Asked about whether the scrutiny of Palin had been fair, Obama replied that he had been under the microscope for the 23 months of his campaign while Palin had been in the media spotlight for "what, four days."

He also said that he assumed that Palin, only the second woman on a major-party presidential ticket, would want to treated as
if she were a man.

Obama also dismissed the GOP convention as empty of vision and specifics, and full of hagiography of McCain and criticism of him. "I've been called worse on the basketball court," the Democratic nominee said.