Sara Smile...

Watching last night's VP debate, I was actually impressed that Sarah Palin is a quick study. She didn't fall on her face as many predicted. She held her own and avoided confusing her talking points. That said, she was pretty thin on substance. Right off the bat, she told us that she would be answering the questions she wanted to answer, not necessarily the questions that the moderator actually asked.

Throughtout the night she continued to remind us that she is strong on energy...even when the dicussion was about Iraq, the Wall Street bailout or how she would pursue bipartisan solutions to our problems. In fact it sounded like she was lobbying for the job of Secretary of Energy rather than VP.

The most irritating thing, however, was her attempt to use her beauty and charm to deflect questions and mask her ineptitude on many critical issues. With a wink and a smile she sought to change the subject many times to something she actually knew about....Alaska. Too many times she smiled her dazzling smile (ok, she bested Biden on "cute" points) and told us she would not bore us with actual answers, rather she would give us straight talk. When she really wanted to emphasize he unwillingness to answer questions, she added an even cuter wink to the aforementioned smile. I kept thinking Biden is losing this debate...he's just not cute enough to be VP. (after all, isn't this what people really want after 8 years of a decidedly "uncute" VP). Yes, that will bring America out of its economic doldrums...more cuteness.

In fact I think cuteness is really underrated in America. After all, who needs competence on foreign policy issues when you've got cute. Just look at how the newly inaugurated (and newly widowed) Pakistani President Asif Zardari drooled over her in their brief photo op meeting in New York during the UN General Assembly. Yes the man who recently lost his wife former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto to assassination only a few months ago, almost asked McCain's hottie running mate out on a date! Now that's what I call real international diplomacy. Here her cuteness helped to forge stronger relations with Pakistan (even despite the fact she still cannot find Pakistan on a map).

Next we can send her down to Wall Street where she can end the world credit crisis with her cuteness. You see that's what the problem has been, not a lack of liquidity in financial markets, but a lack of cuteness. Give Governor Palin a few hours and with a wink and a smile she will put our economy back on track (after all, her running mate said our economy is sound so all it should take is a little cuteness to clean up this mess).

As I write this, the McCain-Palin team is working hard to develop a strategy to use said running mate's cuteness to end the war in Iraq. I doubt those evil Al Qaida terrorists will be able to stand up to an unrelenting barrage of intense cuteness.! Who needs shock and awe, when you can bring your enemies to their knees with a wink and a smile?

Meanwhile the Obama-Biden campaign is working furiously to amp up its "cute factor". Good luck Team O-B...you've really got your work cut out for you as your message of hope and change is really no match for cuteness.

(below is a Sara Palin Debate flowchart that I really wish I had been clever enough to come up with - special thanks to http://www.adennak.com/)

*photo courtesy of 23/6 Comedy News