Eh?!

The Vice Presidential debate is over and the speculation about how Sarah Palin would do has been put to rest. We all know how she did because we as a nation watched with baited breath. But how did she do, really? John McCain was talking to supporters at a rally today saying, "How about Sarah Palin? How did she do last night? Wasn't she great? Eh? Eh? Eh?" It was almost as if he himself was in shock that she did so well (and by well I mean she didn't completely choke).

He, as a 72 year old, should really re-think the use of "Eh" in his speech. If his waxen, death warmed over look doesn't highlight that he is well into his seventh decade on this planet the use of, "Eh" certainly does the trick. Another word I would like to strip from his and Sarah's vocabulary: "maverick". Gag me. Like, totally. With a spoon.

I was very disappointed in the debate last night for many reasons. First, I was really hoping to be able to laugh at Sarah Palin. Yes, I know that sounds very mean spirited, but, I don't care. I was expecting something along the lines of the Katie Couric interviews. I figured if she choked when asked hard hitting questions like what her choice of reading materials included before joining the McCain ticket then I just knew that she would spontaneously combust when asked about foreign policy or health care. Second, she used her time to answer the question given to her to talk about whatever struck her fancy. Third, because she was so warm and charming (to which I say puh-leeze) and was able to speak (in circles like a dog chasing his tail, mind you) the American sheeple thought she was wonderful.

But, alas, there was no spontaneous combustion; nor were there answers to the moderators questions. There were lots of sound bites and "ya know" and "joe six pack" and soccer mom references. And for the love of all things dignified QUIT WINKING! Is she trying to seduce the vote? Is there some inside joke we are supposed to be laughing at?

Me and my home girls forsook our bible study to watch the Biden v. Palin smack down. Joe Biden wasn't the only one sighing and Sarah Palin wasn't the only one rolling her eyes last night. We agreed that watching Biden and Palin on the same screen seemed a bit surreal. There was the elder statesman of Joe Biden giving clear, concise answers to the moderators questions. He spoke from experience and knowledge and it seemed as if he knew what he was talking about. He spoke with conviction and I believed him. In stark contrast to Joe Biden's direct answers were Sarah Palin's "answers" to the questions - if she chose to actually answer the question posed to her, that is - where she spoke in circles and was trying so hard to connect with the "average American" but when she quit speaking we knew no more about her and McCain's policies than when she first opened her mouth.

And just who is this average American she is trying to connect with? Is the average American duped by her? Does it only take saying, "You betcha" and calling herself a maverick and a soccer mom to get to the White House? Really? I for one do not want an average American as President or Vice President. I want an exceptional American to lead this country and I believe that one who is exceptionally bright would have no problem agreeing to a live interview.

As painful as the Katie Couric interviews were to watch (and as great as the SNL sketches with Tina Fay were to watch) they did help Sarah Palin in the debates because the bar was set so low that all she had to do to be declared victorious was to give a lucid response without the gleam of terror or panic in her eyes that Katie Couric's hard hitting questions seemed to elicit.

This election is momentous in that it is historic with a black man running on the Democratic ticket and a woman running for VP on the Republican ticket but it also seems like a sick joke. McCain was so desperate to capture the Hilary vote that instead of looking for a qualified candidate to run with he looked for a woman and is trying to make her into something she is not: qualified. Who would have ever thought that someone with less than a full term as Governor of the 4th smallest state in the Union and 6 years as Mayor of a town that is a fraction of the size of the school district I grew up in, could be so close to the Oval office?

Unreal.

I wonder how I would have voted if McCain had selected a different running mate. Would he have had a fighting chance? Is Palin's supposed success in last night's debate enough to make up ground they lost after her interviews were aired? Is she going to be stuck in a closet from now until the election?