“When the cloud of rhetoric has passed, when the roar of the crowd fades away, when the stadium lights go out, and those Styrofoam Greek columns are hauled back to some studio lot, when that happens, what exactly is our opponent’s plan?” she said, in reference to the elaborate set at Obama’s nomination acceptance speech last week.

“America needs more energy; our opponent is against producing it. Victory in Iraq is finally in sight, and he wants to forfeit. Terrorist states are seeking nuclear weapons without delay; he wants to meet them without preconditions,” she said. “Al Qaeda terrorists still plot to inflict catastrophic harm on America, and he’s worried that someone won’t read them their rights.”

Defending her record as a “chief executive” in Alaska, she warned, “The American presidency is not supposed to be a journey of personal discovery … this world of threats and dangers is not just a community and it doesn’t just need an organizer.”

She also jabbed at Obama for telling California donors during the Democratic primary that small-town voters “cling” to things like religion and guns out of bitterness.

“We prefer candidates who don’t talk about us one way in Scranton and the other way in San Francisco,” she said.

“I’m not a member of the permanent political establishment. And I’ve learned quickly, these last 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. “But … here’s a little news flash for 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.”

“I had the privilege of living most of my life in a small town,” Palin said. “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, I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities.”

She's smart and witty!

- 67GTO