If the Palin pick was meant to energize the base and bring media attention to a much ignored McCain campaign, it has easily done both for better or worse. With the unexpected announcement yesterday that Palin’s teenage daughter is pregnant, a large portion of the more left-leaning media, MSNBC, NY Times and large chunks of CNN, have been salivating over the opportunity to attack. This morning I actually saw a Democrat on CNN declare he was hearing rumors that McCain was ready to dump Palin. He also noted that “some” Republicans had told him they are ready to jump ship over the choice. The declaration is interesting not because such a decision would be an amazing political turnaround, but because reality seems so far away from his take.

Instead FOX News, the right blogs, the average Republicans I have been talking to and even the two morning right pundits left on MSNBC, Joe Scarborough and Pat Buchanan, are beyond fired up over Palin. In over a year and a half of campaigning this moment right now seems like the first I have seen Republicans truly ready for a fight. Republicans are clamoring for an experience battle. Every argument made by those on the left against Palin only highlight the inexperience of the Democratic nominee. Every attack on Palin’s family only returns to an argument that liberals don’t value the family and strengthen religious conservatives belief that Palin and her daughter are making decisions based on “Christian values” that the culture of left Hollywood and academia don’t understand or praise.

Last night I witnessed James Carville on Larry King hitting Palin hard. He held up a picture of the Wasilla city hall as evidence of Palin’s 13 years of public service being somehow less than worthy. I thought about the look of the public buildings and party headquarters in this area. This weekend I drove by the Democratic headquarters in Geneseo, NY a small suburban college town in Upstate, NY. That building is little more than an old gas station covered in campaign signs but I cannot help but think those who volunteer their time to the cause are proud of it.

A large section of America lives in small towns like these. Even the larger suburbs play their politics in arenas that don’t look sets from the West Wing or any other Hollywood political drama. I can also say that I personally have sat in the offices of more than one sitting Congressperson. While the old marble of the Rayburn, Longworth & Canon House Office Buildings are beautiful and the actual offices would put most American’s cubicles to shame, they are still not palace-like and don’t live up to the glamour we often associate with elected office.

Some of the excitement that surrounds Palin comes from her humble roots. The idea that the next VP could be changing diapers only moments before sitting with world leaders or who will spend her weekends hunting and snowmobiling appeals to Republicans and rural independents in a way liberals don’t understand. It is what they liked about Bush, one of the few things they still like about him. We’ve seen what career politicians get done in Washington and in our state capitols and we’ve all thought to ourselves at one moment or another, “I can do a better job than that.” This might the chance one of our own does. A woman who wasn’t born with wealth or power and who, up until now, hasn’t commanded million dollar checks for her written words.The image of the little building in Wasilla, Alaska held up by Carville could easily be turned into an image of power for the Republicans and fit into a narrative the Democrats won’t easily combat. An image of their VP sitting outside the tall establishment doors.

For that to work she is going to have to fight. She is going to have to prove herself, not because she is a woman or a Republican but because that is what people who want higher office go through. For the next few weeks the media will throw everything they have at her. They will question every person she has ever been friends with, second guess every decision she has ever made. Accusations will be hurled, scandal will be investigated, bloggers will spread lies and defame her in the worst possible ways. As long as she holds, as long as she defies expectations, as long as the Party stands by her, those who challenged may find their attacks have turned. Most important for the media, those who continue this assault will only see more of their viewership jump to FOX, talk radio and away from their newspapers.

If I were a Democratic strategist right now I would urge my party to hit hard for the next three days; take attention away from the convention and rally the Dem base. Then, come Friday, I would halt every operation against Palin and move back onto McCain. This election will not come down to Palin & Biden, but to the men at the top of the ticket. To waste time and energy on the #2, especially one that has so quickly and profoundly brought change to this race, can only backfire. The attacks will only fuel the Republican’s unity, only bring questions to the Democratic ticket, only cement the long-standing narratives that have locked Liberals into a losing box for so many years now.

Palin has something that attack ads and Web sites cannot gain you, a connection to the real world. A world of mortgage payments, family squabbles and setbacks, complex relationships with those you love and hate, finally the desire to do more with the humble beginnings the world gave you. That was some of Obama’s story, before the trips to Europe, the enduring crowds, Hollywood fundraisers and the marketing slogans that lost some of their steam.