Weird coverage this evening. The networks are -- somewhat predictably -- obsessed with Palin's speech. They're breathless before the big question: "Can she do it?" Of course she can. Democrats and Republicans alike trust her ability to read words off a teleprompter. There's never been any question about her ability to give a speech. Particularly not one written by a team of talented professionals. Indeed, what she must do tonight isn't even hard: She must come across as sentient, as human, and as critical of Barack Obama. It is widely agreed that she is, in fact, sentient, human, and critical of Barack Obama, so unless she wanders out in an octopus costume and reads a poem, tonight's going to go well for her. Indeed, it should go better than well. A couple cutting lines about Obama's experience, an emotional retelling of her struggles to balance family and governance, and she'll be judged a success. And not wrongly. She will have been asked to give a speech, and she will have given one. Odds are it will have been a very good one. That will not obviate her tests in the coming weeks. A good speech will not dissolve what an investigative reporter digs up in Anchorage next Wednesday. It is unlikely to test her knowledge of urban crime policy or Iraqi political parties or health care financing. A good speech will not obviate the fact that John McCain failed to vet Sarah Palin, or that she's got 18 months of serious political experience. It will not render her ready for the vice presidency, and it will not allow her to dodge the questions and the cameras and the reporters and the town halls that will stretch from now until the election. This is the convention. It is a show, just like it was for the Democrats. If the production values are high it will go well. But the concerns about Palin will remain, and they are questions that relate to her performance when she's not reading from the script. Her test will come over the next six weeks, not the next six hours.
