The brilliant timing of the post-Obama speech/kick off Labor Day weekend in the appointment of the anti-pork, middle-America charismatic Palin (who is talking today of the Obama speech?)–and the way in which it cuts against 6-7 of Obama’s hope and change talking points–are inspired. Her family is from central casting–husband, a man of action, snow-mobile champ, hunter, union member, oil slope worker, part Native-American; son off to Iraq; her own blue-collar back-ground. Metrosexual they are not! In the last 30 days the McCain campaign couldn’t have been better managed. Going for the Rich Warren interview was smart. And while Obama wowed Europe with lofty utopian tropes, McCain’s celebrity off-the-wall spots, lightly mocking him as the Messiah, while roundly criticized by the left, suddenly resonated and even took the old fox into the laptops of the You-tube generation. He played well off the serial Obama gaffes like the tire-pressure sermon, while solidifying the base on abortion, drilling, and now his VP pick. He looks the relaxed candidate with the magnanimous reference to Obama’s nomination in contrast to the herky-jerky ankle-biting from the Obama handlers over the Palin appointment. Now the pairing of the septuagenarian warhorse, alongside the youthful mom of five from Alaska contrasts well with two doom and gloom, DC natty liberal senators. The 72-year old McCain is still running behind the Messiah, and who knows whether the sudden 3.3 GDP good news on the economy, the stability in Iraq, and cooling off of gas price spikes will hold or play a role. But given the Democratic dynamics this year, the overt bias of the media, and the rock-star quality of Obama, being this close as September nears is a tribute to McCain’s toughness and the savvy of his staff. I still think that Obama was the only serious Democratic candidate that could have lost in a year like this, and McCain the only Republican that could have won it. We’ll see. After the Victory Column, and a Greek temple, what can one expect from Obama during the Republican convention–Mt. Rushmore?