One and Done for Palin in Debate?

Now that we have the first presidential debate in the books, it’s time for the vice-presidential nominees to square off. This will be the nation’s only opportunity to evaluate the two people said to be a heartbeat away from the presidency. This debate assumes even more significance in that this is the only time the candidates will face each other. More importantly given the McCain camps inclination to keep Gov. Palin away from the press, it might be the only time we see her in an unscripted format.
Like many Americans, I was somewhat impressed with the selection of the Alaskan governor and her initial foray onto the national stage. After a year of the entitled then reinvented Hillary Clinton, Palin appeared to be a welcome breath of fresh air. The whole package seemed to work. Her back story was a campaign manager’s dream. PTA Mom, wife, mother of five, including a Down Syndrome child she refused to abort, as well as a meteoric political rise. Toss in “The First Dude” husband and field dressing a moose and you had John Wayne in a cute dress.
The reaction on the left was ferocious and immediate. The essence of the criticism was she’s a moron with no foreign policy expertise. It came across as shrill, sexist and partisan. Notice I haven’t said wrong! In my enthusiasm for the un-Hillary female candidate, I was willing to cut her a little slack. After all, all a vice-president does is go to state funerals and occasionally preside over the Senate. She’ll pick it up as she goes along. Then I listened to her unscripted conversation with Katie Couric the other day.
If that interview was any indication of her depth of knowledge or ability to think on her feet, John McCain can book a tee time for November 5th. In response to a question regarding her linkage of Alaska’s proximity to Russia and her foreign policy proficiency, Gov. Palin said this.
“Well it certainly does, because our next door neighbors are foreign countries, there in the state that I am executive of….As Putin rears his head and comes into the airspace of the United States of America, where do they go? It’s Alaska. They are right next door to our state.” It was horrifying and left no room for interpretation or spin. My cocker spaniel could have given me a more cogent answer.
Sarah Palin is living proof of ‘The Peter Principle” which states that most people eventually rise to their level of incompetence. Sarah Palin may be a popular and proficient Governor of Alaska but she’s not ready to be vice-president to a 72 year-old cancer survivor.
Which brings me to tonight’s debate. Off her performance with Katie Couric, there is no way she will convince anyone she’s ready for prime time. Her handlers are going to have to restrict her responses to canned answers and McCain talking points. The challenge for Sen. Joe Biden will be not appearing condescending or overbearing. She may be the female equivalent of Dan Quayle but Biden can’t lay her out like Lloyd Benson did in 1988 with a “Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine and you’re no Jack Kennedy” line.
So it might be Miller time for Sarah Palin after tonight. That would be the late William E. Miller of Lockport, NY. You see Rep. Miller, an obscure upstate Congressman was the vice-presidential running mate of another Arizona Senator, Republican Barry Goldwater.