Well, it should be clear after the debate and subsequent days what Palin will be used for - and this is the main reason the sniping campaign has entered this phase. She can't speak on anything of worth, or anything other than bullet points from the playbook, so she'll be the one out there slinging the personal slime at Obama - much of which we've already been through as the public (Wright, etc.). She's perfect for that, because if any comes back her way it will be looked at differently because of who and what she is.
The serious personal attacks were wratcheted up by the republicans with the terrorist "ties", the Rezno "ties", the Wright regurgitations - and I guess Palin is the lead bulldog, since she can't do much else. This started over the weekend, and of course the dems will have to refute and attack back with the Keating Five stuff, the Alaska stuff, etc.
I don't think the dems took it to this level - and I think most know why the McCain camp went down this road - because he's lost what momentum he had from the convention, and is losing most polls not sponsored by Fox or Drudge.
To coin a phrase coined in this thread previously, if you don't think that, you can believe what you want.
