There are reports of Teleprompter malfunctions at the convention last night.

According to sources close to the McCain campaign, the teleprompter continued scrolling during applause breaks. As a result, half way through the speech, the speech had scrolled significantly from where Governor Palin was in the speech. The malfunction also occurred during Rudy Giuliani’s speech, explaining his significant deviations from his speech. [see the update below on this part]

Unfazed, Governor Palin continued, from memory [and relying on her printed text, clearly looking down occasionally at the printed page], to deliver her speech without the teleprompter cued to the appropriate point in her speech.

According to Politico, that’s bull:

Perhaps there were moments where it scrolled slightly past her exact point in the speech. But I was sitting in the press section next to the stage, within easy eyeshot of the Teleprompter. I frequently looked up at the machine, and there was no serious malfunction. A top convention planner confirms this morning that there were no major problems.

(emphasis mine)

Neither side seems to be linking any evidence regarding the prompter one way or the other. There is always the desire to talk up a candidate’s ability to think on their feet–but this is five ways from crazy.

Personally, I think the best tests are going to be the debates. I have an idea in mind…but I need a partner who thinks differently.