As I predicted earlier today, Sarah Palin did just fine. In fact, she delivered a brilliant speech. It was a classic Republican speech--written by Matthew Scully of the Bush speechwriting shop--chock full of conservative populism, a cultural "torpedo" as Chris Mathews is saying as I write this, aimed directly at Barack and Michelle Obama. She was far more effective, using fewer words than the over-the-top Rudy Giuliani, in tearing down the Obama candidacy. There was not much substance--issues don't matter, remember?--and her description of Obama's policies, particularly his tax policies, was quite inaccurate.

But that hardly matters. Palin established herself as a major-league performer, a very effective messenger for the perennial Republican themes of low taxes and strong defense. And a new theme--government reform--that changes the terrain of the election and will have to be forcefully countered by the Democrats. Obama will have to be every bit as sharp--and down to earth--as he was in his speech last week as this goes forward.

Last week, when Bill Clinton began to speak, I thought: this turns this lugubrious convention around. I thought the same as Palin spoke tonight. John McCain, not nearly the speaker that Palin seems to be, has a tough act to follow tomorrow night.

A few minutes later: The speech also very effectively steered Palin away from her extremist views on social issues...and from her differences from McCain on almost every issue--global warming, tax increases, pork--except abortion. It will, obviously, be crucial for Obama and Biden to make clear the inaccuracies in her speech--and her relentless mischaracterizations of Obama's positions, especially taxes.

The more I think about it, Palin's was an authentic, sarcastic, white working-class voice--absent the economic pain at large in the country, the fact that median families have lost $2000 in disposable income during the Bush presidency. The Democrats are betting that the pain will trump the sarcasm this year; the media reaction you're seeing, including my own, comes from the knowledge that sarcasm has trumped pain so often in recent history. The question remains the one Obama raised last week: will this be a big election or a small one?

Maybe it won't help them win. Maybe it will turn out to have been too negative and sarcastic for the current public mood, especially coming after Giuliani. But two things are clear after Sarah Palin made her do-or-die debut before 20-plus million people tonight. She is amazingly self-confident. And she knows how to nail a speech.

From TIME's Amy Sullivan

Rudy Giuliani becomes the first Republican speaker to describe what John McCain endured in the POW camp as "torture."

CORRECTION: Jay Carney tells me Huckabee spoke the T-word first. Apologies, and kudos to Huck. "Beatings and isolation" was kinda wordy anyway.

He gives a good speech, but he's loose with the facts. He called Abraham Lincoln the "founder" of the Republican Party. Nope. Lincoln was not the founder of the party; he wasn't even the first Republican nominee (John Fremont was, in 1856). Lincoln was, of course, the first Republican to be elected president.

Second, Huckabee said this about John McCain's time as a prisoner of war:

He could have eased his own pain and even cut short his imprisonment by uttering a few simple words renouncing his country. But he loved his country and knew that to return with honor later was better than to return without it now.

Here, too, Huckabee got his facts confused. Like every long-term POW, McCain did renounce his country -- after being horrendously tortured. And there is no shame in that. The true story is that McCain refused early release because he thought it would be dishonorable to leave ahead of those who had been captured before him. That story is remarkable enough; it didn't need the embellishment Huckabee gave it.

After Romney and before Huckabee. They are playing Rodney Atkins great tune "If You're Going Through Hell." The lyrics:

You step off the straight and narrow/ And you don't know where you are
Use the needle of your compass/ To sew up your broken heart/ Ask directions from a genie/
In a bottle of Jim Beam/ And she lies to You/ That's when you learn the truth

If you're going through hell/ Keep on going, Don't slow down/ If you're scared, don't show it/ You might get out/ Before the devil even knows you're there

Symbolism? Who knows? Not quite "Addicted to Love" after Bill Clinton spoke in Denver. But still.

Thanks to Mitt Romney, favorite Republican son of Massachusetts, whose father was an automobile executive and governor, who graduated Baker Scholar from Harvard Business School and cum laude from Harvard Law School, and who ran the one of the most successful private equity firms in the history of New England finance. He just put eastern elites in their place, and the crowd loved it:

For decades, the Washington sun has been rising in the east - Washington has been looking to the eastern elites, to the editorial pages of the Times and the Post, and to the broadcasters from the coast. If America really wants change, it's time to look for the sun in the west, cause it's about to rise and shine from Arizona and Alaska!

In her speech tonight, Gov. Sarah Palin will take a few shots at Sen. Obama and the press. Two excerpts released by the campaign:

Before I became governor of the great state of Alaska, I was mayor of my hometown. And since our opponents in this presidential election seem to look down on that experience, let me explain to them what the job involves. I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a ‘community organizer,' except that you have actual responsibilities.

AND

I've learned quickly, these past few days, that if you're not a member in good standing of the Washington elite, then some in the media consider a candidate unqualified for that reason alone. But here's a little news flash for all those reporters and commentators: I'm not going to Washington to seek their good opinion - I'm going to Washington to serve the people of this country.

The second shot should play well with viewers who think the mainstream media is elitist and pro-Obama -- most of whom are likely to vote Republican regardless. The first -- with its oblique reference to Obama's time as a community organizer -- may not register with a broad audience.

Watch this for the dating tips from Tucker Carlson. Seriously.

Jpod asserts that it was just fine for Sarah Palin to sit in church while a speaker claimed that Palestinian assaults on Israel were God's vengeance on those who don't accept Jesus...

I guess this takes Jeremiah Wright off the table, right?

• "WHEREAS, the celebration of Christian Heritage Week, October 21-27, 2007, reminds Alaskans of the role Christianity has played in our rich heritage. Many truly great men and women of America, giants in the structuring of American history, were Christians of caliber and integrity who did not hesitate to express their faith." [Beliefnet.com]

• "But there's something about aerial wolf hunting that just doesn't strike me as very sporting...I mean, I could go in for some aerial wolf taunting, maybe, where you chase the wolf around in your plane, tire him out, land, and then get out and say things like, 'SUCK IT, WOLF!..' Then you get back on the plane and get wasted on mini bottles of cinnamon schnapps or something." [DCeiver]

• "A whole country invisible to most Americans." [Indecision2008]

• "But whether or not the press is biased against McCain and Palin, McCain's campaign will continue to scream bloody murder as long as it thinks that help his chances in November." [Portfolio]

• Click HERE for more information. [Best Week Ever]