It's On!

After Republican GOP VP nominee Sarah Palin went after Barack Obama in her well-received acceptance speech last night, one Democrat told George Stephanopolous, "It's on!"

Indeed it is. At least we're not hearing any Republican blather about "changing the tone in Washington". If McCain and Palin get elected, watch out. It'll be a Beltway Brawl.

The only observation that I have of Palin's speech that hasn't been touched upon, is that her presentation made think how remarkably similar to Barack Obama she really is. Not ideologically, of course; but in their ascension as the new vanguard of their respective parties.

Both started in politics improbably and at roughly the same time (1996). Both achieved popularity early on. Both had fortuitous circumstances catapault them to the national stage. They are roughly the same age, they are both physically attractive and they both can give a hell of a speech. They have both had to counter the 'lack of experience' tag. And they are both going to be the faces of their parties after this election, no matter who wins. Obviously, Palin has to make sure other skeletons don't keep revealing themselves, but if they don't, she and Obama could be going at each other for the next two decades.

On the other hand, there are major stylistic differences, as well.

While Obama and running mate Joe Biden have gone out of their way to be kind to Palin, she bought into the standard Veep playbook: defend your guy and tear into the other guy. And she did, like a pitbull. Her delivery was pitch perfect and her humor was effective. But, she also woke up the Obama campaign. You can bet that this fight will get ugly in the next 2 months.

The good news for McCain is that Sarah Palin has given him more than he ever could have hoped to this point. Even with the distraction of her daughter's pregnancy.

But now comes the hard part. First of all, McCain has to speak tonight. That event is implicitly anti-climactic. And his lame speaking style will be more pronounced after the success of Palin's speech. Second, now that surrogates have hammered the other side, he's got to show the positive vision for change that his campaign stands for. Third, the scrutiny over his running mate's record will intensify. Especially since even a cursory look exposes large gaps between her pithy words and the facts. Troopergate is also an issue that will continue to be a distraction.

So far, this convention has been a success for the Republicans, the weakness of the usual parade of older white guys notwithstanding. It has rallied the faithful, inserted some much needed enthusiasm into their presidential campaign, and unveiled a potential star for the party heading into the future.

The only downside is that Sarah Palin's thin resume has reverted the election to a referendum on change. Is this really a fight that the party with eight years in the White House and seven years of Congressional control, can win?

We'll see. But, make no mistake: it's on.

Is this the winning ticket and why? Talk about this or anything else by clicking on 'comments' below, bypassing the Google sign up and hitting the anonymous or nickname button.