She did as well as anyone could expect and probably exceeded expectations of McCain supporters. With her humble background and her short time as nominee, she commanded the stage well. Good speaker, good poise.

I expected her to make a soft appeal...but instead she leapt from an abbreviated biography into launching attacks. It's apparent that she's going to play the role of an attack dog that barks the sharpest talking points.

I assume that the McCain campaign feels that she can dish it out and then when she gets it back, they can claim that she's a victim of sexism. I'm not sure that will work out.... it worked to some degree for Hillary. Maybe people will give Palin more of a pass.

After tonight, I imagine many Democrats are feeling nervous. And a lot of republicans are having orgasms. I'm not sure that will persist for very long.

Palin is no dud.... she is exciting. But if people vote on policy, and pay attention, Palin has pretty limited appeal beyond the traditional base. In fact, she's further to the right than a lot of the Republican base, so it remains to be seen how many independents she can help peel off.

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The world could use more Stan Ovshinsky's