It was clear at the RNC that John McCain had decided to run on his biography above all else, and that this strategy was going to extend to his VP pick, Sarah Palin. Both are "compelling" figures, after all, and their life stories demonstrate certain attractive virtues -- attractive for conservatives, at least.
This strategy could have worked, but now everything has changed.
Running on biography is lazy, but it could have worked. My mother, for example, was sold on Palin before she knew anything (substantial) about her. It was the biography that did it.
But economy trumps biography, and McCain and Palin both are now behind and unprepared. They have not done their homework, and now, more than ever, people want some thoughtfulness.
McCain wants to add a new grand gesture to his biography, but that is not what anyone wants right now. It will not work, and his campaign will suffer for it.