The Web on the Candidates

• Lurving Sarah Palin: Some voters may still be working out their reaction to Sarah Palin's hard charging speech last night, but her address and its sustained needling of Barack Obama certainly won insta-plaudits on the online right. Here's a sampling. The Next Right's Mindy Finn: "She demonstrated why she was a superior choice for McCain vs. the other so-called 'short list' VP picks." Red State's Ben Domenech: "What she said tonight shows that underneath her pleasant exterior and her mother's smile is a sharp, talented executive - one who knows how to throw a punch, and how to make change a reality, not a promise." Let's cut to the chase -- conservative direct mail guru and strategist Richard Viguerie: "Sarah Palin is the next Ronald Reagan." Of course, the conservative web is hardly monolithic. But the reaction amongst conservatives was indeed largely positive. Wired's Sarah Lai Stirland provides this roundup of online chatter: "Palin's charisma, and her ability to connect with her audience while at the same time blowing sharp, poisonous rhetorical darts at her opponents, was the talk of the evening." #

• At Their Words: The blog Thomas Hawk's Digital Connection presents a word map of Palin and Joe Biden's acceptance speeches that paints a picture of what the VP nominees hammered home in their chances to address the country. The most popular phrases in Palin's prime time talk, according to a visual scan? "USA," "thank," "America," "country," "McCain," and "man." For his part, Biden spent the most time hitting on "Obama," "Barack," "John," "know," and "change." What's it mean? Not sure exactly. But it sure looks pretty.

• A Modern Media Mugging?: Former Reagan aide Peggy Noonan's had a hit mic incident yesterday when an MSNBC microphone seemed to catch her off-air calling the McCain campaign "over" after its Palin pick. The clip went what can only be called really, really viral, with more than 770,000 YouTube views. Noonan later took to her blog to explain away the incident, describing herself as "mugged by the nature of modern media." The Washington Independent's Ari Melber has a look at how MoveOn scrambled to use Facebook and email to attempt to spread the video far and wide. #

• Organizing the Organizers: Palin's dig at community organizers in last night's speech ("I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a 'community organizer,' except that you have actual responsibilities") has set the left-leaning blogosphere aflame. And no wonder, as it gets at a division between how progressives/liberals and conservatives see the world. The Obama campaign wasted no time hitting back. They first got an email out from campaign manager David Plouffe in the middle of the night and later followed up with a video of Obama himself explaining what it means to organize community. Micah Sifry predicts that her jibe will prompt Obama's "friends" to push back -- and raise cash. #

• Rolling Out the Blogger Welcome Mat: Firedoglake's Jane Hamsher reports that at least one Republican blogger is disappointed by the support and respect they're getting from the RNC here in St. Paul, from bad seats to the astronomical cost for an Internet hook-up -- though the National Journal's Winter Casey has a somewhat opposite take. Relatedly, Nancy Scola/me reports that Liberal Lounge, an outgrowth of the remarkable Living Liberally network, is providing progressives an invaluable launch pad and hangout here in the Twin Cities. #

The Candidates on the Web

• Next, On Biography...: We've mentioned this a handful of times in the past, but there's still no bio up on JohnMcCain.com, nearly a full week after McCain announced that he had chosen her as his running mate. Seems like an unnecessary and harmful omission. Why not just copy and paste in her official Governor of Alaska backgrounder? Maybe it's not perfect, but it's at least a good start. #

• Looking for McCain: The Internet traffic firm Hitwise reports that John McCain is closing the gap with Barack Obama -- at least when it comes to hits pouring in through media and news site. But have a look at our own Hitwise and Compete traffic charts: Obama is still head and shoulders above McCain in overall traffic, according to the latest stats (which, it should be noted, are current as of this weekend).#

TechCongress and Beyond

• Turns Out You Can Be Too Popular: Enormously popular social-networking site Facebook has some powerful political potential, to be sure. But its promise has been limited by some of the restrictions the company has put in place -- none more handcuffing, perhaps, than the idea that using the site too much can get you kicked to the curb. #

In Case You Missed It...

Nancy Scola asks why a major biotech lobbying group is in St. Paul handing out "I Blog for McCain" swag. And she also reports that the protests here at the RNC involve a great deal of performance -- which is why we're seeing police capturing video on their own digital cameras as they march into Rice Park.

Justin Oberman goes "beyond the mobile hype" to lay how cell phones are shaping the '08 cycle. And Colin Delany suggests that Sarah Palin is being assimilated by the Internet. Colin: "[S]he's transcended the merely mortal to become a meme."