Vice-Presidential debate

I sat down last Thursday night to watch the much anticipated debate between the two Vice-Presidential candidates. The anticipation was increased several-fold with the release of Sarah Palin's interview with Katie Couric, where the Alaskan Governor delivered more meaningless waffle than a busy New Jersey diner on Sunday morning. With most polls showing Senator Obama building up a lead, the stakes were high for both campaigns. The McCain campaign was anxious to stem the bleeding while the Obama campaign didn't want to lose any momentum that they had built.
As I watched the debate, I was reminded of my High School days when I was taught that the single most important factor in winning a debate was to stay within the topic. This certainly did not occur here. Sarah Palin appeared hell-bent on tying every question to what she did as Governor of Alaska. I felt sure that when Gwen Ifill asked her about the Iraq war that she would tell me about how she cut taxes in Alaska. Senator Biden was only slightly better where he monotonously blamed John McCain for just about everything from the recent Financial meltdown to the poor situation in Iraq. I would not have been surprised if Biden laid the blame for global warming at McCain's feet.
A decisive moment however, did occur right at the end of the evening. Gwen Ifill asked the candidates what they envisioned they would do as Vice-Presidents. As part of his answer, Joe Biden touched on his working class roots and proudly ran through his many accomplishments over 3 decades of service in the Senate and how he had always done what he felt was right. His voice lowered and as he stood there speaking, I thought that he was "Joe Six-Pack goes to Washington". And standing next to him was well, - nobody.