In the much awaited vice-presidential debate, Sarah Palin started out the evening in a manner that seemed to be heavily scripted, and not always relevant to the question. Understandably so. I’d stick to what I had memorized if the eyes of the nation were upon me, waiting for me to slip up. However, Palin was able to regain her confidence and fire back at Biden during the second half, especially since Biden was not without his own vulnerabilities. In an apparent attempt to join in the “folksy” identity of Governor Palin, Senator Biden stated that “All you got to do is go down Union Street with me in Wilmington and go to Katy’s (sp) Restaurant or walk into Home Depot with me, where I spend a lot of time…”

Worse for Biden, though, was his declaration that

“…our commanding general in Afghanistan said today that a surge — the surge principles used in Iraq will not — let me say this again now. Our commanding general in Afghanistan said the surge principle in Iraq will not work in Afghanistan. Not Joe Biden; our commanding general in Afghanistan. He said we need more troops, we need government building, we need to spend more money on the infrastructure in Afghanistan.”

To which Palin responded:

“Well, first, McClellan did not say definitively that the surge principles would not work in Afghanistan. Certainly, accounting for different conditions in that different country — and conditions are certainly different. We have NATO allies helping us, for one, and even the geographic differences are huge. But the counterinsurgency principles also could work in Afghanistan. McClellan didn’t say anything opposite of that. The counterinsurgency strategy, going into Afghanistan — clearing, holding, rebuilding the civil society and the infrastructure — can work in Afghanistan. And those leaders who are over there, who have also been advising George Bush on this, have not said anything different but that.”

Admittedly, Palin mistakenly called him General McClellan rather than McKiernan. However, she was “darn right”. The facts show that General McKiernan supports the principles of the surge in Iraq, although he doesn’t wish to use the word ‘surge.’ The Global Edition of the New York Times didn’t shy from using the word in the title of their article about McKiernan- “U.S. general urges troop surge in Afghanistan.” Even NPR.org admits, “So while he doesn’t believe in using the word surge because it resonates of Iraq, he does believe in rushing more troops to Afghanistan — a surge by another name.”

Also interesting was the apparent agreement of Governor Palin and Senator Biden on their policies concerning gay marriage. Both Palin and Biden stated that while they would certainly support things such as hospital visitation rights and joint ownership of property for gay couples, they are against gay marriage. I was surprised to hear this. But then, again, I am accustomed to Berkeley. Perhaps Biden is trying to reach the rest of America? Who knows.

The real question to be pondered, however, is what DOES Biden do in Home Depot when he’s spending so much time there?