Without being smarmy about it or unfurling gotcha questions, ABC News anchor Charles Gibson demonstrated that he knows volumes more about national security and foreign policy than does Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

To say I was unimpressed with Palin’s performance would be an understatement. I didn’t know what to expect since she’s been on a short leash since the Veep announcement, and in her three (four, total?) speeches thus far the content has been identical, and scripted. This unscripted foray did not go well for her. We’ll see more tonight. Maybe she needs to crawl before she can walk, but it’s fair to say that her unscripted televised appearances will probably make or break her image in the coming weeks… And by extension, the McCain campaign.

Meanwhile, I can only echo the sentiments of those urging Obama to avoid getting bogged down in sniping and news cycles originating from the McCain camp. Where’s Biden? The Obama campaign needs to create their own news again. The value of winning or gaining a particular news cycle is limited, but the overarching image projected is important, and everyone is dwelling too much on Palin and nonissues. Obama wins on the issues. Let’s get back to them.