I was talking with Lloyd before the debate, and my prediction was that the right-wing pundit class would give Palin the “Most Improved” Award and then declare victory. Of course, even the left-wing pundits were also giving her “most improved” props. You didn’t hear it in such words. You heard, “exceeded expectations,” etcetera. It’s junk, and she was horrible. Just because she cleared a bar so low she could hop over it merely by being somewhat coherent, doesn’t mean she did a good job. Palin spent all of her time filibustering. She never actually said anything; she never actually answered the question. And because of the debate format, no one could challenge her on that. Her performance was pathetic, and everyone would’ve said so had she not been even more pathetic with the Couric interview.

If you want to label a lack of understanding of the issues as “folksiness,” then be my guest, but “doggone it,” I have never actually heard anyone say “doggone it” in my life. (Unironically, that is.) She said McCain picked her because of her closeness to the Heartland, but she’s almost from Canada. Please.

It’s funny how pathetic the right-wing spin is. The idea is that was she was supposed to re-energize a base who’d become somewhat disillusioned. If she does so by not being embarrassingly pathetic, then the Republican Party really is garbage. I mean, look at them recently. They’ve become a party of whiners, decrying Couric’s softball questions as “liberal elite bias.” They cried that they didn’t vote for a bill because Nancy Pelosi’s speech was too mean. It’s a worthless party, and Palin is a worthless candidate.

Biden killed her. Ask anyone who hates the war, and you’ll see how successful Biden was in tying McCain-Palin to Bush-Cheney. Then, look at Bush’s approval rating. Sorry, Palin’s best response is “He’s a maverick!” Let me also say this, on every issue in the last few years where McCain has bucked his party, he’s been on the wrong side. He was for that horrible “comprehensive” immigration bill. He was for that 1st Amendment-bashing McCain-Feingold finance reform. Notice how she never brings those bills up. NEVER. “Maverick”? Whatever, that fall-back talking point doesn’t cut it if you can’t be specific. It’s an empty phrase, and she is an empty candidate.

Congrats, Palin. You won the “Most Improved Award.” It means nothing.