Clinton's campaign event in Florida, her first for Obama since the Democratic convention, will serve as a counterpoint to the searing attacks and fresh burst of energy that Palin injected into the race with her convention speech on Wednesday, Obama aides said.

With the McCain-Palin team courting undecided female voters, including some who backed Clinton in the primaries, Obama aides said they were counting on not only Clinton but also Democratic female governors to rebut Palin — and, by extension, McCain. Those governors include Janet Napolitano of Arizona and Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas.

Still, within the Obama campaign and among Democratic officials nationwide, talks are well under way about how the party should treat Palin in the campaign-— and what Obama and his running mate, Senator Joseph R Biden Jr, need to do to regain the offensive after the Republican convention.

Some Democrats were urging Obama's campaign not to underestimate the potential power of Palin's speech, even among voters not aligned with either party: On liberal radio talk shows and on left-leaning blogs, some Democrats said the Obama campaign should fight back hard to avoid being caricatured as Senator John Kerry was four years ago when he ran against President Bush. Some party strategists warned that Palin's personal narrative as a “hockey mom” with a special-needs child, would appeal to some undecided women voters.

“What McCain has done with Governor Palin's nomination is aim right at a demographic that Obama needs to address quickly: noncollege-educated women,” said Mike McCurry, a former spokesman in the Clinton White House. “They need to maximize Biden's ability to reach out to them, but at the end of the day, it is Obama who has to get that very, very critical group.”

While Obama did not aggressively challenge Palin, his advisers opened a new line of criticism to brand her as part of the Republican establishment.

“For someone who makes the point that she’s not from Washington, she looked very much like she’d fit in very well there when you see how she brings the attacks,” Axelrod said. “They all felt very familiar to Americans who are used to this kind of thing from Washington.”

Clinton advisers said that she stood ready to help the Obama-Biden ticket, but they urged the campaign not to overestimate Clinton’s impact, noting that she had other commitments this fall, like campaigning and raising money for Senate candidates. Obama aides said the Clinton trip had been in the works before Palin was named the running mate.

Still, Mo Elleithee, a Clinton spokesman, said he believed she could make a difference with some voters who feel lost in the current economy and who want to see a federal role enacting universal health insurance.

“Anyone who was inclined to support Hillary Clinton typically did so because of her focus on middle-class, bread-and-butter issues,” Elleithee said. “Her message for Barack Obama on those issues could certainly help the Democratic ticket at the ballot box.”