HALPERIN’S TAKE: The Five Best Things That Just Might Come Out Of St. Paul for John McCain

1. Base and independent voter enthusiasm from Palin pick and media bashing locks up most or all of the Red states – allowing McCain to focus on Michigan.

2. The negative frame on Obama –- not-ready elitist hippie –- was burned in –- or, at least, a significant foundation was laid down.

3. Donors and grassroots activists have permanently put aside their doubts about whether McCain can win –- at least through Election Day.

4. Questions about Palin’s vetting or qualifications for the job of vice president will be drowned out by the debates, etc.

5. The national press will cast the race for the foreseeable future as a virtual tie –- not Obama’s to lose.

If you go by the reaction of their appearance together today they work wonderfully together and I must admit this is a shock. If anything the fear was Palin was going to overshadow McCain but to use another sports metaphor she is raising McCains game and together they may be absolute dynamite on the campaign trail. They seem to be feeding off each others energy and excitement. Who would have thought that of McCain a week ago? I am not sure what the calculus was but I think they were going to head off separately and cover more ground. Putting them together may be the thing to do now.

. Base and independent voter enthusiasm from Palin pick and media bashing locks up most or all of the Red states – allowing McCain to focus on Michigan.

Key to the election right here.

If Palin's selection truly wrapped up traditional GOP red states like Ohio, Colorado, Virginia, and Nevada, Obama cannot win. Lets hope Halperin's take is correct.

7. After receiving a huge broadside from McCain with the Palin pick, Obama is intimidated and has lost his nerve.

I think you might be right. If you monitor the audio/video of Obama's appearances in the last 24-48 hours you'll see that he is even more bound up and more inarticulate than usual. Biden made a terrible gaffe about prosecuting the Bush administration. Not incidentally, Biden appeared before 100 people, repeat, 100 people in Philadelphia.

Clearly both candidates are off their game back on their heels. Behind the scenes I have no doubt that there staff is at each other's throats and in chaos. They must be frightened about McCain's ability to take in money and the fact that they have lost much of that ability themselves. I am quite sure they have no idea how to compensate for the extraordinary effect of Sarah Palin.

One more gaffe, one surprising event like the invasion of Georgia in the news, could demoralize their campaign beyond recovery.

I expect that they are planning to regroup in the debates. If McCain can keep his moral vision that he articulated or rather portrayed in his acceptance speech, he can weather small gaffes. Palin will certainly be forgiven small gaffes in the debate because the nation knows her and actually loves her and has decided it can live with the limitations of her foreign policy experience.

Of course, the pundits immediately after the debates will tell us what we just saw and that will be that the Democrats won. But their credibility has been so tainted by their appalling treatment of Sarah Palin and their effectiveness will be severely diminished.

Meanwhile, if the McCain camp can take heed from my tagline, they will carry the momentum.

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