The speech was a shrewd success, and it doesn't matter what she or anyone else says about McCain.

How is it possible that you and the other lefties on the forum do not know this?

Contempt and anger and condescension are no substitutes for knowledge. You have to understand how the opposition thinks - and you seem to have no undrestanding in how Republicans think. You don't even express interest.

The Beloved One is the focus of this campaign. Palin went after all the vulnerable areas for Democrats - both the stereotypes and the real issues, and there is often overlap.

The left is so arrogant and contemptuous of conservatives that they have forgotten that there are real concerns out there.

Obama has never given the slightest indication that he understands that the world is a dangerous place.

How will he serve as commander in chief if he is a pacifist? He is stuffed with love - love that pours out and floods the universe. This is all very well as a joke, but how will he serve as head of the military?

How will his huge tax increases effect the economy? Or rather, how will they hurt the economy?

How will people who are not on the left fit into the world of Obama and his leftist friends?

These are genuine questions. The Democrats turn away from them with amused contempt.

Palin comes out and slams them on all these things.

The problem is that she - and the GOP - do not really have a positive message. That is probably enough for them to lose.

But it is nevertheless a close race. And Palin's speech is the clue as to why: if you care enough about polutics to listen and think seriously.