But it seems to me that we should also be interested in knowing something about the debaters before it gets underway. We all know Biden. We’ve been listening to him speak since we were in 2nd grade ;-)

But, particularly from reading blogs and the comments thereto, it appears to me that so few people seem to know anything about Palin!

The fact is that aside from essentially only three interviews, the public really knows almost nothing about her except what the mainstream media and the east coast blogosphere tell us about her. As if someone in urban Boston can identify with a moose hunter from Alaska sufficiently to “explain” her to the rest of the country!

It seems that if you really care about understanding the players in this election that you ought to see what Alaskans say about her! And I don’t mean the few that were selected by the media for derogatory quotes or the putdown emails purportedly from Alaskans that are floating around.

Doesn’t it seem strange to anyone that there are nothing but negative comments from the citizens of a state where she was running an unheard of 80% – 90% favorable rating prior to her selection? There are lots of Alaskan bloggers who may or may not like her politics but can tell you a lot more about her than you hear on the evening news. I’m one of them. I’m pro-choice. I believe in evolution and I’m highly skeptical that anything resembling humanity’s view of God exists. In short … politically I disagree strongly with Palin.

But, that is an entirely different issue than what amounts to character assassination that seems to be getting out of control. For a much more balanced view of the woman from someone who understands her and the culture that created her (even though politically largely disagreeing with her), take a gander:

http://www.alaskanwoulds.blogspot.com/

But do it *before* the debate so you have a better understanding of who you are watching up there. Thanks.