say it ain't so, Joe...

This will probably be my one and only semi-political post of this year, and I will preface this by saying that it really has very little to do with the actual debate/political points of last night.

I have known for months now how I will vote in the upcoming election, so I haven't really felt the need to stay up on all the debates/gauntlet of interviews/political smoozing/etc. Yet for some reason I decided to tune into the vice presidential debate last night...maybe it was my curious nature getting the best of me or the morbid draw of watching a train wreck happen on live tv.

However, a catastrophe of national proportions did not occur (at least, from my point of view). I was actually pleasantly surprised by the performance of both candidates. BUT more than all the talk of policies, taxes, false promises for the future...something struck me more than anything else.

Joe Biden...

You see, here's a man that has spent his entire career working in the political machine, and instead of being the front man of his own campaign...he's essentially the (possible) first runner-up in America's largest/fiercest beauty pageant. 

He's done everything that a presidential candidate "should have" done (ie. spent serious time in the senate, chaired various committees, practiced law, etc)...he knows all the political jargon...he has the maturity that most have come to expect for the leader of our country.

But all of that doesn't really play into this election like it would have just four years ago...this is a year of historic changes in our presidential election...where the expectations of the past are no longer what the American populace seems to want. No matter which way the cards fall, there will be another "first" to add to the US History books.

Instead Biden is the head cheerleader of a man who is almost 20 years his junior...who doesn't have near the same experience or political pedigree...and Biden's slated rival is a spunky, wild-card  woman "of the people" who is making it known that she prefers not to be lumped in with the political guns of capitol hill.

All this to say that...I felt disappointment on behalf of Biden. Not because I want him to be our president....but last night while I was watching the debate, I just felt a wave of empathy for him....for being a guy put in his time (30+ years), followed the "how-to-become-a-president" pretty much by the book....only to realize that he's a Pip to a much more marketable Gladys.