Reaction to Speech: Palin Had a Speechwriter and Her Hair Style Is Outdated

They'll never learn, will they? Forget the fact Sarah Palin blew the doors off the XCel Center, she had Barack Obama stammering about George Bush's speechwriters. Lame. As if nobody writes his weak material. Here's a decent account of Palin's rousing speech.

And referring to Obama's acceptance speech in Denver a week ago, she added, "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?''

Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton called the speech "well-delivered, but written by George Bush's speech writer and sounds exactly like the same divisive partisan attacks we've heard from George Bush for the last eight years."

"She has the hockey-mom schtick down,'' said Bruce Cain, director of the University of California-Berkeley's Washington Center, and gave an address designed for "mostly white, working-class women that Hillary Clinton was pursuing.''

In a poignant moment, Palin also made an appeal to parents of children with special needs. Her 4-month-old son, Trig, was born with Down syndrome.

Jayne Ham, a delegate from Cupertino and mother of a child with epilepsy, said, "She's the real thing. Her personal statements on children with special needs brought tears to my eyes.''

Palin also used the night to promote finding new sources of energy, including drilling in Alaska. And she repeatedly praised McCain as someone who has dedicated his career to improving the country.

In a scene reminiscent of Obama's surprise appearance on the stage a day early to congratulate his running mate, Joe Biden, McCain showed up at the end of Palin's address. "Don't you think we made the right choice for the next president of the United States?'' McCain said to a cheering hall. "What a beautiful family,'' he enthused.

While Palin's pick is designed in part to woo disaffected Clinton voters, Palin overnight has become the darling of conservatives. Before her speech, "I thought I died and went to heaven,'' said the Rev. Lou Sheldon, founder of the California-based Traditional Values Coalition. The coalition is planning a nationwide get-out-the-vote effort.

In her speech, Palin presented her story as an endearing populist tale of a young mother who sought to improve the local schools. "I was just your average hockey mom, and signed up for the PTA because I wanted to make my kids' public education better,'' Palin said. Then she interrupted her own narrative: "You know the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull: lipstick."

And she brought house down.

Showing how shallow some people are, one reaction I see today is about her appearance.

Yes, Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin has a lot on her plate: a pregnant teen daughter, a son on his way to Iraq, an infant with Down syndrome and a looming national election.

But must her hair suffer? With her long, straight, often pinned-up locks, Palin looks one humid day away from fronting a Kiss cover band.

“It’s about 20 years out of date,” said Boston stylist Mario Russo of the Alaska governor’s ’do. “Which goes to show how off she might be on current events.”

For readers who are rolling their eyes about this nonissue - get real. People talk about hair - from Mitt Romney’s perfectly sprayed coif, John Edward’s Breck do, McCain’s unfortunate combover and Barak’s No. 3 buzz cut.

We know the former Miss Alaska runner-up’s stance on on stem cells and teaching creationism in schools, but what’s her position on scrunchies vs. banana clips?

Palin herself told Vogue magazine, “A reporter once asked me about it (her appearance) during the campaign, and I assured him I was trying to be as frumpy as I could by wearing my hair on top of my head and these schoolmarm glasses.”

“The color’s not bad,” Russo offered. “But I did see a picture of her showing up someplace with a fried-out perm. I was like, whoa.”

Whoa indeed. The 44-year-old Palin’s pulled-back, I’m-too-busy-for-blowouts-and-a-blunt-cut look says more than Joe Biden on the Senate floor.

This comment say it all.

Gimme a break. She's hotter than the surface of the sun. Her hair is fine.