It came off about the way I said it would yesterday. She did very well from a likability stand point and the media for the most part gave her a huge thumbs up. I would agree with that too. Some think she was a bit too hostile, but we'll see. And since she doesn't think a woman should get an abortion even if she is raped, the James Dobson wing of the Republican party just adores her. The ratings were great too so more Americans were able to see her. Why is that important? Here's a very revealing poll from CBS:

Sixty-six percent had no opinion of her in a CBS News poll conducted over the weekend. In polling completed on Monday and Tuesday, sixty percent still had no opinion about her.

I believe even after all the media exposure she has received, there will still be a major portion of Americans that will not know her because there's not enough time so I think the election still rests on McCain's shoulders. I believe we'll have to wait and see what the polls say to really be able to judge how America felt about her and McCain after the smoke clears from the Conventions. Obama received a bounce after his and I hope he can retain half of it.

Oh, and the Republicans are setting up McCain too tonight. They have made sure to set the bar really, really low for his speech tonight so all he has to do is not give us the "crazy eyes" routine and the media will swoon once again.

Digby sez: The Messiah and St Joan:

Palin is from the far right wing of the GOP and that should provide a lot of fodder for criticism. I have certainly urged that we heavily scrutinize her ties to to the AKIP and look into her extremist religious views. But her appearance last night as a polished professional (female) politician makes that more difficult as well. She doesn't look like some frothing wingnut, even though, for all her "reformer" claims, her ideology is really as right as it gets. She's a clever stealth pick to solidify the base. Whether she and McCain can successfully draw independents is another thing and I'm still doubtful it will work (unless the backlash becomes a wildfire and the working class whites all desert Obama.) Once people get used to the idea of her, I think they will refocus on the presidential candidates and she will spend her time exhorting the base to GOTV.

Three months ago, I thought the Democrats couldn't lose. I still think they will win, although I believe the race will be closer than we thought. The Republicans are as good at campaigning as they are bad at governing so they picked the one guy who could even remotely claim to be a "different kind of Republican" even though his only distinction from them is that he lashes out incoherently at members of both parties. Unlike the monkish, ascetic post-partisan Obama, who appeals to people's better nature, he is an angry bipartisan warrior who (along with his brave, martyr'd second) will bring down the wrath of God on all those who fail to put "country first." If he can convince just a few more people that that's what it's going to take to fix the country's problems, then he'll win. I don't think people are that dumb. But then I always underestimate the prevalence of that particular characteristic.