There are a lot of very relieved and excited conservatives and a lot of very impressed independents out there tonight.

I, too, had hoped she would talk in more detail about some more policy issues to show her governor’s command of particulars. She didn’t do enough of that for my (wonkish) taste, instead discussing her record as a governor rather than demonstrating her expertise. But I’m no speechwriter, and what she did do was just excellent. She turned her very biography—precisely what her critics have called inadequate—into a powerful case against Obama and an illustration of the message McCain wants to advance. And she did it with extraordinary poise, grace, and command. She’s not an Obama-level orator, but she certainly seems to be in the top ranks of natural political talents today, and she’s actually held executive positions, made decisions, and built a substantive reputation as a governor.

With this start, she’s given us a strong reason to believe that she’s up to playing on this national stage. Much remains to be proven—she’ll do press interviews and perhaps town halls and the like in the days to come, and those require different skills, and in a month she’ll have to face Joe Biden in a debate. But this is an extraordinary introduction to the country. Between her and Giuliani, the McCain team has got to be exceedingly happy with this evening, though perhaps a little worried about matching it tomorrow.

If Palin really is up to this, she offers conservatives an extraordinary opportunity. She seems to be a genuine political talent, and at the same time a genuine and natural conservative, whose ideas and priorities emerge directly out of the life she leads, a life that others can connect to. For those who want to better ground both fiscal and social conservatism in the real lives of middle class American families, a leader who does so by example and can also articulate something of the meaning of the link could make all the difference. It’s much too early to say if Palin could be such a leader, but on that front as well as in terms of pure campaign politics, tonight was a good sign.