Palin is a meteor screaming across the sky, as they sometimes do. The leftists see it as a reactionary blip. However, she is a very modern woman, with frontier experience. She has woken up some very strong emotional feelings among both women and men.

My wife and I just agree to disagree on politics. She never left the left, as I did. However, she is all over Palin ("finally, an earth momma with teeth!). I doubt that my dearest will vote for McCain/Palin, but she is actually starting to think about it. Amazing!

Thank you, Sarah...you have provided hope!

McCain speech is worth reading in its full text. It is moving and amazing testament about his journey.

McCain’s speech was the declaration of someone with nothing left to prove.

Any man who can admit that he was broken and afraid under interrogation is describing a kind of endurance, which while any intelligent person might understand, I think only men who have themselves been afraid can truly empathize with.

There are places on that dark path which you know you could not have crossed through your strength alone.
And whether you owe your emergence to luck or to God might be a matter for debate.
But you know you do not wholly owe it to yourself.
And this realization makes you less willing to blame others; less ready to stand in judgment of those who failed the test.

It doesn’t make you lower the bar. But it makes you aware of how high that bar is.

What John McCain was describing was his redemption; which always brings with it a kind of recklessness in the true sense of the cost being immaterial.
It is the realization that the first person singular truly doesn’t matter.
“In the end, it matters less that you can fight. What you fight for is the real test.”

SWP,

McCain's speech was pretty panned, but I also thought the end of it was moving. Unfortunately, the biggest cheers came when he made digs at the Democrats. That was not an audience that had any interest in rising above partisanship.

Gary,

My take on Palin is that she appeals to the base--which is what you see in the Rasmussen link. There's also a bounce that came from low expectations--wow, the [portion removed by Palo Alto Online staff] from Alaska can talk! I saw part of it again the other night and I still wasn't impressed with it. There's kind of an interesting blog on it at Slate--the XXfactor--women's blog, of course. The first entries show the women being impressed by Palin appearing formidable and able to give a speech. A day later, there's a kind of sadness over how vicious Palin was in her speech.

Right now, Palin's getting the benefit of the doubt and a certain protective (thus, her much greater popularity with men than women)thing--since the GOP have whined and whined about how she's being unfairly picked upon. But as the novelty act wears off, I think you'll see her popularity move back to the GOP core. She's being moved offstage for one thing--they've got to prep her a lot--not surprising given how late the pick was.

She *is* under investigation and she's got an impressive history of bringing in the pork. She left a town of 7,500 $20 million in debt. She's not a picture of fiscal responsibility or small government. Again, I don't think that will matter with the base. It will matter with the independents.

I don't think, by the way, that Obama is a shoe-in--but the basic weakness of the GOP platform stance remains. You can't call for change when you've spent 23 years in the Senate and the country's been run by your party and be credible. And I think it will come back to that.

McCain speech: Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz. he

Back to cold reality: Repubs have a "dead fish" Presidential pick on their hands. As the days go by, their enthusiasm will wane as they lament that their newly-anointed Madonna savior is not at the top of the ticket.

At the same time, how long before Ms. Palin starts going off message, her huge ego and ruthless ambition getting the best of her, thinking all the country's in love with her and she can get away with anything and she's bigger than McCain now, so take that! You just know it's going to happen and it's going to be a good one!

[Post removed by Palo Alto Online staff.]

[Post removed by Palo Alto Online staff.]

Greg,

I was being facetious--pointing out how low the expectations for Palin were--ergo, it wasn't hard to exceed them.

Actually, my own family were in Alaska long before Palin got there. There's a stream up there named after a grandparent. Another was mayor of small town near Fairbanks.

Damn, he would have made a great VP--except for the stammer.

So forgive me if I'm not so amazed by Yukon exotica (Moose Stew!)