I hope things do get to her record, rather than the personal stuff we've seen. I could care less about the personal lives of these people.

I think it should matter to any voter that she left a town of under 7,000 with a debt of $20 million. That she hired a lawfirm at the time to lobby Washington for earmarks. And that as Governor she raised taxes.

I imagine when it comes to foreign policy her positions will mirror those of John McCain, which are completely vague on Iraq and tough-talking but not yet substantive on Russia.

The thing that voters are going to have to decide is if they think that the McCain/Palin team's new re-tooled message of "Change" can wash over 8 years of unprecedented deficits, and financing a war with tax cuts and borrowing from China, which are certainly not traditional conservative positions. The Republicans apparently will continue to deny or own up to any of their previous mistakes, simply brushing them aside and blaming Democrats for all the nations ills.

Having said all that, she's playing to a friendly audience, and she'll no doubt deliver a fine speech tonight.

It's obvious where this election is going now: it's a redux of 2004, with the right being hijacked by neo-cons and trying to mobilize values voters. Can they sacrifice all those Independents? Only time will tell.