Christine Todd Whitman, a former Republican governor of New Jersey, says Palin has to address questions about her experience.
"I think she's got to put all that into her speech. She's introducing herself to the nation, not just to the Republican delegates. They all love her," said Whitman, mentioned in the past as a potential vice presidential prospect. "She's got to pre-empt as much of the criticism as possible."
Vin Weber, a former Republican congressman from Minnesota who is now a Washington lobbyist, said Palin shouldn't apologize for the distractions that followed her rollout as McCain's ticket mate.
"I don't think the country cares about that," said Weber. "I would shoot right past that and deliver a positive reform message."
At her announcement ceremony, and other campaign events, McCain promoted Palin's opposition to wasteful government spending. And Palin boasted about telling Congress "thanks but no thanks" for the $220 million the state was offered for a highway project that came to be known as "the Bridge to Nowhere."
McCain, a vigorous foe of earmarks, has singled out that project and others like it for criticism. But in a televised debate during her 2006 run for governor, Palin said she favored the project. She abandoned it last fall, telling her state that Congress wasn't interested in providing any more money.
Several news organizations have reported that Palin, as mayor, hired a well-connected lobbying firm and made annual trips to Washington to obtain millions in federal funding for pet projects. According to figures by a watchdog group, Taxpayers for Common Sense, her town received almost $1,000 in federal aid per resident in 2002, the last year she was mayor.
A rifle-toting, distance-running mother of five (a gory photo of Palin with a caribou carcass has circulated online), she defies easy categorization.
An evangelical Christian raised in a Pentecostal church, she opposes abortion, except in instances to save the mother's life, and same-sex marriage.
But as governor she used her veto to stop a measure that would have kept the state from giving health benefits to same-sex partners of public employees, calling it unconstitutional.
The daughter of a science teacher, she says it should be up to parents, rather than the government, to decide whether creationism should be taught alongside evolution.
The avalanche of publicity, much of it unfriendly, since her debut doesn't appear to have shaken the support of religious and social conservatives for her place on the ticket.
But a Republican politician who is working for the McCain campaign admits he's jittery.
"We're learning stuff we did not know. We might learn more stuff. That makes you nervous," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity in order to provide a frank assessment of the situation.
Her address tonight is the first of two big campaign events for Palin. The other is Oct. 2, when she meets Joe Biden in a 90-minute televised debate in St. Louis.
It's unclear how much she will be seen in public before then. She's expected to make the usual campaign stops, but a portion of her time will be spent preparing for that event. Unlike the convention speech, the showdown in the Show Me State will be largely unscripted.
