The big vice presidential debate was last night. I had my own little superbowl party with all kinds of post-debate analysis. Here are some of our observations about Hockey Mom Extraordinaire Sarah Palin: she was chirpy and peppy. Her soundbites were well done or at least smiley and upbeat. She winked. She said, "you betcha" a few times, which made her sound tough as nails. She did a "shout-out" to a grade school back home is Alaska, which I found to be in touch with the times and definitely down with her homies. She asked Biden if she could call him Joe and then called him "Senator O'Biden." She incorporated many folksy expressions like "now doggone it" and "all of us that come from a diverse background of policy and partisanship," which ... well, I don't know what that means, actually, but it sounded pretty good, dangit. She said we need to understand that "lots of the American people are a-hurtin." She said something about McCain being the man we need to have "leave," then "lead." She declared to go beyond Vice President Dick Cheney in expanding the powers of the vice-presidency, which was very exciting. She told Biden his wife's reward for teaching is "in heaven" (forgetting, of course, that his first wife is already up there). She also said that John McCain knows "what evil is" and if that doesn't make him the best choice for president I don't know what does. All in all, I think she won over lots of her supporters. I feel that way especially after hearing the insights of an undecided voter who claimed Sarah Palin came across as "real."
This post is dedicated to the Union Civil War commander General George McClellan, not to be confused with Commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, General David McKiernan.
