(Photo: Scott Wintrow/Getty Images)

Count among the surprise fans of Sarah Palin’s acceptance speech Governor David Paterson. “I thought she was great,” he said, before quickly clarifying that he’d never support her. But he said he was impressed with “how forthright she was” and her ability to seize the moment. “Thousands of people, thrust right into the mainstream, the whole scrutiny on the family and that kind of thing—it reminded me of how I felt, although she probably had a few days to know what was coming,” he says. “She’s not running away from anything. She is what she is. The thing about public service is that we build people up so we can tear them down. As a human being, she handled herself superbly, and you got during the speech she felt the need to go outside the box, and it worked for her every time.”

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• Archive: “Intelligencer”
• Articles by Geoffrey Gray
• Table of Contents: Sep 15, 2008 issue of New York | Subscribe!