ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Floridians attending the Republican National Convention convention were so taken with Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin that Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum, speaking to state delegates Thursday morning, sounded almost critical when he said, "Sarah Palin was good last night. Very good." 600.Only very good? "That gal is amazing,' said Carla Dean, Collier County's party chairwoman.OK, so committed Republicans are enthusiastic about John McCain's vice presidential pick.What would a political analyst with years of experience studying convention speeches say? Pretty much the same thing.Susan McManus is a professor of political science at the University of South Florida in Tampa.She's attending the Republican National Convention as an analyst for a Tampa television station."This is my fifth convention cycle," McManus said Thursday as Florida delegates gathered for their morning meeting. "This is the most enthused I've ever seen Republicans. The speech was just what the party needed."They (Republicans) had been lagging behind in enthusiasm and this (Palin's speech) closed the gap."She cautioned that women shouldn't be viewed as a monolithic voting block.But Palin's speech should help Republicans win over some women voters, a group which has been polling toward Barack Obama."I regard her speech as waking up a sleeping giant, which is the suburban mom, the working mother."She said the perceived sexism directed at Hillary Clinton in the Democratic nominating process could help Palin's story to resonate with female voters. "On the heels of the treatment of Hillary, she has clearly energized women voters on both sides of the aisle. Women over 40 with kids don't appreciated the treatment of Hillary and Sarah Palin."In McManus's estimation, Palin succeeding communicating key points. One is that she is not afraid to take on the political establishment, allowing her to share McCain's maverick image.Another is that she showed spunk, directing sarcastic jabs at Obama and his work as a community organizer."The sarcasm allays fears she won't be able to keep up with (Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe) Biden. It's a tough balancing act, being a soft mother and fulfilling the attack dog role vice presidential candidates are expected to fill."Leaving the hall, McManus said she heard a couple of comments. One person described Palin as "feisty." Another said, "She just talks in everyday talk.""If people are getting that, those are not too bad," McManus said.So is the Biden-Palin ticket a winner? McManus said two weeks ago she gave McCain little chance of beating Obama in November. Based on what she's seen since, she expects it will be a close race.Meanwhile, if the Florida Republican delegation appears overwhelmingly white and male, that's because it is.Unlike the state Democratic Party, which goes to great lengths to fill its delegation with men, women, minorities, disabled people and even different sexual orientations, Republicans make no attempt to fill quotas.State party Chairman Jim Greer said he tries to find the best delegates. As women and minorities fill that bill he's happy to bring them on board, but as for setting aside a certain number of spots for each demographic, Greer said, "I don't agree with the Democratic philosophy."Republican Party staff members don't closely track the race and gender makeup of their delegation.Some delegates chose not to answer questionnaires inquiring about their race and other particulars.Sixty-three of the 114 Florida delegates and 111 alternates declined to answer questions about race. Of the 162 that did, there are six African-Americans and 18 Hispanics. The delegation is made up of 158 men and 67 women.(Brent Batten is a political columnist for the Naples Daily News in Florida.)(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)
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