There were many lines in the Republican response to the president’s State of the Union address delivered by Sarah Huckabee Sanders that hit the right note. Her whole speech was a winner. She did not shy away from brutal honesty and at least half of the country cheered her on. I don’t know how many people watched her rebuttal but every conservative and independent should have been tuned in.

Democrats? They are a lost cause when it comes to women and a reality-based life. Sarah Huckabee Sanders presented the problems today’s Americans face in everyday life. I relish supporting strong conservative women and I did so with Sarah at every opportunity during her time in the White House during the Trump administration. Sarah grew up in politics and it shows. She can handle herself and she can deliver a speech.

My favorite line in the speech was this one: “I’m the first woman to lead my state. And he’s the first man to surrender his presidency to a woke mob that can’t even tell you what a woman is.” That is a perfect illustration of today’s political reality. The youngest governor in the country is a 40-year-old Republican woman. She called for a generational change in political leadership. And, most importantly, she called for Americans to choose between normal and crazy.

Democrats and Never-Trump Republicans are criticizing her speech as one about culture wars and made-up problems. She spoke about the “left-wing culture war”, for example. That is where the normal and crazy comparison came in. “The dividing line in America is no longer between right and left — it’s between normal or crazy.” Democrats have chosen crazy.

The governor accused the Biden administration of “doubling down on crazy,” and said it had racked up spending and failed to stop drugs pouring across the southern border. She said Mr. Biden had refused to stand up to China, alluding to the days that went by before the U.S. military took down a suspected surveillance balloon.

“President Biden is unwilling to defend our border, defend our skies, and defend our people. He is unfit to serve as commander in chief,” she said.

“Make no mistake, Republicans will not surrender this fight,” she added. “We will lead with courage and do what’s right, not what’s politically correct or convenient.”

Many conservatives have fought for school policy reforms that include school choice for years. I remember school choice battles during the George W. Bush administration. Let the money follow the child. Children should not be stuck in failing public schools because of their zip code. Sanders is making education a focus of her administration. One of her first moves was to hire Florida’s education chancellor to head the Arkansas Department of Education. Governor DeSantis and his administration are having success in education reforms. Hopefully, that success, such as eliminating CRT from classrooms, will happen in Arkansas, too. One Never-Trump Republican, David Jolly, said on MSNBC last night that Sanders must be insecure in her parenting skills to worry about issues like CRT instruction in elementary and middle school. When they are attacking her with personal attacks instead of arguing policy, you know she’s over the target. “We will educate, not indoctrinate, our kids, and put students on a path to success.”

Best of all, she spoke in very relatable terms. She personalized her speech with a reference to her thyroid cancer diagnosis and being cancer-free now. She referenced being a mom. And she told a moving story about visiting western Iraq during the Trump administration on Christmas Day, leaving her young children as they opened their gifts to make a surprise visit to American troops with the president and first lady. She recounted how happy they were for the visit and their chants of USA! USA! USA! as Trump entered the room. The way she told the story brought tears to my eyes.

Sarah was a perfect person to call for younger leadership. She contrasted her age, 40, to that of Biden, 80, as she noted he is the oldest president in American history. She’s right, it’s time for a change. It’s time for the next generation of leaders to emerge. Fortunately for Republicans, we have a deep bench. Democrats can’t say the same. Sarah Huckabee Sanders is one of those emerging leaders.