The RNC: A night of red meat and hard-edged speeches

It was a night of red meat and hard-edged speeches for Republicans.

Several former presidential candidates touted GOP nominee John McCain. Barack Obama came in for more than a few partisan barbs. And Washington suffered a black eye or two as speaker after speaker at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday portrayed the nation’s capital as broken and dysfunctional.

But in the end the night belonged to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, McCain’s No. 2 choice, who made her debut as McCain’s Veep candidate. Judging her reception by the screaming crowd at the Xcel Center in St. Paul, she killed.

It was clear from the minute Palin approached the podium that she had achieved rock star status, at least among the faithful at the Republican National Convention. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani had just wrapped up a laughter- and cheer-punctuated speech. Palin walked out onto the stage and the crowd in St. Paul stood to give the 44-year-old, mother of five a roaring, prolonged ovation that lasted several minutes.

Palin has been the subject of intense media coverage and scrutiny since McCain tapped her last week as his No. 2. Everything from her daughter’s pregnancy out of wedlock to the debate over whether she supported the Bridge to Nowhere before she opposed it has made its way into stories.

It was clear the coverage had stirred some anger, which came out in the form of denunciations of the media. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee thanked "the elite media" for unifying the Republican party and "all of America" with reporting over the past few days that he called "tackier than a costume change at a Madonna concert."

For her part, Palin appeared undeterred and she dove right into the task at hand, introducing her smiling family to the nation and talking about where she grew up. And, in a glimpse of things to come on the campaign trail, the self-described "hockey mom" also didn’t hesitate to fire a few shots at Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama and his No 2 — Joe Biden.

"I guess being a mayor of a small town is like being a community organizer, except you have actual responsibilities," Palin said to the delight of the crowd, alluding to Obama’s first job out of college.

Warming to the fight, Palin sprinkled other red-meat lines about Obama throughout her 38-minute speech.

"This is a man who authored two major memoirs but not a single major law," Palin quipped. And this: "When the stadium lights go out … what exactly is our opponent’s plan, what does he actually seek to accomplish after he is done turning back the waters and healing the planet?"

Vice presidential nominees historically are called on to act as a campaign’s attack dog and Palin appeared to slip on the mantle with ease, although her barbs were somewhat softened by her down-home, regular-mom delivery.

Palin half-joked about a toughness that others repeatedly mentioned as a quality of hers in speeches delivered earlier Wednesday night.

"You know what the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull is? (Pause) Lipstick," she said with a big smile. The crowd roared in approval.

As well delivered as her speech was, Palin was short on policy details. She glanced over major issues, saying that McCain-Palin administration would drill more oil wells, build more nuclear plants and invest in renewable energy.

Nor did her speech dwell on the critics who have questioned her bona fides as a reformer. Or those who have questioned her experience.

Palin’s speech, in fact, appeared to be a continuation of a theme Wednesday night — and that was to soften up Obama as the two presidential campaigns head into the last two months of a historic presidential election.

Giuliani, Huckabee and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney all preceded Palin on Wednesday.

Each man did his part to bolster McCain. They spoke of him possessing "stubborn integrity," of putting in decades of experience. At the same time they attempted to frame the presidential race in stark terms.

Giuliani called the contest a situation of "substance over style."

Giuliani delivered one of Wednesday’s money lines after running through several examples of what he considered Obama’s tendency to change his mind, when he said "If I were Joe Biden, I’d want to get that VP thing in writing."

The line slayed.

Huckabee, employing his colloquial, easy-going style, meanwhile, attempted to neutralize the issue of race in the presidential contest. Obama is the first non-white in American history to win the presidential nomination of a major political party. A Southern Baptist preacher, Huckabee said that he grew up seeing the "shameful evil of racism" and said he immensely respected Sen. Barack Obama for his achievement.

But, Huckabee said, "the presidency is not a symbolic job."

Romney started the trend Wednesday. He served up a steaming, hot stemwinder of a speech that for good measure had as its entree red meat for the GOP party faithful.

The former Massachusetts governor and GOP presidential candidate, once considered a moderate Republican, went after liberals time and time again and peppered his talk with phrases like "People in our party prefer straight talk to politically correct talk" and "There’s never been a day when I’ve not been proud to be an American."

The crowd at the Xcel Center in St. Paul roared while some pundits were left speechless. "Who was this guy?," New York Times columnist David Brooks asked moments after the speech, posing the question to PBS anchor Jim Lehrer. "I remember this guy. He used to be moderate. That was as right wing a speech as we’ve heard" in a long time.

Syndicated columnist Mark Shields, Brooks’ partner in analyzing speeches Wednesday night, speculated that the speech was part of Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign strategy. That is, if McCain loses the election, he said.