A Palin Bounce?

I don't think there will be a Palin bounce for John McCain. She did well last night, but not that well.

All she needed to do last night was save her place on the ticket, and give the GOP some hope of recovering from the buzz about the messy details of her family life, ethics investigation, earmarks, and who knows what else. I think she accomplished that much - and set the stage for McCain tomorrow.

She neutralized the negative buzz and cleared the decks for her boss. Whether he gets a bounce now will be all about how he does. My guess is he will suck.

In the weeks ahead, the ethics investigation in Alaska, rather than any tawdry tabloid speculation about the Palin family, will work against Palin and mitigate the effects of her performance last night.

I thought some of her remarks last night revealed a mean streak that may be her undoing. It played well in that house -- I was surprised at the prevalence of crude mockery in the rhetoric of the principal speakers last night -- but most Americans are not going to find that tone appealing. Certainly not when it comes from the mouth of a woman from nowhere.

Yeah, you can put 250 Delawares into Alaska, but you can put all the people of Alaska into Memphis Tennessee; Columbus, Ohio; Austin, Texas; or any one of another 14 cities that exceed Alaska in population. Alaska is an odd state - with $38 billion in petroleum money generating large annual dividend checks, Alaska is the only state in the USA that does not collect sales or income taxes from its residents. The permanent fund dividends, combined with enormous federal aid, provide a large part of the funding for the state and generate $1,650 checks to every resident. Nice, huh?

I'm sorry, Sarah, but 18 months as Governor of Alaska would be an extended vacation for Senator Obama. There's a reason none of us ever heard of Palin before last week, and though her pitbull-with-lipstick attitude may keep her on the ticket, it won't impress independent voters.

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