The Washington Post utters this admonition: “It’s hard to recall a time when either major party asked voters to accept a nominee with a thinner record.” Well , nice to hear that now. The core of the Post’s argument is amusing: Sarah Palin better darn well submit to the media gauntlet.

Well, on one level this is true. She will have no choice and the knives have been sharpened. But on another is comical. Have they demanded an accounting of his claim that Bill Ayers was a “guy in the neighborhood”? Have they queried Obama on his legislative record and the missing documents from his years in the Illinois state legislature? Did I miss it when they demanded a list of his law clients or his actual medical records (or Joe Biden’s for that matter) rather than a one-page letter from his doctor? No to all of these, of course.

All of this is a struggle for control of the political process. Who is going to control the process, the players or the press? And it is Plan B (Plan A was hoping social conservatives would rip the Palin pack to shreds) in the effort to bring down John McCain by use of Palin, or more specifically, Palin’s  daughter.

I do agree with John: the speech carries with it the ability to disarm Palin’s critics or rev their engines. In this Palin will be greatly aided by the crowd. I suspect her first appearance will ignite a tumultuous welcome.