The Sunday Paper Staff Blog

Usually, women candidates are lauded for their compassion. So, it was odd and disappointing for me—someone who’s gone to bat for Gov. Sarah Palin, the GOP vice presidential pick—to see Palin fail to extend that kind of compassion to Sen. Joe Biden. Please keep in mind, I am a longtime, outspoken, non-fan of Joe Biden. Tonight, Sen. Biden opened up in a way that wasn’t necessary, a way that must not have been pleasant for him, but that he felt, I suppose, might help him to introduce himself to Americans who don’t know him. He recounted what was probably the most heartbreaking day of his life—the day his first wife and their infant daughter were killed in an automobile accident. He was visibly struggling to finish his sentence. Palin, in her response to the same question, had a perfect opportunity to show compassion, in fact, for most of us it would have been the natural thing to do. I’m perplexed about how anyone could stand there and not respond in a sympathetic way to what he was going through. In fact, throughout the evening, I got the impression that Palin’s objective was to keep the American people at arm’s length. I really don’t know her any better at the end of this debate than I did before it. She accomplished the assignment of not goofing up, and maybe her focus was so much on that that she could not loosen up enough to be herself. I have acquaintances in Alaska who frequently refer to her warmth and sense of humor, but these attributes were not on display. In fact, she went out of her way to take a jab at the mainstream media, a party that had in no way provoked that kind of jab tonight. In the preceding weeks, yes, but not tonight. She made some great points, among them calling Biden out on his spin on Gen. David McKiernan’s words regarding whether the Iraq approach would work in Afghanistan, but I am troubled about this seeming stiffness. Many other Americans tonight thought Palin won the debate, so I find myself, someone who has been supportive of her, in a strange spot. The thing that was most promising about a Palin candidacy was the maternal experience and knowledge that are too often missing in our government’s consideration of policy. It is odd that at a moment when she would have shone the most, she chose to stick to the script and let the moment pass.