Take that media! Take that Obama!

Take that media! Take that Obama! Governor Palin came out swinging last night and it was terrific.
She did what know one has really been willing to do all year: seriously question Obama's qualifications and motives. Obama's friends in the media have not explored his "experience". While they have hammered away at Palin's, little attention is paid to the fact that Obama simply voted "present" in the Illinois legislature over a hundred times. The media doesn't talk about how this well educated man (Harvard, remember?) said that the question of when life begins was "above my pay grade".
Governor Palin was the first to come out and really state the case (although Bill Clinton gave it a pretty good shot in the primaries).
More importantly, I think Governor Palin showed herself to be a bold leader. Her speech may not have caused angels to sing and the animals to stop and listen, but it did serve notice that she will be a force in this campaign and in a McCain White House.
She talked about her experience: raising a family, running a business and eventually getting into public service. What I like is that her whole life has not been geared towards getting elected. She did not pick a place to live based on the retirement plans of local officeholders. She did not join a particular church to bolster her "street cred" with a certain voting bloc. She has lived a life like so many of us: trying to raise kids, pay the bills and help out in the community.
Her daughter? That happens in even the best of American families. They are up front about it and real. They are, as a family, taking responsibility.
What we saw last night was an American story. This was the way things were meant to be: people live their lives, take care of their families and, when called to serve, they do. What has happened all too often in recent years is people who emerge from political science departments at elite universities, go to work as a political staffer or "community organizer", wait for an office to open up and run for it. For the first time in a while, we have someone on a national ticket whose life has not entirely revolved around a political career and last night showed that that just might be right for the times.