Palin Delivers

After watching the Vice-Presidential debate last night, I watched MSNBC, FOXNews, CNN, CBS and ABC to get the run-down on “how she did.” Most commentators were generous in handing Sarah Palin a pass for no blunders. MSNBC, of course, showed the usual bias and was basically hard-pressed to find complimentary language beyond the suggestions of cartoonish or folksy. FOXNews channel generally showed more enthusiasm for Ms. Plain, while offering differing views from staunch Democratic pundants.

This morning, I turned to The New York Times online to read the op-ed by columnist, David Brooks. (The Palin Rebound, Oct. 3, 2008). Mr. Brooks leans to the Conservative, so I believed he would offer a fair assessment of the debate.

He set the stage for an expectant audience of nail-biting Republicans, who sounded more like nervous relatives than supporters, each hoping that Palin could fly under the radar with no glaring mistakes. After describing Palin’s demeanor as characteristic of a “straight-talking mom from regular America,” he shares her verbal colloquialisms and declares that “…in heaven Norman Rockwell is smiling.”

Mr. Brooks injects that she is not much better than George W. Bush when it comes to the command of the English language, but the conclusion is clearly drawn that Palin is getting no closer to the Bush administration than that. Although she is no match for Biden’s knowledge from years of experience, he surmises that by the end of the debate Republicans were no longer hiding behind the couch. They were instead standing on the couch!

I think that Mr. Brooks showed a fair assessment of the facts. As a Republican, I must admit that I, too, was holding my breath. Not that I believed going into the debate that she isn’t qualified to be Vice-President, rather that she might not be hard-skinned enough to play the contact sport that politics in Washington, DC, has become. After the debate, I was reminded of a man from the 1800’s named Abraham Lincoln, who stepped into the political limelight when he debated Stephen Douglas seven times for the U.S. Senate. He was also the underdog in those debates, but in the end he answered the question on the minds of many. Was he someone who could lead? Clearly he was, even though he lost that race. In fact, two years later he was elected President of the United States of America.

So, Republicans be proud. Democrats beware. This is just the beginning of Sarah Palin!