Warm-up Act

The GOP has its ticket, one that has the competent, experienced, mature candidate on the top of the ticket, and the exciting newcomer in the learning position.

Mr McCain may be the Republican candidate for president, but on his big night in the spotlight he seemed, at times to be playing second fiddle to his running-mate.

With the inexperienced candidate on the top of the ticket, lacking in maturity and vetting, and the 35 year Washington veteran at the bottom, doesn't the Democratic ticket seem scrambled?

There were several moments when the crowd stood up and applauded loudly during the McCain speech, but at times they seemed to be rousing themselves rather than being roused. Applauding the ideas, rather than the language or the delivery.

McCain's speech was a sober event last night - without the passion and fire that Sarah Palin delivered the night before. But I, for one, feel much more confident having the rock star be the warm-up act.

Are You Experienced?

What do Americans think about the way Palin's been ravaged by the media?

Last night’s polling shows that, by a ten-to-one margin, voters believe
reporters are trying to hurt Palin’s campaign rather than help. Republicans and
unaffiliated voters strongly believe that a double standard is being applied to
Palin because she is a woman. Democrats disagree.

The experience debate has been raging, and I've been predicting that this would play to the advantage of McCain/Palin. Let them keep it up!

Perhaps most stunning is that, among unaffiliated voters, just 42% believe
Obama has better experience than Palin to be President. Thirty-seven percent
(37%) say Palin has the edge on experience. Again, most of the interviews for
this survey were completed before Palin’s well-received speech last night.

Dick Morris on Palin

Sarah Palin, barring an unlikely bad performance tonight, was a great pick for John McCain. Dick Morris explains why.

Understand: Palin is under attack because she was such a good choice.
Remember the Democrats' central charge on McCain - "He's a Bush clone." By choosing Palin, something George Bush would never have done, McCain showed how really different he is.

In other words, Palin tells a story about John McCain in a way that's more vivid than if McCain tried to tell the same story about himself.

The old ground rule for picking a running mate was to help the ticket carry a particular state. But Bill Clinton changed the rules when he tapped Al Gore in 1992. Clinton likely would've carried Tennessee anyway, but the choice of Gore emphasized the most important feature of Clinton's candidacy: He was from a new generation and represented a new outlook.

That's the magic of Sarah - McCain went from feeling a bit old and traditional to looking like the change candidate that he is. With his pick, Obama violated his change brand by turning to a 35 year Washington insider.

And so Sarah Palin reinforces the most important aspect of the McCain candidacy: Despite 30 years in Washington, he's an outsider and a dedicated foe of corruption and conflict of interest in government. He's the one who stands up against pork, earmarks and lobbyists and backs campaign-finance reform.

As McCain devalues Barack's change brand, he will also seek to remind people that, as Fred Thompson put it last night, there's never been anyone less experienced in the position that Barack Obama finds himself in now.

Nervous Laughter

It's what they call a nervous laugh.

Asked at a press conference Saturday night to respond to McCain's argument that Palin has more executive experience than the Democratic ticket, Obama and Biden laughed.

Obama gets this totally wrong!

"I think you guys can take a look at Gov. Palin's record, Joe Biden's record and make your judgment in terms of who you think has what it takes to be an outstanding vice president," Obama said after a rally in Dublin, Ohio. "I feel confident about my choice."

While Palin's experience may not hold up against Joe Biden's, but it looks pretty strong against Barack's!

This was about as far as Obama would go, for a second day in a row, to cast a critical eye on Palin.

That's because Palin, and her lack of experience, is very scary for Barack Obama. It's just amazing how automatically the conversation flows from Palin's lack of experience to Barack's.