Blind Spots

Today's a good day.

While it seemed like a rather uneventful debate last night with no knockout punches or serious Palin goofs, I believe it represents more than meets the eye.

I give the debate to Biden on the substance...Palin had no substance, and I could tell she ran into what I call "blind spots."

Blind spots, in public speaking terms, usually occur when you either need to cram for an engagement, are overloaded, caught off guard, unprepared, or just plain nervous.

I know about this from my experience in my early days as a city planner, when I was uncomfortable with public speaking and had to go before the planning commission and city council in public hearings. You get to the podium, and draw a complete blank on certain subjects that aren't in your notes...or a question catches you off guard...so you tend to conjur up what you know, and keep going back to it.

I could see that happening to Palin last night...I could see it in her face, in addition to what she was saying (Colorado Jyms calls these "software loops" over at The Rant from Boulder).

The only difference between my job experience and Palin's debating was that I didn't have the luxury of going off-topic, and I had better know what I was talking about. I didn't have the luxury of knowing what questions I was going to be asked in advance of the meeting...and I didn't have the luxury of spewing fluff out of my mouth. If I goofed big, my job could easily be on the line.

The Obama campaign scored a BIG victory in the Veep debate...by all accounts, Palin had very little if no impact...and now the focus shifts back to the front runners, and Obama is up in the polls with a month left before the election. He has the wind of the economic issues blowing his momentum from behind.

The specter of a McCain presidency seems to keep slipping away, day by day.

Today's a good day.