Palin v. Biden

The debates are rapidly approaching and Palin has yet to speak to a member of the press on-the-record. She reportedly spoke with a gaggle of them, except her damned handlers insisted it be strictly off-the-record. 

Well, with that Oct. 2 debate date fast approaching, anybody else think Palin should atleast prove she can speak without a script? 

Perhaps I'm being a little mean here to the lady, but really, it's not as though she's been accused of a crime; I don't have to treat her as "innocent" till proven dumb. 

Alright, that all does sound a little harsh. In all seriousness I simply don't like her policies. I feel sex education needs to be taught in schools, and abstinence only programs rarely work, taxes should change because obviously this deficit isn't going to pay itself off and stem cell research could save more than a few people around the globe. 

I don't dislike Palin simply because she's a female Republican; no, I don't like her because she has repeated refused to speak to the general public from the gut. Any clip you see of her on television is either stock footage, her convention speech, or a regurgitation of her convention speech. I don't like the woman because she's a lifetime member of the NRA yet her campaign cries foul when stem cell research is brought up by Biden. I don't like her because she wants everyone to be and think the same as her. 

Palin can believe whatever she wants, she can believe that abortion is a sin and that's fine by me. But once you attempt to force your beliefs down my throat, we have a major problem. Biden, whether in spite of or because of his faith, feels that while his definition of life begins at conception, he acknowledges that some people have differing viewpoints, and that's OK. 

All in all, Palin needs to speak up and come out. Well, this week she's said to be set to sit down with ABC's Charles Gibson and have an actual discussion. The problem(s)? First, Gibson was carefully vetted by McCain's campaign team before being handpicked for the interview (he also had the McCain chat during the RNC). This most likely means McCain's team implemented a Disney-esque demand of "show us your questions before we give you the stage." Second, Gibson didn't even touch on the controversial Palin issues during his McCain sit-down. 

According to the Washington Post, on his blog, Gibson wrote, "Once you know about her daughter's pregnancy, once you know about her husband's political interest in the Alaska Independent Party, once you know about the special nature of their child, I think that's enough."

And I'm still holding out hope that perhaps she'll surprise us all and be more eloquent than her speechwriters.