Palin's Moment

What to make of the new USA Today / Gallup poll showing John McCain with leads among registered and likely voters?  Calling it a convention "bounce" is a little off, as bounces go up and then come down. It's probably best to wait for a week to see how the competing narratives of the past two week settle before concluding that the electorate has shifted fundamentally.

And yet, there are reasons to think that it might have: McCain and Sarah Palin are running a different campaign with different assumptions. They're targeting different states -- Wisconsin is suddenly back in play, Georgia is off the table for now, Missouri seems to be leaning McCain; they have a different message (not experience, but reform); they have the attention of the press.   Obama's running the same campaign -- McCain = Bush, Obama = change, 18 states, elections are about issues,  and straight on until morning.

For Palin, the news coverage is coming around. It was tough early last week; it seems to be admiring and even fawning today, with the Anchorage Daily News waging a one-paper crusade to set the record straight about her mythology. The tabloid shows -- Extra comes to mind -- seem to be enraptured.