ST. PAUL, MINN. — Sarah Palin, who vaulted from obscurity to controversy as the Republican candidate for vice president, cast herself Wednesday night as a reformer and a fighter, gleefully tearing into Democrat Barack Obama.
Making her prime-time TV debut, the Alaska governor mixed a homey account of domestic life in the frontier wilderness with barbed attacks that left no doubt about her relish for political combat.
"This is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform -- not even in the state Senate," she said of the Democrats' presidential nominee. "This is a man who can give an entire speech about the wars America is fighting and never use the word 'victory' except when he's talking about his own campaign."
She mocked the elaborate stage set of Obama's acceptance speech last week and the presidential-type seal his campaign used once, pressing GOP assertions that Obama's candidacy is little more than a vainglorious tilt at celebrity.
"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, what exactly is our opponent's plan?" she asked, to a roar from delegates at the Republican National Convention. "What does he actually seek to accomplish, after he's done turning back the waters and healing the planet? The answer is to make government bigger, take more of your money, give you more orders from Washington and to reduce the strength of America in a dangerous world."
Greeted by a thunderous ovation lasting nearly three minutes, Palin sought to turn recent negative publicity to her advantage, casting herself as a victim of hostile reporters and a scornful Washington establishment. "Here's a little news flash for all those reporters and commentators," she said. "I'm not going to Washington to seek their good opinion. I'm going to Washington to serve the people of this great country."
She defended her relative lack of political experience -- four years as mayor of the small town of Wasilla and less than two years as Alaska governor -- by swiping at Obama and one of his first jobs out of college. "Since our opponents in the presidential election seem to look down on that experience, let me explain to them what the job involves," Palin said of her years at City Hall. "I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a 'community organizer,' except that you have actual responsibilities."
