MotherReader

Okay, okay, one more day of politics. Sarah Palin actually did well in the debate in that she spoke in a folksy way that people seem to enjoy (“doggone it”), she looked directly in the camera like a trained newscaster (or a celebrity), and she recognized her audience as the people watching on TV (Ifill who?). It was an... interesting approach to the debate to just ignore the questions posed if she didn’t like them. I wouldn’t have guessed one could do that. And apparently any trace of substance was totally off the table in favor of generalities, slogans, and jingoism. I read a comment somewhere that compared the debate to her cramming for a test and then padding the exam questions. My thoughts? “You betcha.” In case you missed it, here’s a short video of debate highlights that sums up the style pretty well.

In honor of her victory over low expectations, here’s a little something from Slate on The Poetry of Sarah Palin. They note, “It’s been barely six weeks since the arctic-fresh voice of Alaskan poet Sarah Heath Palin burst upon the lower 48. The poems collected here were compiled verbatim from only three brief interviews. So just imagine the work Sarah Palin could produce over the next four (or eight) years.”

On the Bailout

Ultimately,
What the bailout does
Is help those who are concerned
About the health care reform
That is needed
To help shore up our economy,
Helping the —
It’s got to be all about job creation, too.

Shoring up our economy
And putting it back on the right track.
So health care reform
And reducing taxes
And reining in spending
Has got to accompany tax reductions
And tax relief for Americans.
And trade.
We’ve got to see trade
As opportunity
Not as a competitive, scary thing.
But one in five jobs
Being created in the trade sector today,
We’ve got to look at that
As more opportunity.
All those things.

(To K. Couric, CBS News, Sept. 25, 2008)

Already from last night we have, “I may not answer the question / The way you want to hear / But I’ll talk straight / To the American people / And let them know my track record.” What more is there to say? Oh, Poetry Friday is hosted at Two Writing Teachers.