Joe the Bummer

After 18 months of obsessing, to varying degrees, over the U.S. presidential race, I hit a wall last week. During the last debate between Barack Obama and John McCain, I found myself switching, guiltily, between their conversation and the Red Sox-Rays game. Although the snippets I saw suggested that it might have been the best and most lively of the three debates, I just couldn't take it anymore. I was so sick of both of them - the way they continually refused to answer direct questions, continually used their time to stick forks in each other's eyes (especially McCain) rather than explain what their plans were, the way they competed, ridiculously, to see which one could stick a fork deeper into the eye of the Bush Administration. It just seemed like there was nothing more to say, and certainly nothing more than I could stand to listen to.

So I've stepped back a little bit, perhaps recognizing that for all my interest, I don't get a vote and thus I'm completely powerless to influence the result. It's worth noting, though, that more and more news outlets and pundits are calling it game over for McCain. Obama's taken the lead in polls in key states like Pennsylvania, and the McCain team's desperation is evident in the fact that they've all but completely abandoned policy distinctions in favour of hysterical attempts to link Obama to long-retired terrorists and squabbles over a well-off, barely-literate plumber. 

I don't want to jinx the result, but things certainly seem to be tipping in Obama's direction. Which means the Sarah Palin sideshow - version 2008 at least - will soon be in the rear-view mirror. Too bad, in a way, because she has provided some decent entertainment. Most recently, there's the flap about the Republican Party spending $150,000 in one month to keep her in crisp blouse-and-skirt combos from Neiman Marcus and Sak's. 

Now, I don't particularly care about this - I certainly don't think it's a huge scandal, and I wonder if it speaks to a bit of a double standard that women in political life have to face. But I do enjoy it when Palin, who has made quite a sport out of dodging the press, laments how unfair it is when "all the facts aren't reported." Especially when she puts it in such Britney-esque terms:

"That whole thing is just, bad."

Imagine Palin applying this pearl of wisdom in a conversation with Kim Jong-Il about or Mahmoud Ahmidinejad about nuclear reactors in North Korea or Iran, or when hammering out a solution to the financial crisis with Henry Paulson. It's laugh-so-hard-you-cry kind of stuff.

As far as I'm concerned, Palin can keep the fancy clothes, just as long as she doesn't become vice president. Because that whole thing would be just bad.