A Tour de Force

By Hugh Hewitt

The Republicans leave St. Paul with a unified party and a brilliant new star shining in the American political sky. John McCain needed no introduction, but his party needed fuel for the final push to persuade America that the war remains the crucial issue of our times and that a struggling economy weighed down by the economic cycle cannot afford the massive tax hikes proposed by Barack Obama.

That fuel came in the form of Sarah Palin. An astonishing 37 million Americans tuned in to see this commercial fisherwoman turned mayor turned governor turned vice presidential nominee rise above the savage and relentless attacks of the left and mainstream media on her family and her fitness as a candidate and a mother. Her astonishing tour de force on Wednesday night scattered her critics and energized the GOP base. Most crucial of all, it confirmed that John McCain's judgment is to be trusted on the key appointments and decisions he will face as president.