Perky, Populist Palin Saves McCain Again

Sarah Palin starred in her own political "infomercial" last night and once again revived John McCain's flagging campaign, writes Peggy Noonan of the Wall Street Journal. Palin looked "not petrified but peppy," her style far more suited to a debate than a cerebral interview. Biden seemed to be waiting for her to make a fool of herself. She didn’t. Instead, she talked straight to the people in a baldly populist, if transparent, pitch to “soccer moms” and “Joe Six-Pack.”

“There were moments when she seemed to be doing an informercial for charm in politics," Noonan writes. "But it was an effective infomercial." Still, "a question is at what point shiny, happy populism becomes cheerful manipulation.”
(More Sarah Palin stories.)