From Republican Perspective, Palin Is Back on Track

One of the media wise guys said before the vice presidential debate that it was like a NASCAR race – a good percentage of the fans came to see one or both candidates hit the wall and spin out.

The thrill-seekers were disappointed. Sarah Palin, the newest of newcomers on the national scene, held her own against Senate veteran Joe Biden, who seems to have been a DC figure since the Ice Age.

After a painful patch of bad interviews, Palin reverted to her appealing, just-plain-folks form, cheerfully punctured the pompousness of DC insiders, answered the questions, and even gave Biden a little chin music that scored a few hits.

For his part, Biden avoided “stand up, Chuck” gaffes and spoke knowledgeably and forcefully about the issues. He seemed a tad intense, however. His how-ya-doing, back-slapping persona was under tight wraps Thursday night.

On the most important environmental issue of them all, Palin followed John McCain's direction and answered a firm “yes” to a question about her support for carbon emissions caps. Let the climate change denial lobby chew on that one for a while.

Has Palin put to rest questions about her readiness to serve as president? Probably not, but her debate performance may douse them for the time being.

How should the McCain campaign use her in the next four weeks? When I was a kid, my mom enrolled me in a swimming class. The instructor was a no-nonsense bruiser. He threw me into the deep end. And I hated him for years. But I learned to swim.

The McCain campaign should let Palin plunge into the deep end and talk as often as she wants to the self-important media sharks. That's the only way to prepare for four years as vice president in a tightly wound town of sharp elbows and hidden agendas.

And, it's fair to ask why the very same questions about readiness haven't been asked with the same degree of intensity about a first-term senator who, so far, has shown little inclination to take on difficult issues if it means crossing his party. 

To be effective, a president must be willing to put aside partisan considerations and conventional wisdom, for the  greater good of fixing difficult issues with solutions that command broad support.

Let's see if the next two debates of the two principals shed light on that important question.