One More Day

Who is the mysterious wild card of this presidential campaign? The one who has received undivided attention—in Saturday Night Live? Who is this person from the Arctic region? Sarah Palin.
Sarah Palin has captured the attention of America and the general public finds this relatively new vice-presidential candidate quite intriguing, but celebrity, not politically intriguing. All eyes will be on Ms. Palin and Senator Biden tomorrow night at six p.m. when they face off in the first vice-presidential debate. Despite all the excitement and curiosity about the debate, “Not since Dan Quayle took the stage in 1988 have debate expectations for a major party candidate been as low as they will be on Thursday for Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska.” Failure is expected. John McCain even tried to push for less time for discussion, knowing that Palin is not good with counteracting attacks. However, Palin’s past debate performance in her race for governor “shows a somewhat different persona from the one that has emerged since Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, named Ms. Palin as the vice-presidential nominee a month ago.” Even if Palin were to summon the debate confidence she had then, it will not aid the growing gap between McCain and Obama, nor help her falling approval ratings across the country and in her own state. What can be expected from the Palin tomorrow? A good show, maybe a few laughs, but definitely not any specificity or “engagement in a serious way in the pressing national and international issues of the day.”