From across "the pond" (Great Britain)
Thanks to my friend Eileen for sending this...

From FERGUS SHANAHAN
in St Paul, Minnesota
The Sun

Palin shows us how it's done

WHY, why, why can’t WE have a Sarah Palin?

That was the question churning in my mind as I witnessed this astonishing American presidential race. A week ago few in Britain had heard of Palin.

Today, the moose-huntin’ mom is the most talked-about woman in the world.

And with good reason.

Her sensational performance at the Republican convention may turn out to be the moment the White House slipped from Barack Obama’s grasp.

She was an electrifying mix of passion, energy, optimism and plain speaking. The exact opposite of the slippery, two-faced, depressing bunch of third-raters who parade on our Westminster stage.

In Palin and the Democrats’ Barack Obama, America has two hugely charismatic people offering distinctly different roads.
Palin is sidekick to Vietnam war hero John McCain. He isn’t short of fame and glory either.

But as I look closer to home, which giant British personalities are making news on the Westminster scene today? Er — Charles Clarke. A lumbering, grumbling tub of resentment, Big Ears snipes at Gordon Brown while lacking the courage to do anything about it.

Then there’s Alan Johnson, the gutless former postman who has failed to deliver for the Labour Party by running away from a leadership challenge.
Sixth-former David Miliband is hiding behind the bike sheds threatening to put Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin in detention.

What about the ladies?

There’s Hazel Blears, a clockwork orange of mediocrity. She couldn’t cause any excitement if she was fired out of a rocket from the top of Blackpool Tower. Then there is that boot-faced robot of political correctness Harriet Harperson. Somehow I can’t see any of this gang of miseries doing a Palin and thrilling a continent with a speech of intelligence, wit, fire and vision.
And, sorry Dave, but the Tories also have their share of ocean-going deadbeats.

Theresa May has been in the Tory high command since Noah boarded the Ark, but all she’s known for is flashing a tarty pair of heels.

Dull ... Charles Clarke

Where is someone with the X-Factor mass appeal of Palin and Obama?
It’s grim. And sad, too, because I have seen here how exciting a political battle can be when slugged out by huge characters before an enthralled nation.

Democrats and their Lefty media backers had been sneering that Palin is a small-town nobody, a hick from Alaska put into a job way beyond an inexperienced woman.

Believe me, you will not be hearing that again.

Full of self-assurance and aggression, super Sarah popped Barack’s balloon big-time. From the moment she walked on stage in this cavernous bear pit, smart in cream jacket, trim black skirt and black heels, she proved that McCain knew exactly what he was doing when he picked her as running mate.

Palin shows us how it's done