An uncharacteristic care package o’ optimism to tide you over for a few hours. The meme du jour isn’t Palinmania but the after-the-fact rave reviews for McCain’s speech trickling in from unlikely sources. Sample error? Maybe not: Check out the grading in Survey USA’s new national poll. For some reason the data from Tampa specifically is getting attention today, but in fact the speech played almost as well across the country as it did down there. Gallup’s got him within two now nationally after trailing by eight just four days ago; a solid effort in one of the most watched speeches in history will do that for you, I guess. Obligatory pessimistic note: Be sure to note the party breakdowns in the SUSA poll, especially on the single-issue questions, as most of McCain’s advantage comes not from independents but Republicans skewing heavily his way.

Exit question: Are we sure Palinmania isn’t the meme du jour? The AP seems to have a stage-four case of it. As does, er, Red State Update.