Republicans Tighten Image on Eve of Palin Speech

The Wall Street Journal reports that the John McCain campaign is working to get ahead of the media cycle on the eve of Sarah Palin's address to the Republican National Convention Wednesday night:

The McCain campaign scrambled to take control of the public debate over vice-presidential pick Sarah Palin, canceling her public appearances and teaming her with high-powered Republican operatives as she prepared for a speech Wednesday night that will be her first, and perhaps most important, chance to define herself to the American public.

Campaign officials were heartened by the strong support the Alaska governor continued to receive in the halls of their nominating convention here, a day after the revelation that her 17-year-old unmarried daughter, Bristol, was pregnant.

Gov. Palin and her husband "have embraced the grandchild about to be born," Gary Bauer, a social conservative activist and onetime presidential candidate, told the Texas delegation. "They already are teaching America a lesson about the sanctity of life," he added, as the delegates jumped to their feet in applause.

But Republican officials remained nervous about how the choice was playing in the country as a whole. Some new polls showed Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama gaining a big lead in recent days following his party's convention last week....

Although there has been extensive coverage of Gov. Palin in the four days since she was named, the campaign sees her speech as an opportunity for her to describe herself in her own terms. The adviser said he would be shocked if she spoke about her daughter's pregnancy, noting that the campaign considers that issue off-limits. Her whole family is expected to attend, including Bristol and her boyfriend, Levi Johnston.

The speech is "a chance for her to actually get out and tell her story and for people to see beyond some of the media fog that's existed in the last 48 hours," said McCain campaign manager Rick Davis.

I doubt Barack Obama will retain his lead in public opinion beyond the end of the week. Rasmussen reports that following a weekend of revelations, Governor Palin finds a clear majority with a favorable opinion:

After a long weekend of Democratic criticism of John McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate, over half of voters (52%) still have at least a somewhat favorable opinion of the Alaska governor. Thirty-one percent (31%) view her very favorably.

If Palin's speech is anything like her debut on the campaign trail in Dayton, Ohio, last Friday, opinion trends should stabilize amid a significant McCain-Palin polling bounce.

See also, "McCain’s Mrs. Right."