Mission Accomplished

What does it say about the viability of Sarah Palin's candidacy when her main goal in her vice presidential debate was to prove she isn't a complete drooling idiot—well all I can say is, "Mission Accomplished!"

While some hoped to see Palin meltdown onstage, all indications from Palin's background and experience demonstrated that so long as she prepared, she would do fine. After all, given all her other missteps, one would hope that at least being able to not hurt the ticket further by not embarrassing herself in the debate would be a minimum load she could handle.

At best, Palin did not personally embarrass herself as she has already done numerous times. However, this hardly qualifies her for the vice presidency of the United States. Nor does it help McCain much other than to somewhat stanch the damage she already has done to the ticket. Nevertheless, while many seemed to credit her for at least showing up and standing her ground, in terms of substance and presence, she nevertheless fell far short, as early polls from CNN and CBS seem to suggest. Palin continued to Palinize by skirting around questions and answering with vague message points that were long on platitudes and cheerleading, and short on substance or specific plans of action.

Palin’s answers do not lack confidence, they lack coherence. —Bob Schneider, CNN