We've seen in the past that part of the Republican play book is distraction--getting the press and their opponents to talk about something other than what we need to be talking about. So where are the current distractions?
- Palin's knowledge is a real issue, but her experience is a distraction. We've already largely accepted that experience is not all its propped up to be. As Barack Obama has said Dick Cheney was one of the most experienced in the field and that didn't turn out so well.
- Palin's family may not have been a planned distraction, but it has become an easily derided distraction.
There are certainly more, but these are two of the most current.
EDIT: I intended to add that the Republican noise machine has a self interest in continuing the life cycle of these distractions. Their normal MO is to complain that "they" are saying [insert derisive recitation of distraction here]. We can also expect to see more of the family to try to stoke more distraction. Inserting anonymous comments about mishandling pregnancies/babies/kids in BLOGs or on DIGG for example could start a firestorm of replies and cause these comments to bubble up to the Press.