Mark Steyn - Who won the 2008 vice presidential debate?

"A cuppa Joe, but Sarah pours"

"Ba-rack O-ba-ma

"Ba-a-rack O-ba-a-ma

"Ba-ra-ack Obama-a ... "

(Repeat until coronation.)

And Laura and I had a good laugh about it, until it occurred to me that, in politics as in pop, the tune is more important than the words. A guy can run for president with all the right lyrics - on the war, the economy, the social issues - but what matters is whether people respond to the underlying music: not what he's saying, but how he's saying it. At the time, I was reflecting on Mitt Romney: The song looked great on paper, but when he stuck it on the stand and started to warble it never quite soared.

That's where Sarah Palin scored in the vice-presidential showdown. A lot of the grandees in the post-debate analysis reviewed the lyrics and missed the music. Whereas, I would wager, a big chunk of uncommitted voters out in TV land listened to Gov. Palin, and liked the tune they were hearing. If you're one of those coastal feminists who despise Alaska's sweetheart as a chillbilly breeder whose knowledge of foreign policy is as full of holes as the last moose to make the mistake of strolling past her deck, Thursday night's folksy performance isn't going to change your view. But, if your contempt for her wasn't already chiseled in granite, she came over as genuine, confident... and different. Change you can believe in, to coin a phrase.

...

Mr. Biden did his best to turn in a decent karaoke version of Lloyd Bentsen, but, unfortunately, Mrs. Palin declined to play Dan Quayle. That left Joe sounding like an ancient pol being generically vice-presidential. Sarah, at her best, sounded like the citizen-politician this country's Founders intended. She hasn't voted 397 times against this or that in the U.S. Senate, because she has been running a state, and a town and a commercial fishing operation. She's a doer, not a talker, which is why so many of my fellow professional talkers disdain her.

...

When Regular Joe Six-Pack Bluecollar Joe Biden tried to match her on the Main Street cred, it rang slightly wacky. "Look," he said, "All you have to do is go down Union Street with me in Wilmington or go to Katie's Restaurant or walk into Home Depot with me, where I spend a lot of time." Why? Is he moonlighting as a checkout clerk on the evening shift? Or is he stalking that nice lady in Lighting Fixtures? As for Katie's Restaurant, ah, I'm sure it was grand but apparently it closed in 1990. In the Diner of the Mind, the refills are endless and Sen. Joe is sitting shootin' the breeze over a cuppa joe with a couple other regular joes on adjoining stools. Betty-Jo, the sassy waitress who's tough as nails but with a heart of gold pours the joe, says Ol' Joe, while the short-order cook who's doing his Sloppy Joes just the way the senator likes 'em really appreciates the way that, despite 78 years in Washington, Joe Biden is still just the same regular Joe Six-Pack he was when he and Norman Rockwell first came in for a sarsaparilla all those years ago. But, alas, while he was jetting off for one-to-one talks with the deputy tourism minister of Waziristan, the old neighborhood changed.

In a conventional presidential environment, Bidenesque fake authenticity would be enough. Up against Sarah Palin's authentic authenticity, I'm not so sure. All I know is that the McCain campaign should have her out on the road and doing every interview she can over this final month. Oh, and send her snowmobiling hubby to Maine, which splits its electoral college votes. He'll put their 2nd Congressional District back in the Red camp, and the way things are looking that could be the 270th vote that saves Mr. McCain's bacon.