Obama speech breaks TV records, but will Palin do even better?

The TV viewership estimates on Sen. Barack ObamaBarack Obama’s speech in Denver are in from Nielsen Media Research, and the record-breaking results are no doubt encouraging to the campaign - at least for now.

Nielsen Media Research estimates Obama drew some 38.4 million viewers for his Aug. 28 speech, more than any night of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, more than this year’s Oscars, even more than President BushPresident Bush’s most recent State of the Union address. In fact, Nielsen reports, this is the most watched political convention on record.

Those are the facts, as reported by E!Online on Aug. 29. Now for the Punditty portion of this report.

While the ratings results must be considered good news for the Dems at this point, the GOP might see an opening to exploit, depending on how their TV ratings go in the Twin Cities. Punditty thinks there’s a good chance the GOP convention will rate higher than the Dems’ event in Denver for one simple reason: Alaska Gov. Sarah PalinSarah Palin, the party’s vice-presidential nominee.

This is not, as the GOP would have you believe, because Americans are already sold on the Palin rebranding of the Republican Party and just can’t wait to vote her and Sen. John McCainJohn McCain into office. It's because no one knows who she is. That is almost a literal statement.

Never before in the age of highly produced television conventions has either major party thrust such a relative unknown into the role of VP candidate. Even though Dick CheneyDick Cheney advised Bush to make him a surprise pick in 2000, Cheney had been on the national scene for decades. Longer, in fact, than Bush.

That’s not the case at all with Palin. The convention represents her national coming out party, and what civic-minded American -- Democrat, Republican or Independent -- would want to miss something so grand?

After all, we have to decide over the next 10 weeks if we want her to be a heartbeat away from the presidency. Ten minutes before McCain announced her as the Republican VP candidate, the vast majority of Americans living the Lower 48 and Hawaii had never heard of her. Even American Idol contestant face more public scrutiny than Palin has faced before advancing so far so fast.

So look for Palin’s speech ratings to easily surpass those pulled in by the Democratic VP candidate, Sen. Joe BidenJoe Biden of Delaware. She may even pull in higher ratings than Obama, simply because she is such a brand new face. If she’s good, the momentum might carry over into Thursday night when GOP nominee-to-be Sen. John McCain makes his acceptance speech. Clever Republicans can then frame the ratings results to insinuate that Americans are more enthused about McCain-Palin than we are Obama-Biden.

That’s a bit like saying wanting to know more about Palin is the same as anointing her The One, a criticism Republicans have consistently leveled at supporters of Obama. The reality is that all concerned Americans -- Democrats, Republicans, Independents and other -- just want to get a closer look at the mystery woman McCain judged worthy of anointing The Two.