And the winner is. . .
Jicky. At least, so far.
That's Guerlain Jicky, considered the first "modern" perfume, which was created in 1889 and is still being sold today. There's something wonderful about applying a scent that is 119 years old and formulated the same year as the Eiffel Tower.
(In the background, people at the convention are now chanting "Drill Baby Drill".)
Tonight, enjoying something European (especially something French) seems almost naughty and most certainly un-American. Earlier, Huckabee said, "Barack Obama's excellent adventure to Europe took his campaign for change to hundreds of thousands of people who don't even vote or pay taxes here. It's not what he took there that concerns me. It's what he brought back. Lots of ideas from Europe he'd like to see imported here."
Round two: Jicky is not keeping my mind off Guiliani's speech. I love its initial blast (Jicky's, not Guiliani's). The combination of strong citrus and lavender is heady.
Guiliani's speech is really getting to me. I can't articulate my feelings here - I write sentence after sentence and delete them. Later: as I'm struggling to remember just what he said that bothered me so, I google "Guiliani RNC transcript" and read "Thank you. Welcome to the capital of the world.' Huh? Oh, that was 2004. Now, in 2008, he said, "She's been a mayor. I love that. I'm sorry - I'm sorry that Barack Obama feels that her hometown isn't cosmopolitan enough.I'm sorry, Barack, that it's not flashy enough. Maybe they cling to religion there."
Hey, Rudy, you were the mayor of perhaps the most cosmopolitan and elitist city in the world. At least you didn't mention guns after condescendingly dropping part of the Obama quote, for folks in New York City don't have the right to bear arms.
Okay, here comes Sarah Palin. I'm sorry, Jicky, you're just going to have to take a backseat to this.
It's 11:05. She's still talking. I'm losing interest. Note: in spite of what Andrew Sullivan may be writing on his blog, I think she's a force to be reckoned with.
11:10pm She's done. The crowd is going absolutely wild.
McCain: "What a beautiful family." I thought we were supposed to lay off the kids.
Final analysis: She's a great speaker. She's poised, got all-American good looks and knows how to punch the killer lines. Her appeal should not be underestimated. However, most of the praise that she is receiving tonight should go to Matthew Scully, the speechwriter.
Unfortunately, understanding that there's a world of difference between a candidate who's been out of sight, writing their own speech and honing their message is fundamentally different than a candidate who's been out of site being coached by handlers and then delivers a great speech written by a professional writer is a bit nuanced. Let me put it this way: it's like saying someone who's playing Jesus in a movie is the messiah, instead of doing an awfully good job of acting.
Final analysis for Jicky: On this hot, sticky (and somewhat stressful) night, it's a bit of a let-down. I like it, don't get me wrong, but after it's powerful and seductive opening, it dries down to smelling like many a bar of hard-milled Spanish soap.
But still, the winner is Jicky, for we don't know yet what Palin's dry down will be.
Image note: A bottle of Jicky, obviously, and not one of Huckabee, Guiliani or even the photogenic Palin. Go ahead - call me an elitist.
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