Throughout this cycle the timing of events has seemed as peculiar as the circumstances.  There seemed to be an anxious atmosphere, a feeling of frantic hastening jacked up on uncertainty.  I know how vague this sounds, but I sensed a subtle, strange timing undercurrent which has been hard to define.  Today I realized a component of this sense while reading Hendrik Hertzberg's post, Timing is Everything:

If the order of this year’s Conventions had been reversed, we would now be looking at a very different set of story lines. The final, reverberating impression left by the Conventions would not have been Sarah Palin’s everygal charm but Barack Obama’s stirring specifics delivered to a cheering throng of eighty thousand under the lights. The TV commentaries, once the Conventions were over, would have found time to contrast the Republicans’ relentless negativity to the positive tone struck by the Democrats.

   Honestly, I hadn't even considered that alternative.  The cacophony from our fine outlets during Palinpalooza drowned out my reason; I actually thought that she legitimately garnered all that focus all by her lonesome.  Someone so new, so exciting, so - dare I say - daring!  She was absolutely unknown and the press would hastily vet her with much fanfare.
   But this process took time and time was what the GOP had.  By merit of their party's incumbency, their convention came second and allowed them to call dibs on the echo chamber.  Meanwhile the acceleration coil of time was winding more tightly toward its conclusion, amping up the drama of what was already a full blast affair.  Hertzberg again:

“History shows that a five-point convention bounce has been typical, no matter the particulars of the convention in terms of political party and incumbency/convention order,” an analyst for the Gallup organization wrote last month, using data from 1964 to 2004. But this year, history is bunk. A Convention bounce needs time to develop. No time, no bounce. Obama got neither. McCain got both.

      Unobstructed media space and time were critical ingredients for McCain's bounce to arch high and hold.  And considering the context more carefully in retrospect, I'd have expected McCain/Palin's to have been loftier and held longer. Though I have my doubts that they will have another high point the likes of their convention and the immediate time corridor thereafter. 

Time will tell.

Press: Wait a minute.  Aunt Jemima is a brand of syrup, an inanimate object!  This is beyond ridiculous!

Jemima spokesman Rick Davis: Wrong. That's racist, sexist and un-American.  Aunt Jemima has a storied history in this great country and has none nothing but bring smiles and happiness to millions of American families.

P: But that's not the point - this isn't a candidate, it's a product placement!

RD: Hold on - a brand represents an idea, and this idea is wholesome, sweet and pure.  Americans yearn for a fresh start, a renewal, and Aunt Jemimah will restore our pride, return us to our roots.  It should also be noted that Aunt Jemima has a full staff so it's not like she'd be making decisions by herself.  Any suggestion that a black woman cannot lead is representative of the darkest undercurrents of hate in this country.

P: But, but...  It's not a "she," Mr. Davis, it's a label!  I can't believe you're serious.

RD: We are serious.  And WE can't believe that just when we're trying to make the American people more secure, more prosperous and display the diversity of the the Republican base, the Democrats and the press want to tear down a woman simply because she has done so much good.  It's an outrage that no able-bodied, white, male candidate would have to endure.

P: That's not hardly the point....

RD: Wrong!  That IS the point and you don't get it.  This isn't about records, even though I would point out that there is nothing, NOTHING, in Aunt Jemima's past to suggest that she's anything but wholesome, anything but America's beloved aunt!

P: Okay, let's talk about issues.

RD: We welcome a debate about issues, so long as it is focused squarely on how we're representing the truth.

P: She's done nothing.  And I don't mean that figuratively.  Nothing.

RD: That is obscene!  Here you go again, distracting voters with smears and ugly nonsense.  Listen, we are fielding a candidate who has added to the health, well-being and happiness of a majority of Americans.  Her candidacy is historic and she will make us all proud.  Unlike any candidate the Democrats put forward, we can legitimately say that ours has done nothing wrong, ever!

P: This is absurdity.  Straight up, your campaign is a lie, top to bottom.

RD: Is not.  Anyway, this election is not about who's telling the truth or who's lying, but who makes the American people feel good, feel safe in their homes and can restore this country's pride.  Aunt Jemima is the only candidate qualified for that job and Americans know it.

P: How will you stage debates?  Negotiate with foreign powers?  Appoint Supreme Court justices?

RD: Aunt Jemima cannot speak due to a physical disability and I am frankly appalled that you would again attack this historic candidate - a disabled black woman running for the highest office!  Obscene.  This is exactly the dark politics that the American people will reject - attacks, racism, sexism and discrimination against the disabled.  How dare you?
But to the larger question of how she will navigate the State of the Union address or talking tough to our enemies, we are more than confident that Vice President McCain will confidently support Ms. Jemima in her duties, restoring our historic toughness which has been so greatly diminished by the left.