Primetime for Palin

The press are always declaring speeches ‘the most important of the campaign so far’ but Sarah Palin’s tonight really is. John McCain took a huge gamble in picking the first-term governor of Alaska as his running mate and even without the revelations of the past few days tonight would be important for her given that she has to both introduce herself to the nation and show that she is a credible second in line for the presidency. But with parts of the media trying, disgustingly, to turn her family into a Jerry Springer special  and some serious and generally worrying revelations about the vetting process that led to her selection her speech has become crucial to McCain’s electoral prospects. It is her chance to show the public who she really is, to define herself before the media freakshow do the job for her.

If Palin knocks it out of the park it will be hard for the media to dismiss her as a tokenistic pick and the questions about how she was chosen will seem less important.