...on meeting your goal to be a first responder....er....the first to respond to this column....well, heck, you know what I mean!

Frankly, I don't think Palin is an airhead. She just acts like one to "charm" the folks. And she drops these little idiotic comments to further her agenda because, contrary to the Miss Congenialty persona, is a very devious, calculating politician the likes of which Washington has seen many times. She may be an "outsider" but she has the instincts to quickly become an "insider" so it would be best for her, her family, our country, and all of us, to send Sarah back to Wasilla November 5th.

If anyone, anywhere thinks Sarah Palin aspires to be VP, drop that notion. She is quoted as having said to a friend, when she was first elected to the position of mayor of Wasilla (and the friend said "you could be governor some day") that what she really wants to be is president.

Now, if you want to know who is the real airhead in that family, it's Bristol, who has written on her personal internet page that she too might become VP some day.

That family doesn't indulge in reality. Must be somethin' in the air up in them there regions of the world....ya think?

On the whole, I thought McCain did better than I expected, and I was angry at both of them for making speeches instead of answering questions. On the other hand, I wondered why the first three people asked the same general question after Brokaw said they were going to cover a wide range of issues. So, the headache-causing was from listening to the same answers over and over again! The only new thing was McCain's plan to have the government buy and renegotiate mortgages. I wondered if he pulled that off the top of his head.

But as time went on, McCain began to look....well...dottering, while Obama looked calm and very presidential. (Did anyone notice that McCain's tie was so long that it hung to his pants line? Or perhaps his fly was open and he had on sexy red undershorts! Whatever, it was sloppy appearing while Obama looked like he stepped out of GQ.)

And I completely forgot about that exchange at the beginning - the second questioner - when McCain blew it by not addressing his answers to the questioner but, instead, addressed the problems of the white guy. Thanks for reminding me of that, Joan. What an insult! There was a time that I wondered if Sarah Palin really knew what Freddie and Fannie were, except perhaps the latter being a candy company. But by now practically everyone knows about them. Frankly, what I've seen from McCain's actions in recent weeks, I have a suspicion he may have a precursor to early Alzhiemers, called Mild Cognitive Disorder. He really ought to see a neurologist to begin treatment. But maybe he has, and that's why few people have seen his medical records. And I won't even get started on Palin!!!

The VERY BEST PART of the whole evening was afterward. I couldn't really judge how Obama did with that particular audience, which was supposed to be made up of people from the Nashville area who hadn't yet made up their minds. As their wives joined them, both couples went around shaking hands with the audience. Michelle Obama, who does a wonderful job in connecting with the people, was especially notable as she stopped and chatted with person after person. Of course, I already knew she was personable and genuinely interested in people. Then I saw Barack doing the same thing. Both began posing with audience members for photos and the cameras never stopped snapping. by contrast, the McCains vanished.

If that audience was made up of people who hadn't yet made up their minds, it was clear most of them were going to vote for Obama when the debate ended!

Finally, I hope people weren't disappointed that McCain didn't accuse Obama of associating with terrorists. I never thought he would because, despite the hero persona, McCain is basically a wimp.

And, yes, I agree that Tim Conway would make a good SNL McCain.

Why stop at politically emasculating Joe Lieberman? The man deserves worse than that, don't you think? Perhaps spending the rest of his time on earth listening to Sarah Palin's voice saying to him "John chose me instead of you" over and over again. Oh, and of course, emasculating him for real. Huh?

The nerve of McCain mentioning Russ Feingold in the same context as Joe Lieberman!!!!

...because I stayed up so late reading the blogs.

Going through today's responses to the town hall article, I noticed that lotus feet commented about Obama supporters' defense of his connection to Ayers as "just being someone from the neighborhood."

Frankly, I think they ought to drop the issue. Ignore Palin's statements all together. But, unfortunately, I read last night that David Axelrod made a statement yesterday, using the same "he's someone who lives in the neighborhood" comment but then took it a bit further by saying "Their kids go to school together."

In fact, the Ayers kids are adults. Obama's kids are...well...kids. And to expect that the Rovian uglies haven't picked up on that like I did quite easily last night is a mistake. Axelrod and others should just stop commenting on Ayers, Wright and that unbelievable silly Father Flager. It's not productive and leads to erroneous comments that will likely result in "gotcha" opportunities for McCain/Palin and their minions.