Up until now, I have sided with those who have argued that the less we address Palin the better.  Ride the wave of her novelty and continue to hammer away at McCain's lack of a cogent economic agenda and his dependence on a tired and negative script that blatantly misrepresents democratic policy proposals in order to cling to power.  One thing that the Republicans are good at rhetorically, is telling people what to believe by telling them that they already believe it.  Now we need to say: 'After 8 years of Bush's bungles, the American people are smart enough to recognize how little this screenplay has to do with the lives of real people.'  I think this is still the way to go in general.  However, the fascination with Palin has taken on a life of its own.  Unfortunately, in the battle between 'Sarah the dangerous zealot' and 'St. Sarah of Wassila' we are going to lose.  Her folksiness makes the former less believable, and in making her a victim it sets her up as sympathetic.

What I would like to see is an ad that takes up the depiction of her as an average hokey Mom and uses it to show how she's also an average politician.  We don't need to cast her as an apocalyptic threat, but as just another charming huckster pursuing power without a policy agenda that can get the country moving in the right direction once more.  She has benefited from avoiding the press until now.  That cannot continue.  We need to jump in and set the agenda for her interviews, turning that to our advantage.  It's time to take the bloom of the rose.  I would like to see an ad that juxtaposes facts to the fictions she wove about herself at the convention.  Let's press her on the Bridge, her support, and the reasons she didn't return the money if she was so opposed.  Let's show her connections to Ted Stevens to highlight the ways in which she didn't simply take on her party's leadership but cozied up to its most powerful and corrupt leader when convenient.  Let's make sure everyone knows how energetically and successfully she employed lobbyists to channel pork to the land of the mooseburger.  Let's make sure everyone knows that this self-proclaimed advocate of special needs children cut their support in Alaska by 62%.  

This strategy should be coupled with ads showing McCains own inconsistencies.  Use Bill Richardson's line form his convention speech: "John McCain spends hundreds of dollars on his shoes, why should we pay for his flip-flops?"  The republicans like sarcasm?  How about punctuating these spots with McCain's own swipe at Romney: "Maybe McCain and Palin really are the candidates of change after all."  Let's go negative, but on issues.  Keep it simple and direct.  Nuance is for governing, not campaigning.