"This is baptism by fire," said G. Terry Madonna, the political scientist and pollster from Franklin & Marshall College. "She's got to deliver a speech that makes it clear that, if she doesn't have the ability yet, that at least she can learn on the job. She has to be credible in that sense."
This convention wasn't supposed to be about the vice president, but since McCain announced the surprise pick on Friday, the media and many voters - arguably energized by a new and attractive face in a race that has dragged on for more than a year - could talk of little else.
Although the initial reaction of many pundits was to question the experience of a first-term governor whose prior political post was as mayor of a town of 8,471, Republicans continued to rally behind their fellow social conservative, and against the media.
"What a breath of fresh air Governor Sarah Palin is," Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson, the failed presidential candidate, said in addressing the confab last night. "She is from a small town, with small-town values, but that's not good enough for those folks who are attacking her and her family. Let's be clear, the selection of Governor Palin has the other side and their friends in the media in a state of panic."
Likewise, conservative bellwether pundit Pat Buchanan, who was initially critical of McCain's surprise choice, pulled a 180-degree turn, writing last night that "[t]he arrival of Palin on the national scene, with her youth, charisma and vitality, probably also portends a changing of the guard in Washington."
