The daily digest of Twin Cities culture | Secrets of the City

Before anyone calls Sarah Palin a bitch, let me just say she opened the door when she compared her "hockey mom" persona to a pit bull. Hey, if the lipstick fits.

Clearly, she fits the Vice Presidential role as attack dog, if her speech Wednesday night is a harbinger. Let's tick off a few of her best zingers: her denigration of Obama as a mere "community organizer"; his speeches in [GAY!] San Francisco; his Eastern elitism (an odd charge against the son of a single mother who grew up in Hawaii and Kansas); the styrofoam Greek columns, which, by the way, are good enough for the Capitol Building and the White House, and, get this, even the ugly as hell Alaska State Capitol. Of course, maybe she prefers politicians who stand in front of "Mission Accomplished" banners.

There was a story in the NY Times early this week that said the campaign staff had been busy making the VP nominee's speech more feminine, because the original written for (probably) Joe Lieberman, was more bellicose yet. Thank God they softened it because I'm sure Palin's first instinct was to bring out a hockey stick and beat the stuffing out of an Obama effigy while the faithful cheered the same way Wild fans do for Derek Boogaard in the same arena.

Now compare what she said to what Obama himself said about her candidacy: "I congratulate her and look forward to a vigorous debate."

And what he said about her daughter's pregnancy: "Let me be as clear as possible: I have said before and I will repeat again, I think people's families are off limits, and people's children are especially off limits. This shouldn't be part of our politics. It has no relevance to Gov. Palin's performance as governor, or her potential performance as a vice president. And so I would strongly urge people to back off these kinds of stories. You know my mother had me when she was 18, and how a family deals with issues and, you know, teenage children, that shouldn't be the topic of our politics and I hope that anybody who is supporting me understands that's off limits."

Finally, another quote from Palin: "Politics isn't just a game of clashing parties and competing interests."

Yeah, it's more like a hockey game. And Barack, you've just been cross checked.