Debate-a-thon

I'm not usually one to feel confident of anything politically, but I have a hard time seeing how anything Palin does tonight changes the current dynamic of the race. The simple fact is that if issues were major league baseball standings, the economic crisis would be leading the pack by about 30 games with 12 games to play. And while Biden's populist bonafides aren't much to get excited about, the usual tools available in the right-wing kit for selling their candidates don't much help here. And the other simple fact is that six weeks prior to an election for his successor, a Republican president has declared an economic crisis exists. I doubt the media or public will be much inclined to rally around a snarky one liner or two from a one-year governor of Alaska given the political and economic climate. The Republican specialty is identity politics, and the wedge-issue grievances they seek to exploit and the personality cult they seek to enhance is poorly suited for the current situation. Anyway, let's see how wrong I am.