Just when I thought that John McCain had scored a masterful flourish of political wizardry by appointing Sarah Palin to be his running mate, Sarah Palin had an unfortunate run-in with Katie Couric on CBS, which was hysterically captured by Tina Fey on Saturday Night Live.Because of Palin's gaffes on CBS, watching the one and only vice-presidential debate last week became both sport and entertainment, also the subject of another Saturday Night Live skit.
And three thoughts came to me during the debate. First - why didn't the moderator, Gwen Ifill, make Sarah Palin answer any of the questions? Second - Palin could have, despite her lack of experience and knowledge on policy issues, actually won the debate. Although I was not expecting such a strong showing from Joe Biden (who was expected to ramble and pontificate), he nearly moved me to tears when he responded to Palin's allegation that he could not identify with regular people or their issues. He almost cried when he mentioned losing his wife and his son - clearly an unrehearsed moment.
Palin, almost robotic, never stopped to look at Biden. Had she said "Joe - I can not imagine the pain of losing a child - I am so sorry," pudits might have overlooked her lack of knowledge on the issues, and instead, applauded her for truly being a real person, a real hockey mom. Instead, she ignored his statement, his pain - clearly forfeiting an opportunity to demonstrate compassion.
The other thought, when Palin reached for her infant, almost as if the baby was a prop, was this: what kind of mother would keep a baby out until 11pm at night?
