US pundits welcome 'pit bull' Palin's debut

A “pit bull in lipstick” electrified the Republican Party’s national convention and savaged Barack Obama in a “dynamite debut”, US political pundits said today.

After a week of potentially damaging revelations and intense media scrutiny, Sarah Palin, the little-known first female governor of Alaska, stepped on to the national stage with the aim of showing she was up to the job.