All Palin, All the Time

As I was preparing to post John McCain's new campaign ad buy (seen below, via Captain Ed), I checked around at some of the national and regional dailies to see if I could find a corresponding news story on Barack Obama.

According to lthe evel of attention among Sunday news columnists, Sarah Palin's still the hot topic this morning, five days after the Alaska Governor made her prime-time debut in St. Paul:

* David Broder at the Washingoton Post compares presidential tickets in "Change vs. Change."

* Clarence Page at the Chicago Tribune says "Get Ready for the Real Fireworks."

* Kevin Rennie at the Hartford Courant notes "Palin's Pitch-Perfect Performance Inspires Shock and Awe."

* Frank Rich at the New York Times attacks "Palin and McCain’s Shotgun Marriage."

* Joan Vennochi at the Boston Globe warns of "Sarah Palin's Song and Dance."

It's all interesting, but somewhat beside the point now.

Sarah Palin is now widely seen as the most important socio-political game-changer on the national scene in decades. As Jeffrey Bell noted earlier, "the Sarah Palin vice presidential candidacy may be regarded decades from now as a nationally shared Rorschach test of enormous cultural significance."

The McCain-Palin cultural tsunami's not going to be wearing off soon, mainly because the Democratic left is still trying to find its groove in attacking the Alaska Governor without further damaging Obama's negatives on patriotism and traditional values. Personality will trump policy for the time being.

Note that Gallup's new tracking numbers have John McCain moving ahead of Barack Obama, 48 to 45 percent among registered voters. Final post-convention data from Gallup will includes interviews after McCain's Thursday night acceptance speech, although additional surveys have clearly found a Palin bounce for the GOP.