From Deseret News archives:
'The right choice': Delegates give Palin a wild GOP welcome
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was greeted with three minutes of a standing ovation, as well as multiple shouts of "We love you, Sarah!" Her speech was also interrupted many times by standing ovations.
The loudest cheers of the night, however, were reserved for the somewhat unexpected arrival of their presidential nominee — his nomination was made official after a roll call vote Wednesday night — following Palin's speech. John McCain did not say anything except asking the crowd, "Is she the right choice or what?"
Their roaring cheers left little doubt as to their answer.
Palin opened her speech by talking about McCain, and his service to the country. She only segued into talking about herself when she mentioned his support of the military and how much it meant to her as a mother of a soldier leaving for Iraq.
She also moved quickly through one of the most talked-about stories of the week, the pregnancy of her 17-year-old daughter, Bristol. The daughter was in attendance with her boyfriend, and she received roaring applause when introduced during the first few minutes.
Being a woman on the ticket is something that did not surprise her, Palin said, since her parents raised her to believe that anything was possible.
"This is America," she said. "Every woman can walk through every door of opportunity."
Her speech was more personal than many others during the night, although she did take a few shots at Democratic presidential nominee, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama. Specifically, she questioned his sincerity and his attempts to cast himself as a political outsider.
It was really only at the end of the speech when she attacked him, and she was almost more playful than vicious — a sense of humor that seemed to play well with the crowd — by poking fun at his fake presidential seal, the completed memoirs that number more than his authored laws, and, in multiple shots, his role as a "community organizer."
Actually, the media was the target of the most well-received attack, when she said she essentially does not care what they say.
"Here's a little news flash for all those reporters and commentators — I'm not going to Washington to seek their opinion. I'm going to Washington to serve the people of this country," she said, to one of her loudest cheers of the night.
