Below The Beltway

As expected, Vice-Presidential nominee-to-be Sarah Palin took on her critics and took aim at Barack Obama:

ST. PAUL, Minnesota (CNN) — Sarah Palin praised John McCain on Wednesday night as a man who has met grave challenges and “knows how tough fights are won.”

She blasted Democratic rival Barack Obama, saying he “wants to forfeit” in Iraq while victory is “finally in sight.”

“It’s easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform, not even in the state Senate,” she said of Obama at the Republican National Convention.

The crowd erupted with chants of “Zero!” and some delegates made zeroes with their fingers.

Palin continued, “this is a man who can give an entire speech about the wars America is fighting and never use the word ‘victory’ except when he’s talking about his own campaign.

“What exactly is our opponent’s plan? What does he actually seek to accomplish after he’s done turning back the waters and healing the planet? The answer is to make the government bigger and take more of your money.”

After a lengthy standing ovation, she told the jubilant crowd earlier that she will accept the Republican Party’s nomination for vice president. It marked the first time in history that a woman has taken the stage as the GOP vice president pick.

“I accept the challenge of a tough fight,” she said.

Palin presented herself as both a mother and as an outside-the-Beltway reformer in the McCain mold, saying she “took on the old politics as usual in Juneau” and “stood up to the special interests, the lobbyists, big oil companies, and the good ol’ boys network.”

She tied oil, a major industry in her home state of Alaska, to foreign policy and national security on a night when convention delegates repeatedly burst into chants of “Drill now, baby, drill now!”

She insisted that the United States seek “energy independence,” including through more drilling, in the face of threats as diverse as hurricanes in the Gulf and Russian military power in the Caucasus.

And Palin dismissed criticism about her that have appeared in the press. “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.”

She also praised McCain as a “true profile in courage” compared with Obama.

“In politics, there are some candidates who use change to promote their careers. And then there are those, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change,” she said

Although many of my Twitter comments during the speech were admittedly snarky, I thought that, on the whole, Palin did what she needed to do tonight. She appealed to the base of the party and attacked two dreaded enemies, the Democrats and the media (because, apparently, a free press is a bad thing to the delegates to the convention), and the delegates ate it up.

And, I agree with James Joyner, that this speech is likely to end any serious talk about whether she should stay on the ticket:

This was a fine introduction to the American public and one that will likely help assauge doubts about her readiness.  She’s more than passed the “laugh test.”  But there’s still two months of campaigning ahead. One speech won’t be enough.

Ultimately, even with a 72-year-old at the head of the ticket, the vice president will be an afterthought for most voters. After tonight, though, it’s looking like, at the very least, she won’t be a drag.

Most importantly for McCain, the speech will energize the base and will play with with the Limbaugh/Hannity crowd, who will also help to keep the base energized. But there was never really much doubt that, in the end, the Republican base would go to McCain, just as the Democratic base will go for Obama.

Where this election is going to be decided is in the middle, and especially among that 8-12% of the electorate that according to current polls still hasn’t made up it’s mind, and is unlikely to do so until we get much closer to Election Day.

While it will be interesting to see how this speech gets spun over the next several days, and what impact it has on the polls, my guess is that the impact will be minimal. People just don’t vote for Vice-President.