VP Debate winner?

Conventional wisdom around conservative airwaves concludes Sarah Palin was wonderful last night. The base appears mostly ecstatic over her performance. Many pundits said she spoke in language everyday folks appreciated and was definitely the winner based on likability. Most admit she appeared nervous (especially at first) and did not give the breadth and depth of answers Joe Biden did, but it does not matter because of her "wow" factor. "Say it ain't so, Joe" seems to be popular today along with "she held her own" and "she did well for only being five weeks into things."

Today's water cooler conversations with some male colleagues of mine were not as favorable to Palin. We all agree Palin is intelligent and has done a lot for Alaska. She threw in some good one liners last night but outside of energy policy, she didn't talk many details. Liberals (with big time help from the media) created a debate climate where fact spewing Biden appeared knowledgeable just by reciting endless statistics- many of which were untrue. Where Palin failed, in my view, was not being able to go two and three answers deep on a topic. On almost everything Palin threw Biden's way, he had an immediate answer back (albeit answers filled with half-truths), and then back again. After her first response, answers seemed shallow and responses sometimes convoluted.

Barring something unforeseen, this election comes down to economics. The media, as usual have shaped the debate into the haves and have-nots. In order to win, we have to speak clearly on the folly of liberal economic policies. What did I want Palin to say last night? Try these on for size.

*How can 95% of folks get a tax cut when, depending on the year cited, 30%-48% of all individual taxpayers owe no tax in a given year?

*When the bottom 50% of taxpayers' tax receipts are 2.9% of the total, how much more do you want the upper 50% to pay?

*When the top 10% pay 70% of the taxes, how is the Bush/McCain administrations giving tax cuts for the rich? The rich are the ones paying the taxes now.

*When Barack Obama says we need to build the economy from the bottom up, how does this work when the folks with money are the ones creating the jobs?

*If universal health care is so dandy, why do people from countries such as Canada still come to the US for the really serious surgeries they need performed?

*Mr. Biden, how do you explain the Democrats denial of problems with Fannie & Freddie back in 2005 when Republicans like John McCain were warning about big problems? Wouldn't this make Democrats more culpable then Republicans for at least not doing anything about this mess before it was too late?

*Please explain if tax cuts are so damaging to our economy why they generate increasing revenue every time they are enacted?

*Companies would stop trying to evade the US tax code, as you cite so often, if our tax rate wasn't the third highest in the industrialized world. Drop the tax rate and see a jobs boom.

Finally, how about a foreign policy diddy: *Mr. Biden, what is the first thing you would say to the leaders of Iran when you sat down to discuss their hatred for Israel and America?

If Palin would've challenged Mr. Biden on these topics, she would've wowed those who loved her big smile and also wowed those of us looking for a beating on substance. Instead the politics of class envy appear to doom us to at least four years of patriotic tax increases, big government spending, and a further shift towards European elitism.