If Sarah Palin Meets Woody Allen

Sarah. Funny, crazy Sarah. We only have a few more days to get to know you before the big election. 

You were a star on Saturday Night Live last weekend. Is there a movie part in your future?

Maybe....Check out the Vimeo video by Radar below.

Sarah Palin Meets Woody Allen from RADAR on Vimeo.

SNL: VP Debate Spoof

She Winks, She Smiles, She Flirts, She Plans to Change the Constitution

Things that made me wonder during the VP debate...

• In the past Gov. Sarah Palin has been criticized for repeatedly commenting that she can see Russia from her house in Alaska (see The New Yorker cover above) so I would think she would really want to get her foreign policy stuff right. Does she know that the top American commander in Afghanistan is Gen. David D. McKiernan and is not "McClellan" as she says in the debate?
• Palin likes to wink a lot. Does Palin suffer from an eye twitch?
• Palin ignored the questions moderator Gwen Ifill asks and instead looks directly into the camera and delivers one canned line after another. 
  
• When Palin says over and over "darn right" or "you betcha" I wondered if this is really how she learned to talk in a debate? At this week's debate camp was she coached on folksy expressions?
• Where exactly is "Eye-ran?"
• She has said that Iran must not even be allowed to have nuclear energy. But isn't Iran a member of the IAEA and a signatory to the NPT? 
• She called Iran's President Ahmadinejad "insane." Why did she also repeated mispronounce his name? (She says it incorrectly with a K sound exactly like McCain says it too.)
• Did she ever answer the questions moderator Gwen Ifill asked. Oh yeah, I asked that before.
• Why did Palin say Biden's college teacher wife will "get her reward in heaven" when she knows that Biden's first wife died tragically in a car accident.
• Palin was well-rehearsed. She avoided the use of "um" or "uh." But she didn't seem to be thinking on her feet and responding to a question.
• Does the McCain energy plan really just boil down to "Drill, Baby, drill?" 
• Is Palin too power hungry for the VP slot? Palin mentioned that she wanted to take a new look at the US Constitution and make some revisions specifically in Articles I and II that are explicit in enumerating and limiting the powers of the Executive, including the Vice President.

There She Goes Again

I'm old enough to remember the debate when President Carter offered a long list of statistics and with perfect timing Ronald Reagan commented, "There he goes again." I'm not a fan of Reagan, but his ability to charm the audience was impressive.

Will Sarah Six-Pack Palin be able to charm voters in her debate tonight with Joe Biden? I expect tonight's debate will have a few surprises. It won't be as scripted as debates in the past. Each candidate has the potential to make blunders. In my opinion, no one really wins the debate, but someone always loses.

Will Biden be able to control his long winded banter? Will Palin provide more material for SNL writers? 

Biden will be able answer any question. No worries there. He knows his stuff--even the political and personal trivia Palin struggled with such as financial regulation, Supreme Court decisions and favorite newspapers. I am more concerned that he will be too nice. You know, that whole gender issue. Even with the best intentions, Biden will have to balance being tough on Palin and not taking a patronizing attitude.

Not so sure about one moose-hunting hockey mom from Alaska. She's full of surprises. And based on her many gaffes in recent interviews with Charlie Gibson and Katie Couric. I'm guessing instead answering questions she'll just offer generalities. Call it flip flop journalism. Palin benefits when instead of answering the question asked, she answers a question she wants to answer. And she'll be praying for divine intervention in her favor. 

If Palin keeps that sunny smile going, you might be tempted to excuse her biting comments. The same comments made by Hillary would be unfairly called "bitchy," but somehow Palin keeps the sun shining even in a thunderstorm.

Will this hockey mom win the game? With all her previous mistakes made so publicly on the network news, our expectations are pretty low. Oh yeah. She is a hockey mom and hockey moms don't like to lose.

Helicopter Parenting on the Campaign Trail

Recently Sarah Palin expressed a view on Pakistan that contradicted McCain's stand. In the world according to McCain, when the "gotcha journalists" recognized this gaffe by Palin they should have ignored the event.

Ooops. I guess the reporters didn't read "The World According to McCain." Oh well... Palin shouldn't worry, we all make a few mistakes. And last time I checked Palin was over forty and she should be old enough to not require her parents (or McCain) to bail her out. 

Why did McCain, the over-protective parent figure, tag along on the interview? Instead of letting Palin explain herself in the interview with Couric on Monday, evidently McCain felt he needed to tag along just in case she needed help. What does this rescue by McCain say about his opinion of Palin's competence and how she handles herself on foreign policy or any policy?

Watch CBS Videos Online

A joint interview with Palin and McCain is fine with me as long as they both bring something to the interview. However, in Monday's joint interview with Katie Couric, McCain appeared to be like the helicopter parent who goes to the principal's office in a weak attempt to blame others and excuse Palin's bad behavior.

In this case, McCain felt he needed to set the record straight and rescue Palin because evidently she couldn't handle the interview situation on her own. (Was he thinking about her recent train wreck of an interview with Couric?)

According to McCain, the problem is not Palin's sound byte. The "real" problem is: Gotcha journalism. 

Hmmm. I thought that was something a high profile politician should know how to handle. Couldn't Palin clarify her statement to Couric without her helicopter parent?

Palin Eyewear Has Special Powers

When I first saw Sarah Palin on the news I noticed her glasses were just like mine. If my glasses weren't so expensive to replace, I'd be running to Lens Crafters right now.

Anyway, I thought Conan O'Brien's glasses-themed joke last week was so appropriate:

"Experts say that since Sarah Palin became vice-presidential nominee, there's been a spike in the sale of her style of eyeglasses. With Palin's glasses, you can see everything, except what the helll your teenage daughter's up to!"