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With an assured, combative and electrifying speech to the Republican National Convention on Wednesday night, Sarah Palin launched herself onto the national stage and began the process of erasing the question marks around her candidacy for vice-president of the US.

In what was almost certainly the most-watched speech by a candidate for the number two spot in the US government in the history of that much-derided job, Mrs Palin seized her moment with flair and a self-assurance that suggested her many critics in the last week might have seriously underestimated her.

She delighted an ecstatic audience of Republican delegates with a highly personal account of her life and her record as governor of Alaska, introducing her large and growing family, the focus of much attention in the last week, and detailing her achievements as a reformer in the mould of John McCain.

But she was at her most effective when delivering scathing attacks on her Democratic opponents, taunting Barack Obama about his lofty rhetoric of “change” and repeatedly contrasting his record with that of Senator McCain’s.

"Here’s how I look at the choice Americans face in this election,” she said. “In politics, there are some candidates who use change to promote their careers. And then there are those, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change."

And in a daring move, she turned Democratic attacks on her own inexperience against them, contrasting her career as a small-town mayor with Senator Obama’s years as a community organizer.

“Before I became governor of the great state of Alaska, I was mayor of my hometown. And since our opponents in this presidential election seem to look down on that experience, let me explain to them what the job involves. I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a ‘community organizer,’ except that you have actual responsibilities."

For good measure she also took time to swipe at her tormentors in the media in the last week, where a profusion of commentators has derided her light qualifications: I’m not a member of the permanent political establishment. And I’ve learned quickly, these past few days, that if you’re not a member in good standing of the Washington elite, then some in the media consider a candidate unqualified for that reason alone. But here’s a little news flash for all those reporters and commentators: I’m not going to Washington to seek their good opinion - I’m going to Washington to serve the people of this country."

Her speech was relatively light on policy, though she demonstrated a firm grasp of energy issues, gained from her years in the oil and gas industry and as governor of America’s largest oil-producing state. She made much of her achievements in Alaska, where she has established a reputation for tackling a corrupt political establishment

“Sudden and relentless reform never sits well with entrenched interests and power brokers. That’s why true reform is so hard to achieve,” she said, but “in short order we put the government of our state on the side of the people. “

In short she seemed to have passed her first major test – but there will certainly be more in the next few days. Attention will now turn to her performance on the campaign trail and to the media hordes that have descended on Alaska where any more revelations about her hitherto unknown personal history past could still prove damaging. And there will surely be question marks about her effusive claims to be a reformer, since there have already been suggestions that she was not so long ago on the side of the political leadership of her state.

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