I’ve been reading a lot of blogs leading up to the vice presidential debate tonight.  A lot of “Palin’s a formidable debater”, “she can win on style not substance”, “master of the glittering generality”, and so forth.  Too many posts wondering how Biden can address her - he can’t be too smart, or he’ll be patronizing; he must not roll eyes or sigh; he must not look like “old guy beats up on cute girl”.  ”Expectations are low” and she’ll just need to “not vomit onstage or fall off her stool” in order to “beat expectations”.

Horsefeathers.  This one is different.  Biden, you gotta go nucular on Palin tonight.

Smother her with your experience.  Imply that she doesn’t belong on the same stage.  React with disbelief when she rolls out a non-sequitur.  Stare in amazement when she rattles off a vapid phrase or empty talking point.

Because this one is different.

The entire country has seen Sarah Palin this week, in interviews with Katie Couric and SNL skits that were practically indistinguishable.  They’ve also seen 7 years of their retirement disappear down the Wall Street rabbit hole and are being asked to shell out $700 billion while CEOs who worked three weeks at a bankrupted corporation walk away with $18 million.  They’re sick to death of endless wars and literally sick to death from lack of health care they cannot afford.

For once, this isn’t going to be “Hollywood for ugly people” Washington DC theater, where the audience is like a casual NASCAR fan who doesn’t understand the nuances of high speed endurance auto racing, they’re just waiting to see a wreck.  This isn’t Bentsen/Quayle where 90 minutes of going around in a circle yields you one “You’re no Jack Kennedy” and is otherwise indistinguishable from any other VP debate.

No, this time the audience is the passenger in the NASCAR going 212 miles per hour, praying the driver they’re depending on can avoid that wreck.  This audience has ridden with the fumblemouthed “like to have a beer with” guy and that led to three doozy wrecks called 9/11, Iraq, and Katrina.  This audience is profoundly interested in the race this time around.

Joe, if you don’t go all-in on this one and just trounce Sarah, you lose.  Not because she can dazzle America with her bullshit (25% of America, maybe), but because America needs to know that the guy who might be president isn’t afraid to call bullshit when the stakes are too high for bullshit.  The selection of Sarah Palin by John W. McCain is the most politics first, country last decision ever made, and we’ve just lived through seven years of the Politics First Administration.  Point it out and you’ll be the hero.