Biden / Palin: You Decide… Really

Lets take the FOX tagline seriously (this one time). The winner of the debate depends on what you were looking for. If it was for Palin to not recreate her role of doing an impersonation of Tina Fey impersonating herself, then she won hands down. You can tell that she got an “A” in her TV production classes and that whoever hired her as a TV Sportscaster in Alaska knew what they were doing.

If your standard was who would be better at leading the free world should our President (G-d forbid) become deceased, and/or if you were to judge them as equals, then it seemed to me - as an Independent - that you would have to be asked to take a drug test if you didn’t come out of the debate thinking Biden has a greater command of the issues and of the role of President.

Either way, does the result change the current state of the election? Was Palin able to stop the slide that McCain is feeling based on our recent economic woes? No. For instance, I don’t think he’s going to turn around and pour money and resources back into Michigan, a state that he thought was up for grabs that voted Democratic in 2004. I think he’ll keep those resources in Indiana, a state that voted Republican last time that is being threatened by the Dems.

The real issue is that we’re even having this conversation, that the two sides of our electoral coin are so out of alignment. That we’re as polarized as a country as we are right now. Our anxiety is understandable, based on our recent economic downturn, the housing crisis, the upcoming credit crunch, the lingering war.

My gut says that whoever wins, they’ll be able to play the white knight and correct many of the missteps of the last 8 years. If memory serves (and this is meant as proof that economic downturns can be corrected, not as a Party related statement), when Clinton came into office in 92, we were facing tremendous debt that was turned into a great surplus before he left. Once we get the economy (which is cyclical in nature) back on track, once we get cooperation and resources back internationally, people will feel less unsure, less anxious, and less polarized.

Then only the real cause of our discomfort will still be left.
How do we get the best of the best, our real leaders, to want to run this country?

How do we get subsequent generations of kids to want to grow up and become President?