I was actually very impressed with the enforced civility in this site (compared to all the other garbage spewed). And I think its a great way of talking about people even when you completely disagree with them. You know, elevated discourse and all.

The "drill now" energy approach is attractive to many voters.  This needs to be neutralized by emphasizing a long term balanced approaach.  BTW This is Palin's strongest issue.  I think the Obama campaign is doing a good job in this area.

But Rudy sure said her name, and thunderous applause erupted from the Craven GOP delegation.  Rudy!!!!  Who has denigrated her to the nines, for years.  Applause!!!! From people who have done everything possible to demonize her for over a decade now.

I agree with those who say it is not up to her to come to Obama's rescue, that it is up to Obama and Biden to court middle and working class demographics, and court women, that Hillary earned.  But this is not about Obama, it's about what will happen to this country as a result of the election.  

Halfway through Sarah Palin's speech tonight at the RNC, people following the speech noticed she was deviating from the prepared text.

According to sources close to the McCain campaign, the teleprompter continued scrolling during applause breaks.

As a result, half way through the speech, the speech had scrolled significantly from where Governor Palin was in the speech. The malfunction also occurred during Rudy Giuliani's speech, explaining his significant deviations from his speech.

A visit to Wikipedia reveals that Palin has a degree in "communications-journalism" from the University of Idaho.  She managed this after 5 years and 3 colleges.  (She also attended the prestigious institutions Hawaii Pacific and North Idaho College).  Call me an elitist but I don't think this is exactly a confidence inspiring educational background for a Vice-President.

We should stop reporting on the families of the candidates. Unless the candidates want us to.

Sarah Palin wanted the media to report on her teenage son, Track, who enlisted in the Army on Sept. 11, 2007, and soon will deploy to Iraq.

Sarah Palin did not want the media to report on her teenage daughter, Bristol, who is pregnant and unmarried.

Sarah Palin thinks that one is good for her campaign and one is not, and that the media should report only on what is good for her campaign. That is our job, and that is our duty. If that is not actually in the Constitution, it should be. (And someday may be.)

Quote excerpted below,  but worth reading the whole thing.

To return to the main theme: both Reagan in 1964 and Obama in 2004 were effective because, apart from their personal skills, they added something to their party's constituency that had not been there before. Reagan began recruiting the "Reagan Democrats," starting with white Southerners. Obama tried to recruit people tired of divisive partisanship.

Sarah Palin, at least tonight, did not seem interested in bringing anyone new into the fold. A speech that was great in the convention hall. We'll see how it affects the electoral lineup.

Well, they did it last night, again. And what do we come back with? Biden finger wagging? Obama sighing? I think the dems are being caught flatfooted yet again. We need to come back hard against this sort of nonsense, and call it for what it is. McCain tonight will attack, will distort, will lie and we need to be ready to strongly refute everything he says, and everything he might say.

Did Sarah Palin "have a moment" last night? Certainly, she has none of the depth and history that Hillary Clinton has as a champion of feminism and women's rights. So, the Republican "image-makers" did not simply work over Governor Palin into a new product to roll out in September. They stagecrafted her introduction, with a different emotion. Many people thought that the McCain and the Republicans were ridiculous for their attacks on the media, but they really were just organizing the stage for Palin's speech. Her speech would not have been as "effective" without the context that the Republicans created with their accusations of sexism against both the Democrats and the media.

That is why, to me, when I look at the meaning-making theater of last night's speeches (including Guiliani's absurd championing of women), it says to me that the Republicans are still making a strong play for disaffected women voters from the Democratic primaries(though many on the left have abandoned this analysis, and thankfully so since many of our bloggers can't seem to conceptualize or discuss women without mentioning vaginas). But, Republicans specialize in symbolic shows and narratives (despite what Noonan might think), so they stagecrafted Sarah Palin's moment. From this point forward, I suspect, look for her to make a play as a fighter for the kinds of people and women she identifies and speaks about in her speeches. (And saying there are "no issues" in her speech may be as ineffective as it proved to be Obama and Clinton during the primaries, after the Democratic party solidified into its two camps after Super Tuesday).