"Sarah Palin may well be the future of the Republican party. Unfortunately, John McCain is the past."

This would be much less harsh a rebuke than what's been in the media today ("she's not experienced enough", the mini-scandal brewing, etc.) but my sense is that Sarah Palin may be a Teflon kind of candidate whose charms inoculate her against anything people might throw at her.

Frankly, we already lucked out on that score because we nominated Barack Obama, who has many of the same charms.

Barack should be gracious (and appear gracious) about the fact that there's a new new kid on the block. But he can continue to relentlessly hammer McCain as being out of touch and stuck in the past. McCain is running for president, not Palin.