There are a number of reports that say that Palin's teleprompter rolled ahead halfway through her speech but she didn't miss a beat. The Democrats are saying that the Republicans are making it up so that her perfectly delivered speech will appear even better... Some say that they could see it working perfectly on TV a the few times that it was visible. At least one on scene reporter saw it out of sync though.
I think the ability of being able to deliver a good speech is way overrated compared to all of the tasks and abilities that presidents and VPs must be good at. Whether it matters or not, Palin has great presentation skills, even under huge pressure.
"Halfway through Sarah Palin's speech tonight at the RNC, people following the speech noticed she was deviating from the prepared text.
According to sources close to the McCain campaign, the teleprompter continued scrolling during applause breaks. As a result, half way through the speech, the speech had scrolled significantly from where Governor Palin was in the speech. The malfunction also occurred during Rudy Giuliani's speech, explaining his significant deviations from his speech.
Unfazed, Governor Palin continued, from memory, to deliver her speech without the teleprompter cued to the appropriate point in her speech.
Contrast this to Barack Obama who, when last his teleprompter malfunctioned, was left stuttering before a crowd unable to advance his speech until the problem was resolved.
Sarah Palin. Winner."
http://blogsforjohnmccain.com/palin-delivered-speech-flawlessly-despite-teleprompter-malfunctionFor comparison, watch how Obama handles a broken teleprompter:
http://sayanythingblog.com/readers/entry/report_teleprompter_broker_during_palin_speech/McCain can't deliver a speech nearly as well as Obama, but his new sidekick sure gives Obama a run for his money...