The VP Debate

Well, it's T-minus 2 hours and 30 minutes, and Sarah Palin has neither had a family emergency nor fallen down a flight of stairs, so I think she'll show up tonight. Expectations have been lowered all week for her; at this point, anything above involuntarily losing bladder control will give her a win for the night.

Nevertheless, I think that Biden should treat the soi-disant "pit bull with lipstick" just like the mad dog that she is. No quarter, no mercy. If she wants to run with the big dogs, she'll have to get used to being bitten now and then. However, Biden is too gentlemanly to really stick it to her. I also believe that if he just bides his time, she'll hang herself. The debate rules favor her style, with a mere two minutes to respond. However, two minutes is plenty of time to make a fool of oneself. And I don't think that Biden will be the one doing that tonight.

Far too much has been made of Palin's ability to memorize sound bites and deliver pithy comments. I think her general lack of knowledge on all things foreign and domestic will show tonight, bigtime. I mean, c'mon, the woman couldn't even name a newspaper that she reads regularly! Because she doesn't read regularly, and the Couric and Gibson interviews proved it. Again, two minutes is plenty of time.

Palin shares with George W. Bush the deadly combination of a pronounced lack of curiosity about the world around her, intellectual laziness that's kept her from educating herself (remember, she allegedly has a degree in journalism--and she gives awful interviews?), and the arrogant assumption that knowledge, experience, and education don't matter next to "instincts". In short, she doesn't know, doesn't care that she doesn't know, and thinks that she's better off doing things "her way", anyway. The last eight years have shown America and the world why that personality type must never occupy the White House ever again.

Either way, it should be a fun night!