CNN’s Campbell Brown and Anderson Cooper are bursting with unsanctioned enthusiasm for Sarah Palin. This is huge.  Campbell Brown: “There are qualities she brings that only a woman a can bring. . . She can attack in a way with sort of a feminine air to her  that makes those attacks almost more damaging . . . because she doesn’t come off as sort of screeching or jarring or angry the way a man can . . .” Anderson Cooper: “She’s got a great smile when she’s attacking. She puts the knife in and smiles and you don’t even know it’s been done.”  Campbell Brown: In addition to that I have to tell you as a woman and as a mother when I saw her family, and she just talked about them, and we saw the shot of her baby being held . . I was very touched . . . you have an emotional reaction to that. “

I LOL’d at this:

10.39 pm. I’m just slack-jawed that, so far, the entire speech has been basically about her family. She seems as if she just won a reality show and is introducing her folks. And they have passed the baby now to four different people – including another child. Slack-jawed.

Well, Andrew, for starters, you might have noticed that last night President Bush spent a little time lavishing attention on his family. It’s something that normally happens at these events. More importantly, it might also be the case that the Palins felt it was important to show the television audience that they are a normal family, you know, being that people like Andrew Sullivan just spent a week trying to convince the nation that the Palin family perpetrated an elaborate cover-up of a baby swap. That might have had something to do with it.

The MSM can explain themselves or destroy her now. This was a remarkable moment of political theater. And the MSM credibility evaporated somewhere between the Ebay joke and the discussion of the pipeline in the Caucasus.

John King just noted that Palin was speaking to small town America and said “George W. Bush is president because of small town America.” 

Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson.

just rebutted Palin by saying that George Bush’s former speechwriter wrote the speech. That’s a good way to ensure the total irrelevance of your statement. Palin: Obama is unfit to lead. Obama: I don’t approve of your speechwriter.

Flipping around, the general consensus from liberal commentators is that it was a smash.

Gee, the media is getting a little nervous that maybe they overplayed their hand.  Gregory just implied that because of the controversy millions of people probably watched this speech who might not have before the attacks.

On MSNBC, Keith Olbermann just called Sarah Palin “Tracey Flick,” an overambitious and dishonest candidate for class president in the movie “Election.” It’s about as gendered as insults come.

Keith Olbermann has no idea what to say. Chris Matthews can only say that Palin doesn’t remind him of Hillary Clinton, which is probably a compliment.

….look relieved.

This was an amazing performance.  I don’t know anyone who has faced what she has this week who could do what she did tonight.  She is holding that beautiful baby Trig and standing there proudly with her family. And if America doesn’t fall in love, then its heart has turned to stone.

Before the speech, I had knots in my stomach reminiscent of many prior Game Sevens. Palin just clinched.

…in American history.

is that she’s been this effective following Rudy’s tour de force!

The humor, the attacks, the sweetness — it is the whole package. I think the McCain camp knew what they were doing.

…that Palin would be such an effective attack dog. “There is only one man in this election who has ever actually fought for you.” My only criticism is that she needs to leave a few good lines for other people.

“Feisty, funny, fierce” says blogger Stephen Green sitting next to me.

…for picking her.