Awww, say it ain’t so, Joe

Okay, so the VP debate, which I understand is old news by now, resulted in Biden being considered the winner by only 51% — absurd, but makes sense. Palin avoided answering questions frequently, instead, choosing to pass on her own ideas, like selling her state down the river for its oil, giving a shout-out to third graders and giving them extra credit, etc. I don’t think that she failed to answer questions will bother most Americans, b/c have you ever noticed, most people don’t answer the question you asked? Most people don’t listen? It’s the way we communicate, so in that light, Palin seems “like one of us.”

A great stink has been made about Palin’s personal appeal, that she’s vivacious, speaks well, comes to life in a way the other dudes running are not. Though I don’t like her, I can see what they’re talking about, especially compared to wooden, scripted wonks. In today’s age, how you appear in the media counts more than being able to articulate policy. It’s not an accident that Hillary Clinton won the New Hampshire primary this past summer b/c she choked up at a diner and said “I wouldn’t do this…if I didn’t care.” Biden also, I think, scored points when he got briefly overclempt alluding to his days as a single dad when his wife and daughter died in 1973.

I don’t know what to say. Health care policy, what the hell we’re going to do in Afghanistan and Iran — these are not warm and fuzzy topics, and they are way too complicated to squeeze into sound bites, which Palin is so expert at (which maybe she is in part b/c she doesn’t get the complexity that’s part of the job she is gunning for?)

I just wanted to say that there can be a place for Palin in the public, but not in the White House or really, any position that requires thoughtful decision-making. Here are the jobs for Sarah Palin:

* “Fear Factor” participant
* Host on QVC, pitching her own line of hair extensions
* Reality show star, a.k.a. “Sarah and her brood”
* Sarah on the Road: A summer across Alaska, hunting caribou
* Host of “America’s Funniest Home Videos” (actually, I think that would be most appropriate for her talents)
* More to come

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