Sarah Palin made her acceptance speech at the RNC. I watched. She was smart, she was charming, she was funny, she was sincere. She cracked a good joke about the grit of soccer moms. She went for the heart with a vow that parents of special needs kids could count on her support if she wins the election. She went for the jugular with a crack about community organizers doing what mayors do, but without any responsibility. What she didn't do was explain how her strong family values reconcile with her refusal to put environmental concerns anywhere near the importance she places on energy exploration. She didn't talk about her lawsuit to keep the government from putting polar bears on the endangered list or identify a unique species of whale in an area where she supports oil drilling.
That's to be expected. She's preaching to the choir, as Democrats did just a week ago. She's standing on the pedestal of right, of conviction, of virtue.
Barack Obama's had that podium pretty much to himself up until now. And now both sides will do their best to knock the other off it. Whoever is King (or Queen) of the Hill at the end of election day wins.
It was interesting to watch Rudy Guiliani play head cheerleader for a man he did his best to bury on the campaign trail a few months ago. But again, that's politics. If you don't win, you'd better get behind the one who does and cheer him on.
But I find myself growing tired of it all. Thousands of rabid Republicans chanting for more drilling, angry activists mugging GOP delegates, Democrats taking swipes at their opponents and hoping some of the blows connect - this is a strange way to run a railroad, as my mom would have said.
American politics seems to have come down to a simple question: "Who do you dislike less on election day?"
What if the answer is - "I'm sick of all of you?"
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