Does Biden make housecalls?

I have a headache. My headache has a name (sounds like I should be singing the B-O-L-O-G-N-A song, doesn't it?). The name of my headache? Sarah Palin.

This woman has not managed to look coherent in any of her interviews. For crying out loud, she couldn't even answer a question about what newspapers she reads. I mean, granted - there are millions of newspapers in the world. However, I'm going to take a shot in the dark and guess that she doesn't read any from, say, Russia. Oh, wait - they may airdrop those, since they are such close neighbors. OK, Alabama. Probably not. Ummmm, West Virginia? Again, doubtful. It's a newspaper, lady...it wasn't a question about, say, whether or not you supported the "Bridge to Nowhere". Or whether or not you could name any Supreme Court decisions that you did not support. Nope. It was newspapers. Damn those tricky questions!

Now, why does this bother me? Because this woman is going to get on television tonight for the *only* debate she will have with Biden. A debate for which she has been prepping for, sequestered away from press or public, for a solid week. So, she may actually almost sound like she knows what she's talking about tonight. My question is this: If she sounds even marginally better than she has the last several...well, every time she's been interviewed, does that mean America (those Wal-Mart moms, in particular) will consider that a victory for her? Because she manages to not fumble every single question? If so, what the hell does that say for us "Wal-Mart" moms? Should it take the woman a solid week to be able to answer questions that she should already know, considering the office she is running for? Should our expectations, both as a nation and as Wal-Mart moms (whom many consider to be the possible deciding factor in the election), be so low that Palin might be able to overshadow every idiotic and/or lying comment she has made up until now?

Which brings me to my second issue. Palin, as a "strong" woman running for the second-highest (and, maybe someday, the highest office) in the nation, makes the rest of us women look like idiots. Or brain-surgeons, depending on your take...Point is, the good 'ole boy network has, for years and years, suggested that women are not cut out for politics. That it would be too difficult for us poor, little ladies to understand the complex world of international dealings and issues. We finally (what century is this again?!?) begin to make some serious headway into crashing the glass ceiling, and then along comes Palin, riding in on her Bridge to Nowhere. "I'll have to get back to you" ain't gonna cut it when you're looking at your next-door neighbor Putin, and trying to get him to stop slaughtering people. "In what respect...?" won't get you very far when someone wants to know how you justify beginning a war.

Like the rest of the nation, I have a sick fascination with the outcome of tonight's debate. Maybe after tonight, once and for all, my headache will go away. Then again, if she manages to spell "Alaska" correctly, I may have my headache for the next four years.