Palin: To the families of special needs children all across this country: I have a message for you. For years you've sought to make America a more welcoming place for your sons and daughters. And I pledge to you that if we're elected, you will have a friend, an advocate, in the White House.
[clapping]
And Todd is a story all by himself. He's a life-long commercial fisherman and a production operator in the oil fields of Alaska's north slope. And a proud member of the United Steel Workers Union and . . .
[clapping]
. . . Todd is a world-champion snow machine racer.
[clapping]
Throw in his Yupik Eskimo ancestry and it all makes for quite a package and we met in high school and two decades and five children later, he's still my guy.
[clapping]
My mom and dad both worked at the elementary school in our small town. And among the many things I owe them is a simple lesson that I've learned...That this is America and every woman can walk through every door of opportunity... and my parents are here tonight!
[clapping]
I am so proud to be the daughter of Chuck and Sally Heath!
[clapping]
Long ago a young farmer and a haberdasher from Missouri...he followed an unlikely path... he followed an unlikely path to the vice presidency and a writer observed...we grow good people in our small towns, with honesty and sincerity and dignity. And I know just the kind of people that writer had in mind when he praised Harry Truman. I grew up with those people. They're the ones who do some of the hardest work in America. Who grow our food and run our factories and fight our wars. They love their country in good times and bad and they're always proud of America.
[clapping]
I had the privilege of living most of my life in a small town. I was just your average hockey mom and signed up for the PTA.
[clapping]
I love those hockey moms. You know, they say the difference between a hockey mom and Pit Bull... lipstick.
[laughter, clapping]
So I signed up for the PTA, because I wanted to make my kids' public education even better. And when I ran for city council, I didn't need focus groups and voter profiles, because I knew those voters and I knew their families too. Before I became governor of the great state of Alaska, I was mayor of my hometown. And since our opponents in this presidential election seem to look down on that experience, let me explain to them what the job involves.
[clapping]
I guess...I guess a small town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities.
[clapping]
I might add...I might add that in small towns we don't quite know what to make of candidate who lavishes praise on working people when they're listening and then talks about how bitterly they cling to their religion and guns when those people aren't listening. No, we tend to prefer candidates who don't talk about us one way in Scranton and another way in San Francisco.
[clapping]
As for my running mate...you can be certain wherever he goes, and whoever is listening, John McCain is the same man.
[clapping]
Well...I'm not a member of the permanent political establishment. And. . .
I've learned quickly these last few days that if you're not a member in good standing of the Washington Elite, then some in the media consider a candidate unqualified for that reason alone. But . . .
[booing]
. . . but . . .
[booing]
. . . No... here's a little news flash . . .
[booing]
Here's a little newsflash for those reporters and commentators: I'm not going to Washington to seek their good opinion; I'm going to Washington to serve the people of this great country!
[clapping]
Americans expect us to go to Washington for the right reason. And not just to mingle with the right people. Politics isn't just a game of clashing parties and competing interests. The right reason is to challenge the status quo, to serve the common good and to leave this nation better than we found it.
[clapping]
No one expects us all to agree on everything, but we are expected to govern with integrity and goodwill and clear convictions...and a servant's hearts (sounds like) and I pledge to all Americans that I will carry myself in this spirit as vice president of the United States.
[clapping]
