I was terribly amused at David Kurtz's post this morning where he said: "Tonight's the big night: the season finale of Project Runway. Also, a presidential debate."

Indeed. Must I choose between watching Tim Gunn or Barack Obama?  Both are tall, elegant, dignified, beautifully-spoken men.  This season Tim has had to endure the snarks from the Season 5 villianess, Kenley.  Barack Obama has had to endure snarks from John McCain.   At one point this season, after Kenley became extremely disrespectful towards Tim, his parting comment was:  "Mind your game, Kenley."  All day I've been entertaining myself by thinking of Obama telling McCain to mind his game.

That's all pretty trivial and superficial  -- but we need those escape hatches, don't we?  And yet, it has set me to thinking about certain parallels.  The season finale of Project Runway is the big show on the catwalk in Bryant Park, during fashion week in New York City.  It's pure show and entertainment. High drama and last-minute preparations precede the event. Excellent presentation is expected. Great style is rewarded.  After the show, the fashion reporters run about and interview various celebrities and fashion luminaries about their impressions. 

Now how different is that from a televised political debate?  I know, one event is no more than cloth and frippery (that most of us could never afford) being paraded down a catwalk. The other is a discussion of the critical issues that our world is facing, including economic matters that will affect our ability to buy the fundamentals of life.  And yet, for many people, much of what they respond to in the debates is style and presentation. 

For that reason, the debates frustrate and fascinate me.  It will be interesting viewing tonight.  Carry on.

I find it terribly entertaining to watch the expressions and body language of the person who isn't speaking when McCain and Palin are at a joint rally.  The joint rally yesterday (October 13) amused me greatly, but then again, I am easily amused.  Palin had on a white blouse and a skirt and wore her hair down.  While standing behind McCain, she reminded me of a piano student who was next in line to play at the recital, and who very much believed that they were better than the person who was currently playing. 

When McCain made a comment that was critical of the Bush economic policies of the last 8 years, Palin visibly knotted her brows together, as if she disagreed with that statement.  On a very simple level, she can't do the smile and nod-in-agreement as well as either Cindy McCain or her hubby Todd.  And I bet she likes Bush better than McCain.  I half expected her to whomp him on the back and say:  "Hey! Stop sayin' that 'bout my W!"

There's any number of reasons that people have given for why she wasn't a good pick for McCain, but in watching her, it's almost palpable that she thinks she's the star and she should be running the show.  She does not play well with others if she is not in charge.  I would there's a lot of grating going on behind the scenes and it's only helping to keep the McCain campaign off-kilter.  He want her as spokesmodel and she wants to rule the world.

She also delivers her speeches in the same cadence and tone of voice that Rachael Ray uses when she's really cranked up on her cooking show.  (Granted, Rachael does not emply the "Fargo" accent and usually pronounces the "g" at the end of "ing" words.)  It's one thing to use that loud, chirpy voice and cutie-pie demeanor on a cooking show, it's another thing to use it when delivering speeches as a vice-presidential candidate.  MSNBC ran a good 10 minutes of a Palin speech on Sunday, and she never modulated down into quieter or more serious tones.  Good lord, at least Rachael Ray can quiet down, or she just goes to commercial breaks!   I would have hoped the media consultants could have trained Palin to hold it down a bit, but maybe they don't want to, or maybe she just refuses. 

To tie this all up, this is probably the closest to having Rachael and Sarah on the same stage.