Sarah Barracuda: Pitbull in Lipstick*

Palin is no hick from the sticks. She's a natural--a populist princess not afraid either to take or throw a punch. Me and my ilk (or "elk" for Alaska?) underestimate her at our own peril. Watching her was like seeing a movie. She doesn't look like a VP candidate. She looks like the actress who plays her in the biopic.

She's funny, passionate and tough. In front of tens of millions, I saw her cover when the teleprompter went out. She never panicked or lost her poise. Much of what she said about both herself and her opponents wasn't true, but tragically, that's not important to our politics. In these irony free times, Republicans say Obama is all show with no resume and then shamelessly put up Palin--as if saying, "We'll see your empty suit and raise you an empty pantsuit.

She is a game changer. Many forget that John McCain is not beloved by any segment of his party. He was no one's first choice. Now he has the base--a coalition of religious right, right to lifers, big oil, the military industrial complex, the deficit hawks and small-town America populists.

*Her quote, not my aspersion.