There is no question, as this Dana Milbank dispatch from Florida makes plain, that the Embarracudah will draw huge crowds and generate tremendous enthusiasm inside the conservative base as she goes around saying things like "For me, the heels are on, the gloves are off."
But will it work beyond the base? Will it impress swing voters? I think not. Post-vice-presidential debate polling shows that her attacks on Obama and Joe Biden during that debate have done nothing to help her ticket's standing in the polls generally, or particularly among independents.
One new poll, from NBC-WSJ, finds that swing voters have moved strongly toward Obama in the last two weeks:
Independent voters are among the most important voting blocs because many of them would consider voting for either candidate. In the Journal/NBC poll two weeks ago, independents favored Sen. McCain by 13 points. The new survey finds Sen. Obama leading by four points.
Of course, they could move right back in another two weeks. But personal attacks by someone who swing voters think a) lost her debate and b) isn't qualified to be vice-president (and by extension isn't really qualified to be making vicious attacks) probably aren't going to be the thing that does it.
