The Palin choice is a diversion, in the short term from the Obama speech and long-term from McCain himself. I suspect this is a trap laid by Rove and disciples to get us talking about Palin instead of amplifying the obviously successful attacks on McCain launched during the DNC.
I remember a similar glee in Democrats when Quayle was tapped for the position. They focused a lot of fire on Quayle instead of Bush. It was a distraction and a waste of resources. Most importantly it didn't work!
People don’t really care about the VP selection. Democrats should respond to Palin only in terms of what it says about McCain... desperate, putting winning the election above the country etc. Fortunately, the Obama people don’t seem to be taking the bait.
Tristero over at Digby's place nails it...
Indeed this is all about McCain. This is about his erratic, bizarrely irrational decisionmaking. This is about his own extremist conservatism, championing not only coat hangar abortions for the poor - bad enough - but even opposing funding for contraception services. This is about the huge extent to which St. John McCain is an abject servant of the "Religious" Right, an amalgam of extremist political pressure groups aligned with genuinely anti-American secessionists and theocrats. People, it's real simple:
McCain - not Palin, not Gustav - is the real disaster.
Remember people don't vote for the VP candidate. Keep your eyes on the prize. It's the McCain, stupid!