MSNBC's Family Feud

"That spectre has a name--Sarah Palin, the 44-year-old governor of Alaska chosen by John McCain on Friday to be his running mate. There she is: a working woman who's a proud wife and mother; a traditionalist in important matters who's broken through all kinds of barriers; a reformer who's a Republican; a challenger of a corrupt good-old-boy establishment who's a conservative; a successful woman whose life is unapologetically grounded in religious belief; a lady who's a leader.

"So what we will see in the next days and weeks--what we have already seen in the hours after her nomination--is an effort by all the powers of the old liberalism, both in the Democratic party and the mainstream media, to exorcise this spectre. They will ridicule her and patronize her. They will distort her words and caricature her biography."

He does allow that she will face some "rocky moments." Here's betting her first interview is on Fox.

National Review is notably restrained:

"By picking Alaska governor Sarah Palin as his running mate, John McCain has wowed the public and enthused the Right. He has reinforced some of his winning themes -- that he has the mindset of an outsider and a fighter against corruption. He has also reinforced his appeal as the candidate more in touch with traditional values on moral issues.

"None of McCain's possible choices was perfect, and attention is being paid to the way that Palin undercuts other McCain themes, such as the importance of experience in foreign policy. Palin will have to reassure voters of her steadiness when she speaks at the Republican convention and when she debates Joe Biden. McCain, meanwhile, will have to carry most of the foreign-policy load himself and showcase his good health."

But Hot Air's Ed Morrissey isn't fazed:

"Why would he put a small-town mayor a heartbeat away from the presidency?

"This is a real laugher. By the same logic, why would the Democrats make a state legislator the actual president? The answer is that Obama is a US Senator of three years experience, and Palin is a governor of 20 months' experience. Only Barack Obama has spent two of those three years not in the Senate doing his job but running for President. Before starting his bid, he had a grand total of less than 150 days in session in the Senate. Palin, on the other hand, has run her state for more than triple that time."

A state that, by the way, has less than half the population of Phoenix.

McCain says Palin has "fought oil companies," but the Washington Times finds:

"Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, whose independence was touted when she was named Sen. John McCain´s vice-presidential pick Friday, collected at least $24,000 from registered state lobbyists in her gubernatorial campaign, records show.

"The lobbyists who donated to her campaign represent a range of industries, including oil and gas, tobacco, education and the Native Alaskan community."

The following is not exactly a ringing endorsement from her mother-in-law:

"I'm not sure what she brings to the ticket other than she's a woman and a conservative. Well, she's a better speaker than McCain."

Woop-de-do.

And here's Cindy McCain on Palin's foreign policy experience:

"You know, the experience that she comes from is, what she has done in government -- and remember that Alaska is the closest part of our continent to Russia."

Is that the best talking point they can give her? That Palin is Putin's neighbor?

John Dickerson twitters: "It's not true that McCain first found out about Palin through "People you may know" feature on Facebook." But I wonder if he scoped out this old footage of her as a sports anchor. Check out the '80s do!