NP: John Cage, 4'33

Obviously, a lot of chatter about Sarah Palin today. Steve Benen can't get the notion out of his head that it's purely a gimmick, but I think it's a little different than that. Palin has a shot at bringing back disaffected evangelicals, and those disaffected Hillary supporters who don't understand politics, and takes Alaska off the board.

But, to me, the real short-term benefit is that no one is talking about Obama's speech anymore. This story has dominated at least my reading list in ways that I think Pawlenty or Romney wouldn't have come close to.

Which speaks to the choice as not quite a gimmick, but as a short-term tactical maneuver. The emphasis is short-term here, and that window may not be open long enough to really amount to much. I think that's what Nate Silver is saying when he remarks "that this is a pick that looks better on paper than in practice."

Kevin Drum thinks its a worse choice than even Dan Quayle. One of Sullivan's readers calls it Quayle and Geraldine Ferraro all wrapped into one. Which Sullivan himself then equates to Harriet Miers.

On the other hand, Mike Murphy at Time points out that "Obama [is] now not [the] only contender who can make a 3 point shot."