With her acceptance speech Wednesday night, John McCain's vice presidential running mate Sarah Palin did everything that Republicans hoped she would. Essentially, she energized the party with her tough rhetoric supporting Mr. McCain and criticizing Barack Obama.

For sheer number of television viewers, the performance rivaled Mr. Obama's acceptance speech at the Democratic convention in Denver last week. More than 40 million people watched the Alaska governor deliver her spirited address that won praise from many analysts. Some 42 million watched Sen. Obama's speech that inspired the Democratic Party and drew mainly positive reviews.

Throughout the long primary campaign, the Illinois senator had built a reputation as quite an orator. It was expected that he would rise to the occasion of his acceptance speech for the Democratic presidential nomination, and he did.

But Mrs. Palin was not a national name before Mr. McCain chose her as his running mate. It was not generally known how she would handle the pressure of the national spotlight. There were questions about her experience. Essentially, many people tuned in to form their own judgments about Gov. Palin.

As a result, the number of viewers for the Obama and Palin speeches exceeded audiences for the Academy Awards, the finale of "American Idol" or the Olympics opening ceremony in Beijing, the Associated Press noted.

Does that mean a record voter turnout for this presidential election?