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Citizen Voices

The Lighter Side of Politics - Anticipating the Vice Presidential Debate

While certainly all eyes (including mine) will be on how Sarah Palin performs against Joe Biden's extensive foreign policy experience in tomorrow's vice presidential debate , I'm counting on the Democratic candidate for the entertainment . There's no telling what he might say - maybe something along the lines of, "You cannot go into a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent"? Maybe he'll remind us that "Hillary Clinton is as qualified or more qualified than I am to be vice president of the United States of America"? Or perhaps he'll continue to damage his own running mate's campaign by contradicting it directly through the claim that "we're not supporting clean coal". Hey, I'd even enjoy hearing one of his more baffling comments, like the statement that his wife having a doctorate is "a problem". I hope, though, that he can refrain from asking a paraplegic man to stand up for all to recognize. It is fortunate that debates, by their nature, are unscripted - I'd hate to see Biden have to forfeit his vice presidential run due to plagiarizing the speech of a British politician. All in all, I'm looking forward to Biden being Biden - and glad that it will be on national television, for all to see. (This, of course, Biden can liken to FDR's television appearance in 1929. Oops.)

Since it can be difficult to discern sarcasm in print, let me just explicitly state that I am not being sarcastic about being entertained, plain and simple. Before all the die-hard Biden fans out there attack me with comments galore and eager defenses, let me just emphasize my genuineness - I think he's a hoot! In the words of Nancy Pelosi (although in all seriousness, I don't agree with her brushing off Biden's awkward joke about his wife), "lighten up!" When you believe, as I do, that this election is about choosing the lesser of two evils, there is a serious need for some comic relief. And although Stephen Colbert is helpful, he is no substitute for the candidates themselves - one of whom, might I add, has visited 57 states , with one more to go.

Vaughn Bresheare from san diego
October 01, 2008 at 03:47 PM
We are paying a heavy price for US domestic and foreign policy decisions, millions of Americans simply continue to shop, spend and satisfy their appetite for cheap oil, credit and the promise of freedom at home. We've created an imperial army to protect private interests. We're in debt to China and others. We've sold out America. You just go across the border and see endless new mfg plants being built. All our jobs have been exported. We've known the number one imperative is energy independence for the past 3 decades yet of done nothing to resolve it. Oil lobbyists maintain status quo until they've drained as much wealth as possible via oil. How come the average citizenry know this yet our gov't officials can't restrain from personal greed, and collaborate for middle america?

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Kelly Seiler from San Diego, CA
October 01, 2008 at 06:49 PM
@ Vaughn The political system promotes corruption. The politicians who don't sell out to get more campaign money don't get elected. The needs of those with money to give are served, not the American people.

Julie
October 03, 2008 at 04:22 PM
f

movie fan
October 10, 2008 at 04:59 PM
it would be dangerous for the GOP to reschedule another VP debate... the more unscripted air time Palin gets, the more time people will have to realize that she couldn't answer a question about any of the major issues if her life depended on it