Palin Comparison

Before I get into this, I wanted to point out two excellent articles today regarding Sarah Palin. It seems that some people are finally getting it. The first was from Newsweek's Fareed Zakaria ("Palin is Ready? Please"), which breaks down her laughable "knowledge." And in Salon, Rebecca Traister gives us "The Sarah Palin pity party," which is a blistering attack not only on the McCain campaign's cynical decision to pick her in the first place to be the V.P. pick, but also but also the dichotomy in which Palin tries to attack in a blitzkrieg fashion only to quickly recede behind the protective cover of sexism and faux-condescension. The Traister piece is probably the best article I have read on the hypocrisy and double-standard of Palin's part in the campaign.

I'm sure that both of my loyal readers think that I am in love with Sarah Palin, because I talk about her so much. But I'm not. I do have a sort of macabre fascination with her, not because of her as a person or as a candidate, but by the wave of Palin-mania that followed her second-to-last night of the RNC. I thought she read that speech very well, but she was mean-spirited and simplistic. And quite honestly, the degree to which the right-wing took to her was either a sign that they were desperate for some kind of excitement (and based on the latest polls, they may have been premature) or that the NASCAR/Wrestlemania states have no idea what charisma actually is.

The debate tomorrow between Sarah P and my boy Smokin' Joe Biden is going to be very interesting. On one hand, the worry on the part of the Republicans is either very real -- considering the way she has butchered all of her non-Sean Hannity interviews -- or incredibly shrewd, so as to set her up for rock bottom expectations. If this works, then she will probably come out looking good, right?

And a lot of people are saying that Biden has got to watch himself so as to not come off as condescending. They don't want him to pull a Rick Lazio and invade her personal space and get all up in her grill.

I say, BRING THE CONDESCENSION! There is no way that Palin should be allowed to get off easy just because she is a woman, or just because she is "regular folk." Times are too tough to be fooled by someone who seems, I suppose, personally likeable. Biden should not be afraid to point this woman out as a fraud. Which would you rather have? A sometimes too-verbose foreign policy savant (who does use the word "literally" way too much, which is a major pet peeve of mine) who dares to call to the forefront the lack of experience by a particular politician, or that politician who clearly doesn't know anything? I can't imagine that given the financial and global crises we are facing, that too many people are going to go for the soft-sell approach and vote for someone just because they think she's cute or think she's a cool person.

This country is looking for stability. Leadership. I have always said that the first person after 9/11 to make me feel like someone had things under control wasn't George Bush, it was Joe Biden. He has the ability to be that authoritative voice, filled with wisdom and experience, and yes, with outrage. If you see any clips of Biden at the Robert Bork or Clarence Thomas Supreme Court confirmation hearings, you know he can rip your head off pretty fast. He is windy, but I've never seen him come off as arrogant or aloof. He's just a brilliant guy who isn't afraid to show his brilliance. In other words, my kinda fella!

So Joe, don't listen to the skeptics. Now is the time to show everyone that the Emperor has no clothes. (I only wish that Cindy McCain was the Emperor, am I right fellows?!) Don't be afraid to expose this woman for the moose in the headlights that she is. Nothing would give me greater pleasure than to see that trademarked Palin blank stare in some foreign policy question, only to have Biden scoop up the question and rattle off the names of every foreign leader in the nation. Soon enough it'll be back to the kid's table for Governor Hockey Mom.