Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, the US Republican vice-presidential candidate in 2008, described herself as a "hockey mom" as far back as her 2006 gubernatorial race. In her speech at the 2008 Republican National Convention and in stump speeches following the convention, she joked that the only difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull was lipstick, suggesting that hockey moms are tough. "Hockey partisans" on the Internet claim that hockey moms are "a bit more intense than their soccer counterparts, both in terms of the commitments they make to the sport and the intensity with which they cheer their kids."