The range of opinion on Sarah Palin’s speech is a bit surprising at first blush.
The TV pundits loved it, as The Associated Press reports today:

It wasn’t just a home run, said CNN’s Wolf Blitzer; it may have been a grand slam. “A very auspicious debut,” said NBC’s Tom Brokaw. It was a “perfect populist pitch,” said CBS’ Jeff Greenfield. “Terrific,” said Mort Kondracke on Fox News Channel.
“A star is born,” said Chris Wallace on Fox.
“A star is born,” Blitzer said.
“A star is born,” said Anderson Cooper on CNN.

Gil Smart says they’re overstating things, calling it, at best, “a long double.”
Joe Biden, her Democratic rival for VP, criticizes it for being light on substance.
I say they’re all right, in their own way.
If her goal had been to win over Gil Smart, let’s face it, she would have had to switch sides in the middle of her speech to do it.
Her speech was great television. She delivered it with poise, and seemed “comfortable in her own skin,” as one pundit predicted before she spoke last night.
On substance, I agree (a little) with Biden but, to tell the truth, the only time I was really disappointed on the point was when she talked about being a mayor. I felt like she was promising an outline of WHAT a mayor does and was let down when she moved on without giving an example or two of her responsibilities in that post.
But, at bottom, let’s face it, Palin delivered what most Americans wanted to hear.
They wanted to know who this person is. What beliefs guide her?
Was the speech a little light on policy? Sure.
But Biden should be careful here.
While Barack Obama’s speech was loaded with references to the middle class and its struggles, he laid out very little agenda-wise in his address a week ago.
Overall, Palin did what she had to do: She delivered a terrific, semi-autobiographical, semi-top-of-the-ticket-praising speech without goofing. We got a sense that this is a woman who has it together, values family, patriotism and getting things done.