I thought Sarah Palin did well in the debate on Thursday.  I agree it wasn’t really a debate and she didn’t really answer the questions as posed, but so what?  It’s beside the point.  She did fine as long as we all understand that whatever was said Thursday, by either candidate, is irrelevant.

I’ll agree to disagree with Nancy on this one.  She thought Palin was weak and Joe Biden was excellent.  I can understand her reaction.  I try—without much success--to imagine myself as an intelligent woman.  So far a grand total of two women have been on the Presidential ticket.  Geraldine Ferraro was a long shot and Sarah Palin is a sideshow attraction.  She’s an insult to an entire gender of capable humans.  My own problem is more personal in nature.  I realize I can no longer look through my own eyes at these proceedings; I don’t trust myself anymore. 

In 2000 I watched Al Gore mop the stage with George W. Bush.  It was obvious how much better prepared and how much more conversant Gore was with the issues and yet most people felt that Bush won.  Why?  He was judged more likeable.  He was seen as the guy you’d be comfortable joining for a beer or to watch Sunday football.  I writhed in disbelief and then got the ultimate lesson: John Kerry mopped the floor with Bush in 2004 and everyone agreed.  But it didn’t change the vote.  I began to search for new eyes to view the spectacle.    

I found them.  A couple of weeks ago my very conservative brother forwarded an email from Florida.  The gist of it was that since Sarah Palin was nominally the commander of the Alaska National Guard by virtue of being governor, that she therefore had more military experience than Barack Obama.  I wrote back that he must be joking, that this horribly unqualified woman just couldn’t be allowed to be a heart beat from the Presidency during such an important time in our history.  He wrote back, “better her than the horribly unqualified Obama as President.  To each their (sic) own.”  I’m trying to make his eyes my eyes. 

That’s why I’ll agree to disagree with Nancy.  I’m sure that to my brother, Sarah Palin looked great on Thursday.  She didn’t let that “main stream media” type tell her what questions to answer.  She was confident and she smiled and she even winked!  What was the big deal?

Yes, the debate was perhaps the most-watched, least significant political event ever.  Millions of people were distracted by another shiny object, this time in the guise of “yer favorite frontier gal.”  She is the poster child for distraction.  Cute, folksy, certain and clueless.  Every moment we spend considering a single thing she says is a moment wasted.  She can weasel out of answering about her horrible record on women’s rights, puff up her thin knowledge of energy issues and reveal her lack of knowledge about global warming.  It’s all a soft shoe.