The Fox News Sunday Roundtable included this from Mara Liasson on the selection of Sarah Palin:

Yeah, I think she’s made a huge difference. I can’t think of a single other one of those finalists on that short list that could have given a speech like that. I mean, she is an incredible talent. As a matter of fact, some of the ones on the short list which the Obama campaign keeps on pushing, the Lieberman and Ridges, would have caused a revolt at the convention. But I think that she has made a huge difference. I think she cannot only energize the base, but she gives him a chance to talk to some of those voters in Appalachia, in Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, all those voters who are very leery of Barack Obama. And I think that in terms of what happens over time, I don’t think she’s going to fade. I think the big question is does she implode or not. Is there something else that we don’t know? What happens to all these inquiries about “troopergate,” et cetera? But I think so far she’s exploded on the scene. She’s done a great job for John McCain, even at the cost of bearing the criticism of picking someone who isn’t ready to take over on day one.

After sitting through the snooze-inducing speeches of some of those other VP contenders and watching the rapturous welcome from the GOP base for Palin, I must agree. I think it is indisputable at this point that Palin was the only pick who could have had this impact. And certainly it is hard to think of anyone who could have juiced up the base while simultaneously appealing to blue-collar swing voters.

That is not to say that the Obama camp didn’t substantially assist the Republicans. As Bill Kristol noted:

When Palin was announced, the Obama campaign put out a snotty statement, a dismissive statement. “John McCain today has taken a former mayor of a town of 9,000 with no foreign policy experience and made her — put her a heartbeat from the presidency.” What did David Axelrod, who’s not a — who’s a very smart man, say to you today when you asked about Governor Palin? “We’re not running against Governor Palin.” What does that — that tells you everything. They’re scared to run against Governor Palin. He would not take her on, and they realize they made a horrible mistake going after her and letting Obama get in a fight with Palin, which, of course, makes them — who has more experience, the Democratic presidential candidate or the Republican vice presidential candidate?

And as smart as Steve Schmidt may be, I also find it hard to believe that he fully anticipated the atrocious MSM behavior which provided the drama and the huge audience for Palin. In that regard, the McCain camp was simply lucky. But however they arrived at the current state of the affairs, the race is very different than it was a week ago.

None of this means that Palin is home free or that the McCain-Palin ticket has permanently reshaped the race. There is way too much time and too many key events (including the debates) still left to go. What it does mean is that the McCain camp has proven to be more adept at reading and anticipating voter opinion than either the Obama camp or the MSM. That’s not a bad place to be less than two months before Election Day.

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