Even CNN's Wolf Blitzer had to concede that Governor Palin had hit the ball out of the park.
Governor Palin has many hurdles to overcome over the nine weeks until election day but her speech to Republican delegates was one of the best I have ever heard. She's a natural.
One of the most interesting things I observed was the wide smiles on the faces of delegates. There was nothing synthetic about the crowd's delight.
She talked movingly about her Downs syndrome child and promised that all parents of special needs children would have an advocate in the White House.
Her attacks on Barack Obama succeeded because they were funny: "It's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform - not even in the state senate." This one had a stiletto quality: "This is a man who can give an entire speech about the wars America is fighting, and never use the word "victory" except when he's talking about his own campaign."
There was a lot of substance, too. She talked of vetoing $0.5bn of unnecessary spending. She told how she put the Governor's private jet on ebay and got rid of the Governor's chef. She spoke of her opposition to the infamous Bridge to Nowhere.
She also talked a lot about energy; promising to start a programme for drilling for oil, building more nuclear power stations and investing in renewables from day one of a McCain-Palin administration.
She said that government was too big. Spending was too high. Taxes were too high. [Why can't a British Tory say the same?].
She ended with a tribute to John McCain: "Both Senator Obama and Senator Biden have been going on lately about how they are always, quote, "fighting for you," let us face the matter squarely. There is only one man in this election who has ever really fought for you ... in places where winning means survival and defeat means death ... and that man is John McCain... If character is the measure in this election ... and hope the theme ... and change the goal we share, then I ask you to join our cause. Join our cause and help America elect a great man as the next president of the United States."
McCain has chosen well but he'll find it difficult to top Sarah Palin tomorrow.
