The Palin pick scares Democrats; Gustav's impact on RNC

One of our fellow bloggers already predicted that the Palin pick was a wacky but brilliant decision. Now that we have the weekend behind us, and with the RNC just started, we can further confirm the genius behind John McCain's decision,

• The news during the weekend was without question the Palin pick. When was the last time the mainstream media got excited with a Republican issue? Only Arnold's bid for the governorship of our wonderful state of California seems to have come close in recent memory. And even that... During the primary season the Clinton-Obama fight might have eclipsed the Republicans but I would gladly sign for having between now and November 4th the media as excited with the McCain-Palin ticket as they have been during the last weekend.
• Obama's acceptance speech, despite being the most watched acceptance speech of a presidential candidate in US history, was either ignored or not given enough attention by the media.
• The Republican base got so excited by the pick that the McCain campaign raised 4 million dollars over the Internet in one day and a half. John McCain said in an interview to Fox News last Sunday, "I wish I had have taken her a month ago".
• And what is probably the best evidence that the Palin pick has effectively neutralized Obama, polls from Gallup and CNN show a very modest (in CNN's case not even statistically significant) bounce for Obama after the DNC. Going into the DNC, I am sure the Democrats had higher expectations than that ;D.
  

Democrats are sure panicking. Given how game changing the Palin pick has been, that reaction is understandable. In fact, Joe Trippi warns their fellow Democrats that they shouldn't underestimate Palin. But that's one thing and quite another to react, as the most recalcitrant of liberals have, with fallacious, unsubstantiated nonsense smear attacks against Sarah. If what we saw during the last 2 days is any indication, it might be a very nasty campaign by the other side. But if that's the best they can do against the McCain-Palin ticket, it's tantamount to an implicit acknowledgement that our liberal friends are scared to death about what seems right now the very real possibility that John McCain will be the next President of the United States, a very different scenario than what they imagined just one month ago when Obama was enjoying his status as American celebrity with the Germans.

As I am finishing this post, a scaled down RNC has just started; as I watch my fellow Republicans in Saint Paul greeting Ms McCain and Ms Bush, it's evident that they continue to be electrified with Palin. My thoughts are with the Americans who have been affected by the Gustav hurricane. A prompt action by the federal and state governments together with a weakened storm makes me believe that Gustav's impact will be less severe on the human front than Katrina was three years ago. Let's hope it's the case.