Some political groups are readying tough television commercials attacking the Republican vice presidential nominee, Governor Palin of Alaska, even as a robust debate takes place in Democratic circles about whether and how to try to counter the energy and excitement the self-described “hockey mom” has brought to the Republican ticket headed by Senator McCain of Arizona.

One of the most hard-hitting attacks to be floated publicly came from Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund, which posted a minute-long video on the Internet decrying her support for aerial hunting.

“Governor Sarah Palin champions the barbaric hunting of wolves and bears from planes,” a graphic in the video says as ominous music plays in the background. The video then cuts to shots of men in a small aircraft firing from the air at a lone wolf frantically racing away through the snow. “She proposed a $150 bounty for the foreleg of each dead wolf,” the video says. In a particularly jarring sequence, a shot of a bloody and lifeless wolf suspended from an airplane wing cuts to a still photo of the smiling visage of Mrs. Palin.

“The American people need to know this,” a spokesman for Defenders of Wildlife, William Lutz, said yesterday. Asked if the group was planning to air the video or portions of it as a television commercial, Mr. Lutz said, “That’s a potential, yes. There’s plenty of time to move on some sort of ad campaign.”

Mr. Lutz said the video could blunt Mrs. Palin’s appeal to suburban mothers and other female voters. “It’s possible there’s a side of Governor Palin women do not yet know and when they find it out they will find it distasteful,” he said. Other groups have signaled plans to draw attention to Mrs. Palin’s opposition to listing polar bears as a threatened species.

Mrs. Palin’s anti-abortion views have been denounced by women’s groups such as Planned Parenthood, Naral Pro-Choice America, and Emily’s List. However, so far, there are no indications that they plan to roll out commercials directly challenging Mrs. Palin.

An official with one of the groups said they were waiting to see whether poll data show Mrs. Palin helping Mr. McCain make inroads with women who support abortion rights. “If it turns out to be something where she is appealing to women voters, maybe we will amplify it and begin pointing her out specifically,” the official, who asked not to be named, said.

The campaign of the Democratic presidential nominee, Senator Obama of Illinois, has been cautious and almost reserved in its response to Mrs. Palin’s nomination, perhaps because of lingering concerns among some Democrats that sexism played a role in his primary victory over Senator Clinton. Appearing on ABC’s “This Week” yesterday, Mr. Obama used a refrain aimed at reminding Americans that the Alaska governor is a mere mortal and a political operative at that. “I think she’s a skilled politician. She wouldn’t be the governor of Alaska if she wasn’t a skilled politician and I think her performance at the convention showed what a skilled politician she is,” Mr. Obama said.

Mr. Obama’s running mate, Senator Biden of Delaware, said yesterday that he has no special concerns about debating a female candidate. “I’ve debated an awful lot of tough, smart women,” Mr. Biden said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Mr. Biden rejected the idea that Mrs. Palin will have a particular appeal to voters who supported Mrs. Clinton in the Democratic primary. “I think it’s kind of demeaning to suggest that all women are going to vote for a woman just because she’s a woman, even when she’s diametrically opposed to everything Hillary stands for,” he said. “So far I haven’t heard one single policy position — one single position that she has in common with Hillary.”

Polls released yesterday showed Mr. McCain receiving a boost from the Republican convention, which ended Thursday. A Gallup survey had Mr. McCain leading Mr. Obama, 48% to 45%, while a Rasmussen poll had both tickets tied at 48%. The national numbers do not give a complete picture of a race that is ultimately a state-by-state contest for electoral votes.

One Democratic strategist said the selection of Mrs. Palin makes him suspect that Mr. McCain’s team viewed him as badly behind as of last week. “Their polling must have shown them in worse shape than we think,” the vice president of policy for a self-styled progressive think tank, James Kessler of Third Way, said.

Mr. Kessler said Democrats risked a backlash over any effort to go after Mrs. Palin, a proud moose hunter, on the gun issue or for being hostile to polar bears. “There’s more of a downside for Democrats than an upside,” he said. “The swing vote out there is more male than female. … People already think Democrats care more about polar bears than people.”

The strategist said aerial hunting would probably prompt little outrage in Michigan, but could turn off some voters in northern Virginia. “Barack doesn’t need to win the white middle class, he needs to do better than Kerry and you don’t do that by playing the gun card,” Mr. Kessler said.