So, how should the Obama campaign handle the Palin selection, and what is a rather obvious play/pander for suburban women who supported Hillary Clinton?

I think they should go easy on her for the next several days — give the public some time for this all to sink in. Then really go after her, and do it in style.

It is practically certain that on the night of Palin’s speech on Wednesday, we will be treated to her repeating her praise of Hillary Clinton, and the talk about how women still have a chance to break the glass ceiling. This will be accompanied by the bizarre sight of the Republican convention cheering for Hillary Clinton, all in line with the gimmick.

And the Obama campaign should be prepared. Just as John McCain bought his ad time for right after Obama’s speech last night, they should get their own for right after Palin.

And here’s the ad: A one-minute spot featuring Hillary Clinton herself, talking to the camera and laying into Palin on the issues, her complete lack of qualifications, and the temerity of the McCain campaign to think they could get away with this. Then she urges anyone watching who might have supported her to get out there and support Barack Obama.

Then it closes simply with Obama walking on to the set to shake Hillary’s hand: “I’m Barack Obama, and I approved this message.”

Karl Rove, prescient as always:

“I think [Obama’s] going to make an intensely political choice, not a governing choice,” Rove said. “He’s going to view this through the prism of a candidate, not through the prism of president; that is to say, he’s going to pick somebody that he thinks will on the margin help him in a state like Indiana or Missouri or Virginia. He’s not going to be thinking big and broad about the responsibilities of president.”

Rove singled out Virginia governor Tim Kaine, also a Face The Nation guest, as an example of such a pick.

“With all due respect again to Governor Kaine, he’s been a governor for three years, he’s been able but undistinguished,” Rove said. “I don’t think people could really name a big, important thing that he’s done. He was mayor of the 105th largest city in America.”

Presumably this still holds true? (For comparison, Palin was mayor of a town that is not one of the ten largest in Alaska.)

Watch:

(Hat tip: Steve B)

Apparently, we’re still at war with Al-Qaeda:

Seven years after the Sept. 11 attacks, Mr. Bush’s advisers assert that many Americans may have forgotten that. So they want Congress to say so and “acknowledge again and explicitly that this nation remains engaged in an armed conflict with Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and associated organizations, who have already proclaimed themselves at war with us and who are dedicated to the slaughter of Americans.”…

…The language recalls a resolution, known as the Authorization for Use of Military Force, passed by Congress on Sept. 14, 2001. It authorized the president to “use all necessary and appropriate force” against those responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks to prevent future strikes. That authorization, still in effect, was initially viewed by many members of Congress who voted for it as the go-ahead for the administration to invade Afghanistan and overthrow the Taliban, which had given sanctuary to Mr. bin Laden.

But the military authorization became the secret legal basis for some of the administration’s most controversial legal tactics, including the wiretapping program, and that still gnaws at some members of Congress.

Because nothing captures America’s attention like overly broad Congressional proclamations.

Several readers have pointed out this last line from the NYT’s analysis piece on Palin:

“In a way, McCain has set a trap on the experience argument,” said Scott Reed, who managed Bob Dole’s presidential campaign in 1996, “because if they start picking on her on experience, it’s going to backfire with women.”

The merit of this argument aside, I think that this points to a general strategy that the McCain camp will adopt for the next few weeks. Palin will become a foil through which to attack Obama: if she’s inexperienced then so is he, if she has corruption problems then so does he, if he attacks her then he’s attacking women. And of course, every fault of his will be made to look worse than hers, because he wants to be President (it’s still a big step from the 2-slot to number 1). It will take some line blurring and fudging, but I expect the McCain camp to try to re-couch its personal attacks on Obama as self-righteous defenses of Palin.

Meanwhile, reader SC dissents from earlier:

I don’t agree that the Democrats should focus on Palin’s inexperience – at least not directly. (For one thing, it keeps Obama’s “inexperience” in the discussion as well.) I would instead focus first on McCain’s judgement and priorities – the argument practically writes itself: “Barack Obama selected one of the most qualified people available for the job of vice-president; John McCain picked one of the least qualified. Who really puts country ahead of politics?”

The argument is a straight-forward one. Presumably, the McCain camp is working to make sure the distinction gets lost in the soundbytes.

More fun stuff from Sarah Palin: She denies that global warming is man-made. That and other political news in today’s Election Central Saturday Roundup.

McCain official: “I think we’re going to have to examine our tag line, ‘dangerously inexperienced.'”

Lindsey Graham: If Palin can handle Ted Stevens, she can handle Russia. Plus, Graham even finds time to accidentally bash Bush’s foreign policy chops.

Cindy McCain is offended.

“I’m offended by Barack Obama saying that about my husband,” said McCain’s wife Cindy.
When asked if Obama went too far in his criticism of McCain, Cindy responded, “I do. I do. I really do.”

This is the one who says you can’t get around Arizona without a small plane.

Two advantages that haven’t been mentioned about Palin:

1) Cash. The McCain campaign says they’ve pulled in $7 million since the announcement.

2) Shock. The pick caught everyone by surprise, including the Obama camp:

Mr. Obama’s advisers said that compared with the mountains of data they had gathered on Mr. Pawlenty and Mr. Romney, they had far less information on Ms. Palin. Their dossier consisted of a thin document based mainly on her run for governor and newspaper clips about an investigation into whether she was involved in pressing a top state law enforcement official to dismiss her sister’s former husband from the state police. And, they said, given her short time in high office, there is relatively little video of her readily available.

Short version: Shock jocks trashed. Palin laughed. Papers shouted gaffe.

Seriously though, it’s just never in good taste for an elected official to laugh along when someone calls her cancer-surviving political foe “a cancer” and “a b****.”

Late Update: No love lost here. Says the aggrieved party (who is a fellow Republican, as well as State Senate President) on Palin’s nomination:

“She’s not prepared to be governor. How can she be prepared to be vice president or president? Look at what she’s done to this state. What would she do to the nation?”

Even Later Update: Reader BP points out that those same shock jocks hosted a “baby shower” fundraiser for Palin only two weeks ago.