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Technorati"I really, really didn't care too much about McCain ... I was iffy about him, you know? But now I have a different thought," Watts said. "I'm thinking, I don't see Barack being able to pull it out now, because she was pretty impressive."
Robert Dweck, 56, manages an antiques shop in Miami Beach and is a registered Democrat. He supported Hillary Clinton and has been hesitant to commit to Obama. But Thursday, after hearing Palin speak, he was a bit more sure.
"I thought it was a pretty strong speech, she spoke very clearly, and it had a good message," he said. "But I think the fact that she's very young and, if anything was to happen to McCain, for his age, I don't think that would be good for the nation."
At Navy Pier in Chicago, participants in the 22nd Annual Entrepreneurial Woman's Conference had mixed views. Julie Casserly, a certified financial planner, watched Palin's speech and liked what she saw — to the extent that she'll now look more closely at McCain.
"She seems to be very real and authentic in what she was communicating," she said. "You could just tell it came from the heart."
Kenyetta Jackson, 40, chief financial officer for Chicago's Interfaith House, which assists homeless people recovering from illness or injuries, thought the speech was "fabulous."
But she said McCain is not her choice and doesn't agree with Palin's stand on the issues. "She's a little too conservative for my taste — her views on abortion and gun control."
In Hamburg, Pa., some patrons at Cabela's hunting and fishing superstore said Palin's speech had changed their outlook on the campaign.
Judy Walck, 65, a Democrat who voted for Clinton in the primary, said she was undecided until she heard Palin. Now she's for McCain.
"It's not about her as a woman, it's about her as a person who can handle herself in that kind of situation," said Walck. "She doesn't say, 'I'm a woman, help me out.' She says, 'I'm not afraid to fight for what is right.'"
Vinny Gerchman, 64, was shopping at Cabela's with her husband, Leroy.
A Republican, Vinny said that before the speech she was undecided. Now she's firmly in the McCain camp, and deeply impressed by Palin.
"It's mind-boggling that in one speech, she won over everybody, or at least most people."
Vinny, who was a stay-at-home mom, initially had reservations when she heard Palin had five children.
"It just struck me as how can you go out and leave five kids? ... That's still bothering me. Who's there for them? But then, that's the world today. But then seeing her, she's probably capable of doing it, and probably has lots of help, which most of us don't have."
In liberal San Francisco — where Obama made his notorious reference to bitter small-town voters clinging to guns and religion — several voters depicted Palin's nomination as pandering to women and religious conservatives.
Bob Armstrong, who attends a Methodist church, was concerned that Palin's religious beliefs might be used for political ends.
"Evangelicals have had unprecedented access to the White House in the last eight years, and Palin would bring more of that," he said.
Armstrong, who was exhibiting his paintings to tourists in Union Square, said his teenage daughters also were unimpressed by Palin.
"It's insulting to women I know that someone with such limited experience would be selected on the basis of her gender," he said. "It's a cynical move — an act of inspiration and desperation both."
"I admire the fact that she can field dress a moose, but that doesn't qualify her to lead this country," Armstrong said.
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Associated Press writers Sharon Cohen in Chicago, Pauline Arrillaga in Phoenix, Matt Sedensky in Miami Beach, Fla., Juliana Barbassa in San Francisco and Michael Rubinkam in Hamburg, Pa., contributed to this report.
James Reynolds »
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