Sarah Palin speech tonight

Tonight Sarah Palin has her chance to answer to the Republican and to help the campaign. When she takes the stage to deliver the most anticipated speech of the Republican National Convention, Sarah Palin will be judged on how well she addresses three overarching concerns:

• Can she help McCain galvanize the party?
• Can she overcome controversy about her family and her conduct as governor?
• And could she step in and lead the nation in the event the 72-year-old McCain were incapacitated?

Palin is the most unknown vice in recent history and her nationally televised speech will function as her first real introduction to the Republican Party. The "hockey mom" and one-time sports TV reporter has served as governor of Alaska since 2006 and before that was the mayor of the tiny town of Wasilla. Since McCain surprised the country with his choice of Palin last Friday, the national political discourse has been dominated by questions over precisely who Palin really is, and whether her pick was a calculated gamble or a foolish bet.

Palin is subject of an Alaska legislative investigation into allegations that she improperly intervened to try to get a state trooper fired. Palin enjoys support among GOP social conservatives, and her choice as the vice presidential nominee has been viewed as a bid by the maverick McCain to mend fences. In the intervening five days that image has been sullied by a series of revelations: the pregnancy of her teenage daughter, her role in the firing of a state trooper who was formerly married to her sister, and the millions in earmarks she secured while mayor of Wasilla.

If Palin can cast as sympathetic to those watching on television by using the media as a foil, it will be a major victory. One Republican strategist suggested the best way for Plain to go after the Democratic nominee is to compare their experience in public office.

One of Palin's attributes is her charisma and ability to connect to voters. Republicans want to like Palin; she has an life story and the idea of a woman in the White House is intriguing to many people who have no strong affiliation. She has to convince them tonight to be the right woman at the right time.