Leo (July 23 — Aug. 22)
Your energy is being drained by some development you did not ask for. It will be easier to capitulate than to fight, so follow the flow and let things take their natural course.
WASHINGTON BUREAU
ST. PAUL, Minn.–Sarah Palin, the unknown Alaska governor suddenly thrust into the national spotlight, took direct aim at her Democratic opponent and media critics last night in one of the most-anticipated political speeches in recent U.S. history.
After four days of silence, while the Republican vice-presidential candidate was buffeted by a string of revelations on issues both personal and political, the 44-year-old Palin launched a wave of feisty attacks at Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.
In a coming out speech interrupted time and again by cheering, placard-waving Republican delegates here, Palin mixed ridicule and venom in portraying Obama as an elitist who has accomplished nothing and is more interested in promoting himself than his country.
She presented her own, sanitized resume, telling the country she had risen from self-described hockey mom, to PTA member, to small town mayor to state governor.
"I guess a small town mayor is sort of like a community organizer,'' she said in a reference to Obama's early experience in Chicago, "except that you have actual responsibilities."
She also painted herself as the consummate Washington outsider, prepared to do battle with the national media.
"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 country."
Last night's speech had been billed as one of the most pivotal addresses to a U.S. political convention in modern times, generating unprecedented interest in a vice-presidential nominee.
U.S. broadcast networks expected a huge audience, perhaps a record viewership for a vice-presidential acceptance speech, part of the audience built simply because of the drip, drip, drip of detail – salacious, sensational and surprising – about a working mother of five with family troubles that mirror those of many Americans.
Palin is only the second female vice-presidential nominee in U.S. history, a risky choice with scant experience, whose appeal will rest on her reputation as a reformer who is the antithesis of the slick politician.
Much of the coverage of the first three days of this Republican convention focused on Palin's revelation that her 17-year-old daughter Bristol is five months pregnant.
As the nominee spoke, Bristol Palin sat in the VIP box, holding hands with her boyfriend, 18-year-old Levi Johnston.
Then the entire Palin family joined her on stage after her speech — Palin holding her newborn Trig, who has Down syndrome — followed by presumptive nominee John McCain.
"Don't you think we made the right choice for the next vice-president of the United States?'' McCain said.
Palin never referred to her daughter's pregnancy, but she said her family shares the challenges of many American families and she referred specifically to the April birth of her son.
If there was a surprise in last night's speech, it was the intensity in which she went after Obama.
She fired away at his comment about small town Americans who bitterly cling to their religion and guns, adding, "we tend to prefer candidates who don't talk about us one way in Scranton and another way in San Francisco.''
She said Obama had authored two memoirs, but not a single major law, and accused him of waging a vanity campaign.
"In politics, there are some candidates who use change to promote their careers,'' she said.
"And then there are those, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change.
"They're the ones whose names appear on laws and landmark reforms, not just on buttons and banners, or on self-designed presidential seals.''
As supporters waved signs reading "Palin Power'' and "Hockey Moms for Palin,'' the first-term governor even adlibbed a joke.
"What's the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull?'' she asked.
""Lipstick.''
The Obama campaign immediately responded, saying the Palin speech, penned by a former George W. Bush speechwriter, consisted of "the same divisive, partisan attacks we've heard from George Bush for the last eight years.''
As many as 20,000 were on hand to hear her speech here - more than double the size of the largest venue in Alaska.
She had been cloistered in a room at a downtown Minneapolis hotel since Sunday night, working with McCain staff on her speech, being schooled on the nuances of McCain foreign policy, being briefed on national politics – and keeping her head down.
Not even a conservative pro-life organization, expecting her in person at a previously-scheduled appearance Tuesday, was allowed to give her a porcelain baby as her award for her anti-abortion leadership.
Her speech was written by former Bush speechwriter Matthew Scully.
The two first met in Ohio the night before McCain's announced her as his running mate pick, and he had initially been working on a speech for a male vice-presidential candidate.
She had run through her speech repeatedly in front of at least three senior McCain strategists and a former Bush adviser, Tucker Eskew, has agreed to act as Palin's "counsellor."
Palin is also on the cover of two of the most widely read U.S. magazines this week, winning a favourable piece in People, which was given access to her, warranting a slap in US Weekly, which was not given access.
In the hours before the speech, the McCain campaign started a massive pushback against the coverage of Palin, accusing the media of sexism and smears, releasing a television ad and talking points saying Palin, who has been Alaska governor for less than two years, has more executive experience than Obama.
Carly Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard CEO and senior McCain spokesperson, said she been told by many Democrats that they were disappointed in the sexism aimed at Hillary Clinton during her presidential run.
"The Republican party will not stand by while Sarah Palin is subjected to sexist attacks," Fiorina said.
"Hillary Clinton's run highly tuned women's ears to offensive and sexist attacks."
Rosario Marin, a former U.S. treasurer, who, like Palin, had given birth to a Down syndrome baby, said she was "absolutely outraged'' at commentary questioning whether the Alaska governor should be campaigning with an infant at home.
"No one has ever questioned why Barack Obama is running for president when he has two young children at home," Marin said.
"To the media, the bloggers and the other side, shame on them, shame on all of them."
Shortly after the press conference, the McCain campaign unveiled a new button in the Xcel Centre, touting Palin, "The Hottest VP."
The McCain campaign also said the controversy over its vetting of Palin was a media creation.
"This vetting controversy is a faux media scandal designed to destroy the first female Republican nominee for vice-president of the United States who has never been a part of the old boys' network that has come to dominate the news establishment in this country," said McCain senior adviser Steve Schmidt.
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