The American Spectator

Hillary’s first response to the Palin announcement was to issue a terse two-sentence statement, and last week, Clinton adviser Ann Lewis said: “She’s not running against Sarah Palin, let’s be clear. She is not on the ticket.” Indeed she is not, and Obama, who narrowly beat her for the presidential nomination and then passed her over in favor of Biden as his running mate, can hardly depend on Hillary to bail him out of this fix.

And what a fix it is! Every attack on Palin seems to have backfired so far. Internet rumor-mongers had a field day (by Sunday, conservative blogger Charles Martin had listed 69 different Palin rumors), and yet her popularity increased. With Palin on the ticket, McCain attracted overflow crowds in excess of 10,000 at each stop Friday and Saturday in Wisconsin, Michigan and Colorado. Just three weeks earlier, by comparison, the Republican drew only 3,000 to a Pennsylvania rally.

Two months ago, Republicans were fighting against an attitude of “doom” among conservatives. Now, Democrats are in panic mode. “The Democrats are in trouble. Sarah Palin has totally changed the dynamics of this campaign,” says Willie Brown, the former Democratic mayor of San Francisco.

HOW TO EXPLAIN this stunning reversal? Last week, liberals chuckled over a video of Palin speaking to a youth group at Wasilla Assembly of God, the church she attended as a child. Palin spoke of the “God’s will” and asked the youth to pray “for an outpouring of God’s spirit.”

“Just be amazed…where God is going to send you,” Palin said.

Such old-fashioned faith provokes laughter from liberals. Palin’s miraculous effect on this campaign, however, makes it seem less likely liberals will still be laughing November 5.