As I mentioned earlier, I felt like Team Obama made a big mistake by going with the imagery and vibe of the big outdoor stadium show.

The Republicans have come back with a barely produced, soundtrack-free rebuttal. And Sarah Palin (along with Rudy) repeatedly attacked the image that Obama has created for himself.

This was a clear and gaping hole into which the Dems all but invited the GOP to fire missiles. Our guy in a six by four cell serving America, your guy receiving rockstar adulation for a great speech.

There’s a decent chance that the RNC participants went too far and fired too many shots through that hole. There’s less decent chance (tho we can hope) that Americans are tired of these substance-free hatchet jobs and will instead opt for Obama newish brand of interaction. But, whatever the shakeout, there was no reason that the Dems should have made this mistake and left themselves vulnerable.

The DNC homepage makes no mention of John McCain. The RNC page has a ton of attacks on Obama and Biden.

Interesting.

As weird as we all thought the Palin pick seemed, it turns out it was a whole lot weirder.

And we’re only a couple days into this mess.

Most random decision in the recent history of American politics (other than America’s decision to give W a second term).

The more we hear about it, the more downright crazy the Palin for Veep pick looks.

One meeting. Barely any contact by phone. And on and on. This is actually spooky. And the fact that the political machines and talking heads are trying to make it less than spooky is the spookiest part of all.

Best line on the topic comes from Bill Maher

“When she got a phone call at three in morning it was because a moose had gotten into the garbage cans.”

Between last night’s epic speech and McCain’s surprise VP pick of Sarah Palin, this is shaping up to be the coolest and most interesting presidential election in decades.

McCain’s pick was great for stealing away the limelight from Obama’s speech. But I am betting it’s a terrible pick for the long run. It could be, ultimately, one of the weirdest and worst campaign decisions in recent memory. If Obama wins in November, this could the 14 hours that did it.

Michelle Obama opened the DNC on a perfect note. The message was simple and clear. If you are an American struggling to get by, working to improve the lot of your kids and their kids, then we are one of you.

That is the winning message in American politics. Americans, for better or worse (probably the latter) want a President to whom they can relate. Not too smart, not too arrogant, not too impressive. See the most recent two-termer for all the evidence you’ll ever need.

So Michelle Obama positioned her family right in the middle of the story of the dude who you’d love to have the proverbial beer with. It’s sad that this is the route to the most important job in the country. But it is. A bumper sticker that reads, “I am extremely smart, talented, confident, charismatic, popular (oh, and by the way, my wife and I are both skinny)” will never be a winning bumper sticker (and not just because it would take up the entire bumper of most models).

I worry that Barack Obama’s upcoming speech in an outdoor stadium in front of tens of thousands of adoring fans will undo the work that his wife did. Don’t get me wrong. As a left-leaning San Franciscan member of the intellectual elite (supremely so if you’re scoring at home), I look forward to the roar of the crowds getting fired up for a smart, talented guy who can give a good speech.

But I am deeply concerned that to most of America, this ROTUS (Rockstar of the United States) treatment will be a major turn-off and that it’s a strategy that will ultimately play right into McCain’s hands. There is a notion that McCain will be sitting home cringing in front of the TV as Obama takes the stage to an ovation usually reserved for quarterbacks or over-sexed lead singers. The truth could be just the opposite.

Yes, the McCain marketing machine will say, he is the celebrity in chief, but we have the real deal. Not too cool. Not too perfect. Not too slick. We are not running for President of the outdoor stadium or of adoring crowds in foreign countries. Our guy is running to be your President. It must be nice to give cool speeches in front of thousands of screaming fans and to be connected to that internet thing. It’s not as cool to be stuck in a prison camp for five years, but hey, that’s what we’ve got.

I know this sounds crazy, but this is American politics.

And if Obama plays his cards wrong (and the stadium show is a wildly clear example of just such a move), this strategy against him can work.

Can you be positioned as being too smart, too confident, too popular, too charismatic, too talented, too successful and too famous to be the next President? Sadly, but clearly, yes. So while I will, with an ignited lighter raised in my hand and a chant of “Freebird, Freebird” on my lips, cheer Obama at my liberal elite cocktail party with the rest of the adoring Bay Area lefties, I will, in my gut, be worried that this is just the strategic blunder the other side has been counting on.

Update: Obama’s people feel the heat to tone down the stadium event. Obama even tried to explain the selection of the venue during a very brief appearance after Biden’s address.