The Tiny Fey Glasses are Gone

So what did everyone think about the debate?

I thought Sarah Palin avoided making any major blunders--at least, we didn't see that moose-in-the-headlights look that was on display throughout her Couric interviews. It seems she is best when allowed to stick to rehearsed talking points.

Biden, though, was really top-notch. In addition to actually answering the interview questions, he turned in the best debate performance we have seen so far from any of the four candidates, in my opinion. I love when he underlined, clearly and forcefully, the themes that define his ticket best: relief for the middle class, opposition to tax breaks for the super-wealthy and corporate America, and concern for the basic needs of families sitting around their kitchen tables right now. I thought he was able to make that connection without being schmaltzy. The point in the debate where he choked up when talking about being a single parent was powerful, even more so when he followed it up by telling Americans that he understands they are having a hard time right now. You would have to be a seriously jaded individual not to see real human emotion and authenticity in that moment.

I'm sure there are many Americans out there who also connected to Governor Palin last night, but I wasn't one of them. The "doggone it" and "say it ain't say joe" and the dropped g's and the winking at the camera seemed part of a routine being relentlessly performed, rather than a natural expression of this person's character and background. Repeatedly calling her running mate a "maverick" (a real missed drinking game opportunity there) also doesn't make it so, and I was pleased when Biden finally listed the ways in which McCain has not been anything but a supporter and promoter of the Republican status quo.

In her defense, ultimately Sarah Palin had the much harder job here--in addition to having to cram her way into an understanding of national policy in four weeks, she is also being asked to perform those verbal gymnastics that turn fiction (conservative economic policy has worked/ pre-emptive war is a good idea/ McCain is a much different candidate than Bush) into seeming truth. Significantly more gifted politicians would also find that a hard task. What helps is that she seems actually to believe these things, but how much easier it is to make a strong case with so many of the rational, logical facts and evidence on your side. That is why this is the Democrats' race to lose.

I can't end before commenting on the wacky moment that was Palin's gusto for the expansion of vice-presidential powers (as put into motion by the ever-so-popular Dick Cheney). I thought for a strange, sci-fi second that we might actually see her twitch as she got zapped by offstage Republican handlers to stop her from continuing to list all the new things that we could maybe, you know, let the Vice-President do. No campaign advisor wants to hear their candidate veer into "let's interpret the Constitution a little more loosely so I can have more power" territory.

Speaking of veering into unfamiliar territory, it looks like I'm headed to Ohio. The Obama headquarters in Cleveland returned my call today with what can only be described as unbridled enthusiasm about the possibility of me showing up in their state to help the campaign. It's hard to resist the siren call of "we can definitely use you!" "we'll find you housing!" and "Cleveland is really not so bad." Well, maybe not so much that last one. All that's left now is to cross my fingers that my experience in the middle of the country among strangers will be more "Mayberry" and less "Children of the Corn."