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Palin mocks Obama, readies Republicans for McCain
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-09-04 22:39

"Listening to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform -- not even in the (Illinois) state senate ... What does he actually seek to accomplish, after he's done turning back the waters and healing the planet?" she asked.

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She resurrected Obama's comment from his primary battle with Democrat Hillary Clinton that people in small towns are bitter and cling to guns and religion.

"Palin power"

"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," she said.

The crowd loved it, roaring with approval and waving signs that said "Palin Power." They especially responded when Palin dismissed the "Washington elite" -- pundits and commentators she said had questioned whether she should be on the ticket.

Experts said Palin, only the second woman to be a vice presidential nominee of a major political party, was a plus for the Republican ticket, especially in attracting the conservative base that has sometimes been at odds with McCain.

They say she could be a huge advantage in helping Republicans hold Western states like Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico that are flirting with voting for Obama this year.

"She is immediately going to be a huge attraction," said Merle Black, a political science professor at Emory University in Atlanta. "She will draw huge crowds wherever she goes. She really has excited the base of the Republican Party in a way that probably nobody has done since Ronald Reagan."

Her Democratic vice presidential counterpart, Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, took what was likely to be his party's line -- praise her speaking but not her message.

"I was impressed by that," Biden said of the speech on ABC's "Good Morning America." "I also was impressed with what I didn't hear. I didn't hear a word mentioned about the middle class or health care or how people are going to fill up their tanks. I didn't hear a single word about how you're going to get a kid through college. So I was impressed by the speech but also about what I didn't hear spoken."