I agree with you about the genius stroke of Palin -- the only danger is that one of the series of oddities currently popping out of her closet may turn out to be a really damaging one.

I think Obama may have felt defeating Clinton was the difficult bit. Hopefully he's now had a shock and will start campaigning properly.

As a non-American, my main selfish concerns about the President elected are (a) will our alliance with him involve us in foolish and damaging wars and other such foreign policy situations? and (b) will he be able to restabilize the US (and hence global) economy? So far we don't know much more than hints about either.