The VP debate (...snore)

THIS is a belated reaction to the U.S. Vice Presidential debate aired last Friday (Oct. 3).

Neither of the two VP candidates (Democrats' Joe Biden and Republicans' Sarah Palin) said anything persuasive enough to get their rival's voters to switch sides. There were no fireworks set off. Biden was just too restrained and gently handled his opponent, maybe too gently, he had no fire in the belly at all. He was almost boring.

Palin, on the other hand, didn't directly answer assertions made by Biden against her presidential ally Sen. John McCain perhaps because she didn't know his record well enough to defend him. All she had were prepared soundbytes to attack Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. C'mon we've heard all of that before.

Biden sometimes came off as professorial as he tried to explain their tax plan and Obama's voting record (...zzzzzzz). Palin may have held her own, thanks to her debate coach(es), but still appeared wet in the ears like Eliza Doolittle trying to learn how to speak proper English. Dontcha think both of them would make a great team if they starred in My Fair Lady?

(This cutie is gonna break a lot of hearts I tell 'ya! Piper photo from qudecide.wordpress.com)

Btw, the only thing I like about Palin is her daughter Piper. That kid is just sooo cute and she knows it! She looks like she's enjoying herself in the political arena...shaking hands with the old hands, and waving to the crowds. I bet this kid is gonna be the next politician in the family. And who knows, she might actually become VP! that is, if she doesn't follow in her Ate Bristol's footsteps. And let's hope she's not half as stupid as her hockey mom, golly gee, aw shucks. (Btw, have you heard the latest interview of Sarah Palin? She says she reads The Economist...you betcha! Sana sinama na din nya ang Wall Street Journal at Financial Times of London. Dagnamit!)

* * * *
WELL, I'm glad that debate's over. The next one between Obama and McCain (Oct. 8 9AM, RP time) should be exciting as it's going to be conducted in a town hall setting. I wish Obama loosens up a bit, and smiles more. Look at McCain, he looks like a cute grandpa when he giggles and smiles...not that it's gonna win him more votes.

With the U.S. economy slip sliding away, everyone pretty much expects Obama winning in November. It''s like a replay of the 1992 Presidential elections pitting Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush (without the Ross Perot factor). Then Clinton's campaign strategist James Carville came up with the most famous line which everyone is using again in the U.S. (and even here at home): "It's the economy stupid!"

The U.S. budget deficit is now $1.2 billion, unemployment at 6.1% with more Americans losing their jobs (159,000 in September alone, the ninth consecutive month of job cuts), and sub-prime credit mess exploding that a $700 billion bailout package had to be forged by the feds, even the war in Iraq has taken a back seat. All these factors are conspiring to make Obama look like the better presidential candidate than McCain. I'm crossing my fingers it would be so.

Sarah who?

(The very chica Alaskan governor, Sarah Palin...dubbed the 'hottest governor in the coldest state' of the U.S.)

SO Sen. John McCain sprang a surprise among his supporters. And well, the rest of the world.

Unlike Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama – whose veep is a pretty popular guy in the halls of the Senate, Joe Biden, albeit more because of his often long, long speeches, hehe – McCain's chosen runningmate, Gov. Sarah Palin, is obviously a relative unknown on the national, much less, the international level.

She is no Geraldine Ferraro, thank you, who was the first woman ever to run for vice president. Nor a Hillary Clinton, who tried to be the first woman presidential candidate in U.S. history. Both women, before trying to get elected to the highest posts of the U.S. government, had some amount of national exposure because of their runs in Congress and their personal advocacies. (Although in fairview, like ko ang eyeglasses ng Lola Sarah...very nye!)

Palin's appointment is a pretty desperate attempt by the McCain group/Republican Party to get the women who still can't get over Hillary Clinton losing to Obama to switch to their side. I think American women are more intelligent than that (aren't all women anyway?!). They know McCain/the Republicans didn't get Palin because they believed she would be the most qualified (among the other veep contenders) to jump right into the president's shoes if, knock on wood, something happens to McCain if he does manage to snag the presidency. They chose her because she's a woman. Plain and simple. It's just a gimmick and I think most American women will see through that.

(Democratic Party Veep candidate Sen. Joe Biden...ang kayuut ng lolo na ito!)

I'm not knocking Palin's abilities, because being a mother, she can probably handle almost anything. And she supposedly has a reputation as a tough reformer. Pero, if you compare her to someone like Biden who has been around the halls of Congress far longer, and who has a firm grasp of both international and domestic issues, Palin's resume reads very short. I mean, what could have been the toughest decision she has had to make as a governor of Alaska? How to control the caribou population? Ayayay!

Hopefully, because Biden is a Catholic, Pinoys in the States will vote for the Obama-Biden ticket instead of pushing through with their threats of switching to McCain.

Click here for TIME magazine's profile on Sarah Palin. For Joe Biden's profile, click NYT.