A Won Battle

Sarah Palin arrived from the North last night, an American Valkyrie stooping from the heavens to shatter the ranks of the Mighty and the Important, and cry defiance against any and all who harrass her children or her neighbors. She offered no complaint of her treatment, nor sought any assurance of fair play. Disdaining to ask for any quarter, she directly engaged her enemies and drove relentlessly at their soft spots. She reminded everyone of an America equal to any hardship and too strong to even want help, and called for restoration of that country's government by elevating one of its greatest living heroes. Amid a conservative retreat from years of stumbles and confusion, Sarah Palin is calling a rally that could swell to real and effective counterattack.

Is that capsule a little purple in its prose? Well, that was an amazing performance.

Last night had glimpses of substance and intelligence, but combat was the theme. That's well after a week of belittling questions and double standards contorted into a semblance of a formal fairness. But while Americans applaud the knockdown of bullies like the New York Times, they also know bullies can be also ignored. There is no ignoring the economic and international challenges before the country.

The economy grows better than you'd think, but the uncertainties are real. Houses are the chief wealth of most Americans, and the freefall in their value is scary. As is the explosion of gas prices, and the ongoing adaptation of the economy to the productivity gains of trade. The collapse of GM, Ford and Chrysler, though long-expected, still reminds everyone of the frailty of particular economic institutions. The promise of stability through Law and Management is tempting.

Campaign McCain has to explain how it will address structural problems. It has to explain how we'll secure the energy our economy requires, and work toward educational institutions that will found real productivity in real learning. It has to address financial innovation that produces new opportunities faster than institutions evolve to bend them to an average consumer's interest. It has to show how the diversion of resources from our least productive institutions will free income for the things we care about. There is a case against Campaign Obama's economics: this is no time to raise taxes or squander resources in the deadweight loss of inefficient redistributions. Abandoning the power of individual choices out of fear will only make things worse, and reminding Americans of their strength will give them heart in an uncertain moment. But Campaign McCain has to show forswearing the Nanny State doesn't mean neglecting the government's responsibility to provide the economic structure required to support those more-efficient markets.

If John McCain can show that he will look after that structure; if he shows that the programs by which the Democrats offer security are themselves thwarted by captivity to interest group rent-seekers; if he reminds people that people are strongest when allowed to provide for themselves, and Americans famous for prodigious returns on those freedoms; if he makes a positive case for his Presidency, then he will put in place the last element needed to push Campaign Obama back on its heels.

By steady application and shrewd risks John McCain now finds himself poised to wholly define this campaign. Tonight he can seize the initiative entirely, and force Campaign Obama to respond to a crisis they never should have permitted in the first place. John McCain can force Barack Obama to meet a crisis for the first time.