Dear Editor,

Did you watch Sarah Palin’s speech the other night? The speech told us a lot about her.

It told us that she can distort the facts and deliver mean-spirited zingers with the best of them. It told us that if Rush Limbaugh or Ann Coulter ever needs a stand-in, she’d be a great pick.

It told us that she can be condescending and dismissive of the real work Barack Obama did helping real people on the South Side of Chicago. It told us that she can uphold the long Republican tradition of lying about Democratic tax cuts — even though Obama’s plan would give Americans a bigger break than McCain’s.

But the speech — written by one of President Bush’s speechwriters — didn’t tell us the truth about Sarah Palin’s extremist positions. And the more that people know her far-right views, the less they support her.

Palin’s speech, and the reaction to it, also made clear why McCain picked her. It wasn’t a decision about who’s most qualified to serve a heart-beat away from the presidency — it was a political decision about pleasing the far-right base of the Republican party.