Does that number include C-span viewers (like me)?

I would only switch to one of teh networks when singing would break out as an interlude, but would go back to C-span as I didnt want commentators talking over the speaches once the speeches got under way.

Yeah. I don't know a single Democrat that didn't watch that speech.

You're welcome, Republicans ;)

BTW, considering that most Democrats and all Republicans watched, and that there was nothing else on TV. That number should have been much, much higher.

That being said. Not bad, Repubs. See you in November.

Unfortunately, not even having a female Republican in the White House is going to make me switch! Good try, McCain!

Unfortunately, not even by selecting a female as a running mate can make me switch over! Nice try, McCain!

It dosen't matter how many people watched this woman speak last night at the Republican convention the republicans are still going to LOSE big time in November to obama, and thats a fact of life, that can't be denied!! None of Hillarys woman are going to switch side's just cause John Mccain picked a woman as his running mate for vice president, Not Going Happen!!!

I'm with Happy Guy......The thing that has all you Democrats in a frenzy over Sarah is that YOU don't have ANYONE like her.....and you can't stand it. McCain has a #2 that has more experience than the Dems #1. Ouch!

C-Span isn't included...
Nielsen only counts Ad supported networks...

All right then, the GOP now has a woman who has spent very little time in office, had an affair while married (enough about integrity) and tried to have Alaska seceed from the rest of the country within the past 6 months. WHAT?
She said what the speach writers wrote and told her to say since they nixed her own speach and trashed it.
TRUST! I don't think so. McCain lied about his life while in captivity according to his captors.
Ah yes, another 4 years of the Bush failures, debt up to our highest mountains, business failures, foreclosures, need I go on?
Not a chance!

If you subtract TVONE and BET that showed Obama and not Palin, Palin kicked Obamas ass.

At least someone wrote Palin's speech ... not copied it from someone else.... can you say BIDEN?

I like the way you "trust" the words of a communist nation over our men and women in uniform .. you are obviously one of the "Blame America First" crowd. What is it like to wake up every morning and be so miserable, oh wait, you're a democrat ... no need to answer ... if I was a dem I would be miserable too! :)

Want to know about Sarah Palin? From someone who knows her (not me).

ABOUT SARAH PALIN

I am a resident of Wasilla, Alaska. I have known Sarah since 1992. Everyone here knows Sarah, so it is nothing special to say we are on a first-name basis. Our children have attended the same schools. Her father was my child's favorite substitute teacher. I also am on a first name basis with her parents and mother-in-law. I
attended more City Council meetings during her
administration than about 99% of the residents of the city.

She is enormously popular; in every way she's like the most popular girl in middle school. Even men who think she is a poor choice and won't vote for her can't quit smiling when talking about her because she is a "babe".

It is astonishing and almost scary how well she can keep a secret. She kept her most recent pregnancy a secret from her children and parents for seven months.

She is "pro-life". She recently gave birth to a Down's syndrome baby. There is no cover-up involved, here;Trig is her baby.

She is energetic and hardworking. She regularly worked out at the gym.

She is savvy. She doesn't take positions; she just"puts things out there" and if they prove to be popular, then she takes credit.

Her husband works a union job on the North Slope for BP and is a champion snowmobile racer. Todd Palin's kind of job is highly sought-after because of the schedule and high pay. He arranges his work schedule so he can
fish for salmon in Bristol Bay for a month or so in summer, but by no stretch of the imagination is fishing their major source of income. Nor has her life-style ever been anything like that of native Alaskans.

Sarah and her whole family are avid hunters.

She's smart.

Her experience is as mayor of a city with a population of about 5,000 (at the time), and less than 2 years as governor of a state with about 670,000 residents.

During her mayoral administration most of the actual work of running this small city was turned over to an administrator. She had been pushed to hire this administrator by party power-brokers after she had gotten herself into some trouble over precipitous firings which had given rise to a recall campaign.

Sarah campaigned in Wasilla as a "fiscal conservative".During her 6 years as Mayor, she increased general government expenditures by over 33%. During those same 6 years the amount of taxes collected by the City increased by 38%. This was during a period of low inflation (1996-2002). She reduced progressive property
taxes and increased a regressive sales tax which taxed even food. The tax cuts that she promoted benefited large corporate property owners way more than they benefited residents.

The huge increases in tax revenues during her mayoral administration weren't enough to fund everything on her wish list though, borrowed money was needed, too. She inherited a city with zero debt, but left it with indebtedness of over $22 million. What did Mayor Palin encourage the voters to borrow money for? Was it the infrastructure that she said she supported? The sewage treatment plant that the city lacked? or a new library? No. $1m for a park. $15m-plus for construction of a multi-use sports complex which she rushed through to build on a piece of property that the City didn't even
have clear title to, that was still in litigation 7 yrs later--to the delight of the lawyers involved! The sports complex itself is a nice addition to the community but a huge money pit, not the profit-generator she claimed it would be. She also supported bonds for $5.5m for road projects that could have been done in 5-7 yrs without any borrowing.

While Mayor, City Hall was extensively remodeled and her office redecorated more than once.

These are small numbers, but Wasilla is a very small city.

As an oil producer, the high price of oil has created a budget surplus in Alaska. Rather than invest this surplus in technology that will make us energy independent and increase efficiency, as Governor she proposed distribution of this surplus to every individual in the state.

In this time of record state revenues and budget
surpluses, she recommended that the state borrow/bond for road projects, even while she proposed distribution of surplus state revenues: spend today's surplus,borrow for needs.

She's not very tolerant of divergent opinions or open to outside ideas or compromise. As Mayor, she fought ideas that weren't generated by her or her staff. Ideas weren't evaluated on their merits, but on the basis of who proposed them.

While Sarah was Mayor of Wasilla she tried to fire our highly respected City Librarian because the Librarian refused to consider removing from the library some books that Sarah wanted removed. City residents rallied to the defense of the City Librarian and against Palin's attempt at out-and-out censorship, so Palin
backed down and withdrew her termination letter. People who fought her attempt to oust the Librarian are on her enemies list to this day.

Sarah complained about the "old boy's club" when she first ran for Mayor, so what did she bring Wasilla? A new set of "old boys". Palin fired most of the experienced staff she inherited. At the City and as Governor she hired or elevated new, inexperienced,obscure people, creating a staff totally dependent on her for their jobs and eternally grateful and fiercely
loyal--loyal to the point of abusing their power to further her personal agenda, as she has acknowledged happened in the case of pressuring the State's top cop(see below).

As Mayor, Sarah fired Wasilla's Police Chief because he "intimidated" her, she told the press. As Governor, her recent firing of Alaska's top cop has the ring of familiarity about it. He served at her pleasure and she
had every legal right to fire him, but it's pretty clear that an important factor in her decision to fire him was because he wouldn't fire her sister's ex-husband, a State Trooper. Under investigation for abuse of power, she has had to admit that more than 2 dozen
contacts were made between her staff and family to the person that she later fired, pressuring him to fire her ex-brother-in- law. She tried to replace the man she fired with a man who she knew had been reprimanded for sexual harassment; when this caused a public furor, she withdrew her support.

She has bitten the hand of every person who extended theirs to her in help. The City Council person who personally escorted her around town introducing her to voters when she first ran for Wasilla City Council became one of her first targets when she was later elected Mayor. She abruptly fired her loyal City Administrator; even people who didn't like the guy were stunned by this ruthlessness.

Fear of retribution has kept all of these people from saying anything publicly about her.

When then-Governor Murkowski was handing out political plums, Sarah got the best, Chair of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission: one of the few jobs not in Juneau and one of the best paid. She had no background
in oil & gas issues. Within months of scoring this great job which paid $122,400/yr, she was complaining in the press about the high salary. I was told that she
hated that job: the commute, the structured hours, the work. Sarah became aware that a member of this Commission (who was also the State Chair of the Republican Party) engaged in unethical behavior on the job. In a gutsy move which some undoubtedly cautioned
her could be political suicide, Sarah solved all her problems in one fell swoop: got out of the job she hated and garnered gobs of media attention as the patron saint of ethics and as a gutsy fighter against the "old boys' club" when she dramatically quit, exposing this man's ethics violations (for which he was fined).

As Mayor, she had her hand stuck out as far as anyone for pork from Senator Ted Stevens. Lately, she has castigated his pork-barrel politics and publicly humiliated him. She only opposed the "bridge to nowhere" after it became clear that it would be unwise not to.

As Governor, she gave the Legislature no direction and budget guidelines, then made a big grandstand display of line-item vetoing projects, calling them pork. Public outcry and further legislative action restored most of these projects--which had been vetoed simply
because she was not aware of their importance-- but with the unobservant she had gained a reputation as "anti-pork".

She is solidly Republican: no political maverick. The State party leaders hate her because she has bit them in the back and humiliated them. Other members of the
party object to her self-description as a fiscal
conservative.

Around Wasilla there are people who went to high school with Sarah. They call her "Sarah Barracuda" because of her unbridled ambition and predatory ruthlessness.
Before she became so powerful, very ugly stories
circulated around town about shenanigans she pulled to be made point guard on the high school basketball team.
When Sarah's mother-in-law, a highly respected member of the community and experienced manager, ran for Mayor, Sarah refused to endorse her.

As Governor, she stepped outside of the box and put together of package of legislation known as "AGIA" that forced the oil companies to march to the beat of her drum.

Like most Alaskans, she favors drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. She has questioned if the loss of sea ice is linked to global warming. She campaigned "as a private citizen" against a state initiative that would have either a) protected salmon streams from pollution from mines, or b) tied up in the
courts all mining in the state (depending on who you listen to). She has pushed the State's lawsuit against the Dept. of the Interior's decision to list polar bears as threatened species.

McCain is the oldest person to ever run for President; Sarah will be a heartbeat away from being President.

There has to be literally millions of Americans who are more knowledgeable and experienced than she.

However, there's a lot of people who have
underestimated her and are regretting it.

CLAIM VS FACT

*"Hockey mom": true for a few years

*"PTA mom": true years ago when her first-born was in elementary school, not since

*"NRA supporter": absolutely true *social conservative: mixed. Opposes gay marriage, BUT
vetoed a bill that would have denied benefits to
employees in same-sex relationships (said she did this because it was unconstitutional) .

*pro-creationism: mixed. Supports it, BUT did nothing as Governor to promote it.

*"Pro-life": mixed. Knowingly gave birth to a Down's syndrome baby BUT declined to call a special legislative session on some pro-life legislation

*"Experienced": Some high schools have more students than Wasilla has residents. Many cities have more residents than the state of Alaska. No legislative experience other than City Council. Little hands-on supervisory or managerial experience; needed help of a city administrator to run town of about 5,000.

*political maverick: not at all

*gutsy: absolutely!

*open & transparent: ??? Good at keeping secrets. Not good at explaining actions.

*has a developed philosophy of public policy: no

*"a Greenie": no. Turned Wasilla into a wasteland of
big box stores and disconnected parking lots. Is pro-
drilling off-shore and in ANWR.

*fiscal conservative: not by my definition!

*pro-infrastructure: No. Promoted a sports complex and
park in a city without a sewage treatment plant or
storm drainage system. Built streets to early 20th
century standards.

*pro-tax relief: Lowered taxes for businesses,
increased tax burden on residents

*pro-small government: No. Oversaw greatest expansion
of city government in Wasilla's history.

*pro-labor/pro- union. No. Just because her husband
works union doesn't make her pro-labor. I have seen
nothing to support any claim that she is pro-labor/pro-
union.

WHY AM I WRITING THIS?

First, I have long believed in the importance of being
an informed voter. I am a voter registrar. For 10 years
I put on student voting programs in the schools. If you
google my name (Anne Kilkenny + Alaska), you will find
references to my participation in local government,
education, and PTA/parent organizations.

Secondly, I've always operated in the belief that "Bad
things happen when good people stay silent". Few people
know as much as I do because few have gone to as many
City Council meetings.

Third, I am just a housewife. I don't have a job she
can bump me out of. I don't belong to any organization
that she can hurt. But, I am no fool; she is immensely
popular here, and it is likely that this will cost me
somehow in the future: that's life.

Fourth, she has hated me since back in 1996, when I was
one of the 100 or so people who rallied to support the
City Librarian against Sarah's attempt at censorship.

Fifth, I looked around and realized that everybody else
was afraid to say anything because they were somehow
vulnerable.

CAVEATS

I am not a statistician. I developed the numbers for
the increase in spending & taxation 2 years ago (when
Palin was running for Governor) from information
supplied to me by the Finance Director of the City of
Wasilla, and I can't recall exactly what I adjusted
for: did I adjust for inflation? for population
increases? Right now, it is impossible for a private
person to get any info out of City Hall--they are
swamped. So I can't verify my numbers.

You may have noticed that there are various numbers
circulating for the population of Wasilla, ranging from
my "about 5,000", up to 9,000. The day Palin's
selection was announced a city official told me that
the current population is about 7,000. The official
2000 census count was 5,460. I have used about 5,000
because Palin was Mayor from 1996 to 2002, and the city
was growing rapidly in the mid-90's.

Just think if there was not baby-gate, trooper-gate, Levi-Gate etc.

If this woman had not turned this race into a Soap Opera with her hill-billy family matters the ratings of last nite would a quater of what they were.

Also there were probably 20 Million People like me just watching to see if she would totally crash and burn under the circus tent. Obama's speech was a history making event that you wanted to be part of, Palins speech most turned in to see if there was going to be a train wreck.

This is to Sarah, this letter sounds just like you are a member of the Democratic party. No one else would put such a long trashy letter on the computer like you. Sounds like you have an agenda. I like Sarah and will be voting for her. Sorry you did not accomplish what you set out to do.

You Repubs think you know Sarah Palin, but you don't. She's been on the scene less than one week. Sure, she can read a teleprompter. We know that now. But she has not been vetted. She is being shielded from the press. When do we get to ask her questions? Why is she afraid? Hillary wasn't afraid of the press. Hillary stepped in, shared her ideas and took the savage blows. But she kept coming. God bless her. So far, Sarah Palin is not even in the same league of Hillary Clinton.

Obama has been running for president for 19 months in the public eye. He's been vetted. We know who he is, like him or not. He actually got votes from his party and EARNED his nomination rightfully, so the American people have at least endorsed his fitness to serve as President. Sarah Palin has not received a single national vote. Her fitness to serve is a legitimate question. It's a mystery. You may like her, but you can't pretend to know who she is.

If she keeps reading speeches and not writing them, if she keeps avoiding questions and not addressing them, if she won't speak to us unrehearsed, spontaneously from the heart, then we as Americans will be certain to do the right thing, and send her back to Alaska stamped "Thanks, but no thanks."

See you in November.

Beverly, it appears you are just one of the Repub sheeple who don't care to know WHO you're voting for and fail to listen to any reason. The letter was not written by me. It was from someone who knows her in Wasilla. It is informative and unbiased. It is fact based and every claim can be proven.

Sorry you prefer to remain with your head in the sand. After 8 years of this disastrous Repub administration, I don't respect anyone who still supports them.

Beverly Smith, in typical republican fashion, you didn't bother to actually read the post - wouldn't want to have to evaluate our "gut" feelings on anything would we? Wouldn't want to have to consider real issues that might affect our lives when we can simply decide whether we like someone or not, would we?

Not that such an omission would stop you from posting. Mrs. Palin did a good job invigorating her base with a superficial, hollow speech in which she had no problem lying through her teeth for comedic effect and self-aggrandisement.

Also - "Democrats afraid"? Are you kidding? I can't wait for news interviews, should she emerge from the bunker where the McCain people have her locked away. Even a Fox interviewer will be hard-pressed to show her in a positive light. I absolutely can not wait until Oct 2nd for the debates. Can't read off a teleprompter then!

All Obama supporters…

I would vote for Obama this time, if only to just ensure that the conservatives get back all 3 in 2012. He is all talk and doesn’t reflect his record, associations and history. Everything about Obama is a LIE! You can deny it all you want- you only look like a uninformed idiot when you do.

I’m not crazy for McCain- it’s just the lesser of 2 evils. If it were not for the possibility of multiple Justices that could be appointed this term, I would cast my vote for Obama- I can live with 4 years of total Socialism. I just can’t live with 20-30 years of the state taking away my property, rights and freedoms via the courts. Mark it on your calendar, this year’s election will have lasting effects on your children’s children. I know it is an uphill battle to beat the Obama/Biden/ABC/NBC/CBS/MSNBC/CNN ticket (All of the news outlets should have to register as a 512 for this election)

I can’t wait until 2012 for the Palin/Jindal or Jindal/Palin ticket (too bad it wasn’t 08).

I cannot believe the amount of hate coming from the lefties in this commentary section.

Sherry.. get a life.

David Handleman, you have made wild claims without any basis.. You should be suspended above a pool of alligators with a candle burning through the rope holding you up.

The lack of intelligence and common sense displayed by Democrats is frightening, and dangerous.

How any person can claim to be a decent person and support Barack Obama is beyond the pale of reason.