Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin made her national prime-time television debut at the Republican National Convention Thursday night, and by all accounts, she wowed the conservative crowd.

"I love those hockey moms," she said to a roaring crowd. "You know they say the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? Lipstick."

An estimated 20 million viewers tuned in to watch the woman who has gone from semi-obscurity to household name in less than a week. But everyone at the convention agreed the newcomer to the national stage lit up the convention.

"In hockey it's a hat-trick, in baseball it's a homer out of the park, it was tremendous we were standing on our chairs," said Alaska delegate Mead Treadwell.

"She not only hit it out of the park, she hit it to mars," observed former Virginia Gov. and current U.S. Senate candidate Jim Gilmore. "It was a great speech and it did exactly what we wanted it to do. She's very human, has family issues the way we all have family issues."

But political analysts aren't sure how the speech was received outside St. Paul's Xcel Center.

"I do think that the swing voters are the ones who are really concerned about household issues," said Politico's Jeanne Cummings. "On one hand, she presented herself as one of them middle class moms, on the other hand, she didn't give them any substance."

Alaskans who already know her say the Palin family provides a glimpse of the past.

"I was like, 'Oh my God, I'm having flashbacks of '61, '62,' said Alaska delegate Bill Noll. "That's what we love in America, that's why they call it Camelot."

Now convention-goers are getting primed for John McCain (web|news|bio) 's prime-time acceptance speech. The stage has been altered to include a runway, allowing McCain to move around in a more town hall-style format, with which he is more comfortable.