Quick Thoughts on McCain and Palin

I am tied up today dealing with a non-blogging matter, but I want to post a few quick comments about last night:

* McCain tried hard to grab the spotlight, but he has clearly been upstaged by the showy running mate he selected in a distinctly panicky decision one week ago. In comparison to Palin, McCain was flat, his delivery mechanical, and his audience out-of-synch with his message.

* My 80-year-old mother-in-law's reaction to Palin's speech was that "she didn't have to be so nasty." This is in line with other anecdotal reactions I have been hearing, reacting negatively to Palin's sarcasm and divisiveness. (Focus groups in Michigan and Nevada showed similar reactions among independents and Hillary supporters.) Now polling data appears to confirm that Palin's mean-spirited speech energized McCain's base but did not sway independents or bring more women from across the political spectrum into the McCain camp. A ABC Poll taken yesterday, after Palin's speech, shows that Republicans love her (85% favorable), Independents are mixed (53% favorable, compared to 52% favorable as to Biden), and Democrats don't like her much at at all (24% favorable). In other words, a highly partisan reaction.

* So Palin did a good job of firing up McCain's conservative base, but how well did McCain do last night in reaching out to the middle and to Democrats? Aside from his limitations as an orator, he was challenged by internal contradictions to his message: he says he wants to put partisan pickering aside, but he has attacked his opponent viciously and relentlessly over the last three months; he claims to want to challenge Washington, but he has been a Washington insider for decades; and he calls himself an agent of change but his policies and voting record tie him inexorably to the current administration. I don't think last night's speech will prove to have made much progress toward its intended goal.