said that John McCain proclaimed that we are all Georgians. He contrasts that to Obama, who said that both sides were equally responsible, then he changed his position and suggested that the United Nations security council could find a solution.

The crowd chants “Zero!”

Giuliani then said that Obama changed his opinion three days later to match John McCain’s. Giuliani said that next time just call John McCain. McCain, knows something about foreign policy. He says that Mccain will open up the party to new people. Sarah Palin is a choice for the future. He says that John McCain is a look forward. He says that Sarah Palin is the new generation. She is the best and most popular. He says that she has more experience then the entire Democratic combined. She’s been a mayor. He says he is sorry that Sarah Palin’s hometown isn’t cosmopolitian enough. He says, maybe they cling to religion there. He says the first day Palin became Mayor she had more experience then Obama and Biden combined. He says that Alaska can be proud for having one of the best governors with 80% approval rating.

He says as a former US Attorney he is impressed how she took on corruption. She has no fear and stood up for what is right. She is shaking up Alaska that hasn’t happened in forever. And with John McCain and Sarah can you imagine how they are going to shake up Washington?

“Look Out!”

“One final point. How dare they question whether if Sarah Palin spends enough time with her children and be vice president. How dare the do that. When did the ever ask a man that question? When?”

He says that party is best when they are expanding freedom, make sure people have freedom here and abroad, giving workers the right to work. Parents should choose where their children should go to school. And he says they are the party who believes in America’s success. He quotes Reagan in saying that it’s a shining city on the hill, a beacon. He says we get a chance to vote for a great president and woman who proves that she can governor.

“Let’s shake up Washington and move this country forward”

VERY GOOD SPEECH!

Sarah Palin has taken the stage. She’s getting a very long ovation from the crowd. There is a sign that says “Palin Power.” The press around the podium is Micheal Phelps large.

Sarah keeps saying thank you so much. The crowd is still cheering and chanting Palin. On the screen behind her is the Liberty Bell.

“Mr Chairman, delegates. I will be honored to accept our nomination as vice president to the United States”

Tonight is the night. Sarah Palin is going to make her national primetime debut at the Rebuplican National Convention. From what I’e heard so far, Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin’s story is amazing. She’s not a lifelong politician. Shen went from being a PTA member at the Wasilla, Alaska schools to fisher with her husband to Mayor of Wasilla then governor of Alaska. Now she is the Vice Presidential nominee for the Republican party.

ST. PAUL (Reuters) – Sarah Palin has dominated the Republican convention for days without saying a word, but on Wednesday she takes the spotlight with a prime-time speech that will introduce her to American voters and try to answer questions about her experience and life story.

Since John McCain made the virtually unknown Palin his choice for vice president, the Alaska governor has been the center of a media storm fueled by disclosures about her unmarried teenage daughter’s pregnancy, a probe into her role in an Alaskan official’s firing and questions about her political record.

Palin’s anti-abortion and pro-gun history have excited conservatives and party activists but the appearance on Wednesday will be the first chance for voters nationwide to judge her for themselves.

More…

(AP) Palin’s experience – she has been mayor of tiny Wasilla, Alaska, and has served as the state’s governor for less than two years – has been questioned since McCain chose her last week. The process that led to her selection has been criticized as hasty because McCain had met her just once before he offered her the job.

Palin also is the subject of an ethics investigation involving the firing of the state’s public safety commissioner after he wouldn’t dismiss her former brother-in-law, a state trooper. Her efforts as mayor to gain millions of dollars in federal funding through the so-called “earmark” process appeared to be at odds with the McCain message of fiscal reform.

Her personal life became a topic of discussion after Palin revealed that her daughter was pregnant. Yet her candidacy has excited Republicans at the convention and across the country, in part because she has earned a reputation for taking on entrenched interests in Alaska and is staunchly pro-gun and anti-abortion.

“Give her a chance to make her first speech, give her a chance to do her first interview,” said former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, the convention’s keynote speaker.

“Of course it’s going to be high stakes,” Giuliani said in an interview Wednesday with “Good Morning America” on ABC. “The media is ready to pounce on any mistake. … She looks to me like she’s got tremendous confidence, got tremendous ability as a speaker.”

The RNCC released excerpts from Sarah Palin’s speech:

“I had the privilege of living most of my life in a small town. I was just your average hockey mom, and signed up for the PTA because I wanted to make my kids’ public education better. When I ran for city council, I didn’t need focus groups and voter profiles because I knew those voters, and knew their families, too. Before I became governor of the great state of Alaska, I was mayor of my hometown. And since our opponents in this presidential election seem to look down on that experience, let me explain to them what the job involves. I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a ‘community organizer,’ except that you have actual responsibilities. …

“I’m not a member of the permanent political establishment. 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. But here’s a little news flash for all those reporters and commentators: I’m not going to Washington to seek their good opinion – I’m going to Washington to serve the people of this country. …

“Our opponents say, again and again, that drilling will not solve all of America’s energy problems – as if we all didn’t know that already. But the fact that drilling won’t solve every problem is no excuse to do nothing at all. Starting in January, in a McCain-Palin administration, we’re going to lay more pipelines…build more nuclear plants…create jobs with clean coal…and move forward on solar, wind, geothermal, and other alternative sources. We need American energy resources, brought to you by American ingenuity, and produced by American workers. …

“Here’s how I look at the choice Americans face in this election. In politics, there are some candidates who use change to promote their careers. And then there are those, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change.”

My favorite excerpt is the third paragraph. Presidential Candidates have been saying, “We are going to be energy independent in 10 years” cliche for the past 30 years. It’s time for someone to say exactly what our nation needs to do in order to become energy independent. 

John McCain was right – this is exactly who we need.

Gov. Sarah Palin will be a Grandma!

Earlier today Alaskian Governor and Republican Vice Presidential Candidate, Sarah Palin announced that her 17-year-old Daughter Bristol Palin is 5 months pregnant. The news of the pregnancy comes after several smear attempts by leftist bloggers who tried to prove that Sarah Palin’s youngest son was actually her grand-son. The leftist bloggers used outdated photos and unconfirmed accounts that seemed to show Sarah Palin not pregnant in the months before Trig was born.

With the news that Bristol Palin is indeed pregnant it puts to rest this ridiculous smear.

ST. PAUL (Reuters) – The 17-year-old daughter of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is pregnant, Palin said on Monday in an announcement intended to knock down rumors by liberal bloggers that Palin faked her own pregnancy to cover up for her child.

Bristol Palin, one of Alaska Gov. Palin’s five children with her husband, Todd, is about five months pregnant and is going to keep the child and marry the father, the Palins said in a statement released by the campaign of Republican presidential candidate John McCain.

Bristol Palin made the decision on her own to keep the baby, McCain aides said.

“We have been blessed with five wonderful children who we love with all our heart and mean everything to us,” the Palins’ statement said.

“Our beautiful daughter Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned. As Bristol faces the responsibilities of adulthood, she knows she has our unconditional love and support,” the Palins said.

The Palins asked the news media to respect the young couple’s privacy.

“Bristol and the young man she will marry are going to realize very quickly the difficulties of raising a child, which is why they will have the love and support of our entire family. We ask the media, respect our daughter and Levi’s privacy as has always been the tradition of children of candidates,” the statement concluded.

MCCAIN KNEW

Senior McCain campaign officials said McCain knew of the daughter’s pregnancy when he selected Palin last week as his vice presidential running mate, deciding that it did not disqualify the 44-year-old governor in any way.

She was for the “Bridge to nowhere”

In Sarah Palin’s introduction speech she said that she told congress “Thanks, but not thanks for that ‘Bridge to nowhere.” USAToday has uncovered quotes from 2006 when Sarah Palin was still Mayor of Wasilla, Alaska.

“We need to come to the defense of Southeast Alaska when proposals are on the table like the bridge, and not allow the spinmeisters to turn this project or any other into something that’s so negative,” Palin said in August 2006, according to the Ketchikan Daily News.

The Anchorage Daily News quoted her in October 2006 as saying she would continue state funding for the bridge. “The window is now, while our congressional delegation is in a strong position to assist,” she said.

Asked why she supported the bridge, Palin’s communications director Bill McAlister said, “It was never at the top of her priority list, and in fact the project isn’t necessarily dead … there’s still the potential for improved ferry service or even a bridge of a less costly design.”

She changed her mind, he said, when “she saw that Alaska was being perceived as taking from the country and not giving, and that impression bothered her and she wants to change it. … I think that Sarah Palin is someone who has the courage to reevaluate situations as they developed.”

Wasilla, which in 2007 had 9,780 residents, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, hired a lobbyist in 2000, public records show, paying him about $36,000 per year. In 2001, Palin was quoted in a local newspaper crediting Silver with helping secure federal funding for Wasilla.

Yes, Sarah Palin was for the Bridge before she was against it. However, in the end she made the correct decision. I think it’s very important for community and government leaders to constantly re-evaluate their positions. Sarah Palin was able to step back from her personal beliefs and see the country-wide impact of the legislation that would have built that bridge. She sided with the position that pork barrel projects should be handled by the states – not the federal government.

She’s Dan Quayle!

This attack has to be the most idiotic. Mort Kondrake, executive editor of “Roll Call” likens Sarah Palin’s “inexperience” to that of Vice Presidential Dan Quayle.

Look, I think that this selection was a testament on John McCain’s part to his belief and his own longevity. You know, he plans to fill out his term.

This woman is utterly unqualified to be president of the United States. She is the Dan Quayle of—she’s worse than Dan Quayle. Dan Quayle at least had served as a senator and was, you know, and was conversant with national issues.

Barack Obama has been running for president for years and years now, and has been thinking about national issues. He has an agenda and all of that.

Look, she has positives, political positives. She seems like a very nice woman, a very strong woman. And, you know, she is a reformer, and she is doing great work in Alaska for two years.

But, you know, she is going to be a heartbeat away from the presidency. John McCain is a 72-year-old man who has had two bouts with melanoma. Her chances of being president are fairly significant. You don’t appoint somebody with so little experience to that kind of job. It’s irresponsible, it seems to me.

Sure, he may have had troubles spelling. In the age of spell check I’m sure everyone spelling abilities have dwindled. Even after serving four years as Vice President of the United States, the democrats still harped on Quayle’s inexperience. At the time of being electing VP in 1988 Dan Quayle had the same amount of experience in Washington as Obama has today.

Even so, I thought the whole point of the Obama campaign was to “change” the “hope” of Washington by electing an “outsider.” Why all the sudden did Obama become of Washington? Sarah Palin is the only person for both parties who has had an ounce of executive experience. In the time span of 16 years she has gone from city council member, to mayor, to governor. She knows the people.

Palin was vetted!

Another one of the major points of argument against the selection of Sarah Palin as Vice President has been the assumption that the McCain team didn’t properly vet the governor. It has since come out that this assumption is not true. McCain’s team did vet her.

ST. PAUL, MINN. (AP) – Sarah Palin’s path to the Republican ticket started with her name on a list _ and a team of some 25 people poring through public records searching for trouble spots without her knowledge. Then came the 70-question survey and a nearly three-hour interview.

The review officially ended Thursday, when John McCain asked the Alaska governor to be his running mate.

In the days since, Republicans and Democrats have privately questioned whether the Arizona senator chose the first-term governor without fully looking into her background. McCain’s campaign has vehemently defended the review.

Arthur B. Culvahouse Jr., the lawyer who conducted the review, told The Associated Press in an interview Monday that Palin underwent a “full and complete” examination before McCain chose her. Asked whether everything that came up as a possible red flag during the review already has been made public, Culvahouse said: “I think so. Yeah, I think so. Correct.”