Think of it as an antidote.

Kevin and I have decided that every American should have to listen to the debates on the radio. When you take away all the distractions (the folksy winking, grinning and general photogenia), Palin suddenly sounds completely inadequate, at least in comparison to Biden.

Yo said this was a GOP strategy, and I agree. It’s the female version of the Bush appeal that worked so well: Everywoman. Palin is a folksy, down to earth mom from Alaska, just as Bush was styled as a down-home underachiever. They both call for a return to mythical “simpler times.” They appeal tremendously to Americans who are tired of silver-spoon politicos and an increasingly complicated and dangerous world. Palin has the added attraction of being female; she represents the fulfillment of the growing desire of American women to be taken seriously in politics. Unfortunately, all of this appeal is emotional and totally unsupported by the facts.

Is that the kind of change you had in mind?

I’ll also share right now that I’m not going to engage in a debate. I know I’d lose, lol. I’m just going to share my thoughts (which I’m kind of glad you and Lachlan asked me to share).

My main problem while watching the presidential and VP candidate debates (besides McCain NOT looking at Obama, which really smacked of disrespect)?

I don’t believe a vote record says it all–a YES or NO isn’t just a YES or a NO, because there is always extenuating circumstances. So it holds little weight with me when one of the candidates says so-and-so voted 20 times for this or that, which proves so-and-so is wrong, wrong, wrong. Biden mentioned this more times than I wanted to hear.

So when I’m watching the debates on TV, I’m judging what I see and hear–how the debaters represent themselves and if they answer the question asked. It’s all I have to go on. Everyone knows this is a popularity contest and yes, it sucks, but we can’t escape it.

Basically, I liked the way Sarah Palin handled herself, how she answered the questions. To me, she came across more real. Maybe it’s because she’s female and I’m a female, but I felt myself listening to her answers. It was more difficult to hear what Biden said. I don’t always trust smooth and polished.

And I had the thought that it would be interesting if Obama and Palin shared the ticket. I got the sense from listening to both of them that they are both about change, that they were both focused on looking outside of the box. I liked how they both handled themselves. I liked how all FOUR of them handled themselves, actually, with the huge exception of McCain’s disrespect (that really bothers me, for what it’s worth). Made it difficult to WANT to listen to what he said.

Sorry I don’t have anything concrete to support my position, but this is what I feel. I’m your average voter. Honestly, I don’t much trust any of them because they all want to be elected. But I also nothing is all white or all black. So I have to trust my instincts.

(I sigh)

Politics are usually way above my head–yes, yes. (Are you ashamed of me?) so I rely on bloggers-I-know to help shed some light. You’re one of them (even tho I worry about the boobs thing).

But during tonight’s debate? I found myself yearning for an Obama/Palin ticket.

Lots of reasons why. I can’t explain them, but I feel them.

Help?