Rick Davis wasn't kidding when he said this election isn't about issues. The McCain campaign strategy post-Palin is based entirely on the cynical assumption that Americans are stupid and gullible enough to vote because they like the candidates and can "identify" with them, regardless of how the candidate stands on the issues.
They've ditched national security, they've ditched the economy, they're going all in on personality. Vote for McCain/Palin, because John's the maverick fighter, and Palin is the pitbull hockey mom!
In other words, this is the Republican version of identity politics. More below.
In choosing Sarah Palin, McCain has effectively chosen the right wing version of Paris Hilton as vice presidential running mate.
The McCain camp is cynically betting on the shallowness of Americans, and believes they will vote for McCain/Palin because McCain is POW, POW, POW, and Palin is hockey mom, small town girl made it big, etc.
McCain thinks white voters, especially white working class women, will vote for Palin because she's one of them, and they'll identify with her, even if she'll do nothing for them in terms of the economy, healthcare, gas prices, etc.
With this strategy, McCain is probably hoping to pull enough white rural working class voters in states like Minnesota, Wisconsin, Ohio, PA, and Michigan to turn several of those states to McCain.
Is it going to work? I don't think so, but, the democrats will need to realize the nature of the McCain strategy and respond accordingly. Yes, emphasizing the issues will still be important, but issues need to be talked in a way that tries to undermine the image/character of McCain/Palin rather than merely trying to attack the substantive merits of their policy positions.
Additionally, in trying to argue that she's unfit to be VP and one heartbeat away from the presidency, it's not enough just to point out that Wasilla has a population of only 7,000 or that she's only been governor for 2 years. That alone won't undermine the public image/persona of Palin.
I believe that there might genuinely be some confusion in the public over whether Palin is a vice presidential candidate or the potential First Lady.
The McCain camp may be deliberately confusing the issue, by having McCain call Palin his "soulmate," by emphasizing her role as a mother, by directly linking her personal life story to particular policy issues, much in the way first ladies take on charities related to their personal lives (i.e., Laura Bush the former teacher and public education).
This strategy is a way of turning the VP position into a ceremonial, irrelevant one, not one in which the nominee needs to face the sort of public and media scrutiny that a presidential candidate would. It also may have the effect of leading people to forget that she would have to step in as president should something happen to McCain.
I don't know how, but critiques of Palin will need to remove the deliberate obfuscation of the importance of the VP position, and somehow allow voters to feel viscerally the lack of fit between Palin and the VP position.
EDIT: Basically, the McCain Camp is making Palin into a fairy tale character, a political Cinderella come to life. They're using the American love for underdog stories where a hard working, ordinary American succeeds when nobody gave them a chance because of his/her character, personality, integrity, and values. Think movies like Invincible, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Dave, Trading Places, etc. So, they're hoping that Americans will vote for Palin/McCain just to make sure that the feel good story of the year has a happy ending. Cynical, cynical, cynical. They must not, cannot succeed. As one pundit said tonight, this election is a fight for America's soul, and for the sake of this Nation's future, the democrats must win.