Race to Mediocrity
When I sat down to watch the vice-presidential debate, I admit I was hoping to see Sarah Palin say something stupid. I’d seen the clips of her Couric interviews after the fact, but I wanted to see it happen live, in context. I wanted to think my own thoughts about it before hearing the pundits chew it over.
I was disappointed, but not surprised, when she didn’t say anything that was actually laughable. I knew that she’d been training for this debate, and that there were few landmines for her to step into. She had her notecards, and the moderators are not allowed to ask follow-up questions (such as, ‘Specifically, can you name some publications that you read?’). I wasn’t surprised to see that she employed the same tactics that the Bush administration has been using for years- if you don’t like the question, just ignore it and repeat one of your canned talking points.
When asked what her personal Achilles’ Heel, or major flaw was, she answered that she and John McCain were both mavericks and they were just what this country needs. It reminded me of the time George W Bush couldn’t think of a single mistake he’d ever made.
For the same question, Biden listed several flaws, and admitted that he is unlikely to change. I liked it, but that was one rare moment of pleasure in that debate. If Palin wasn’t going to entertain me with screw-ups, then I had hoped Biden would thrill me with his excellence. Instead, he spent much of the debate trying to out blue-collar her.
Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s important for our leaders to be able to relate to our issues. I’m tired of being told how tax breaks for the rich are going to make my life better. But I would rather see a qualified candidate tell me how his new health plan is going to help me out, and explain why, than watch them compete over who’s from the smallest town. If they’re good at their jobs, I don’t care where they’re from.
I expect my leaders to be smarter and more educated than I am. It’s embarassing to see them dropping folksy truisms (I’m talking about you, Joe Six-Pack) instead of giving substantive answers to these serious questions.
Even more embarrassing is that so many Americans eat that stuff up.
I heard on NPR that the McCain/Palin campaign has targeted a district in Maine because it’s woodsy, they have moose there, and snowmobiling is popular. Because Palin and her husband are snowmobilers, they expect to take that district.
I’m sorry?
Since when did duck hunting, snow mobiling, or any other hobby make you qualified to be president? And yet it seems to work. The local snowmobiling association (30,000 members strong) has endorsed McCain/Palin.
This does not make me proud to be an American.
