Is Either One Ready to Be Vice President?

About 30 minutes into tonight's Biden-Palin vice presidential debate, I was asking myself the same question, over and over and over again.

Is either candidate ready to be vice president?

Forget — at least temporarily — about the possibility that either one could become president because of unforeseen events or causes. That's always the gamble with the vice presidency — will the individual be ready to become president if the need arises? You have to hope you'll never need an answer to that question.

The rest of the time, the vice president's job is pretty routine. He/she simply has to be there — whether that means presiding over the Senate and casting tie-breaking votes or attending high-profile foreign weddings and funerals.

It requires tact and diplomacy. It requires the ability to keep the Senate running smoothly even when tempers are running a little high. It requires knowing any special protocol that needs to be observed at a foreign social function.

But if you like one party's presidential candidate and another party's vice presidential candidate, you're out of luck. You've got to vote for them as a team — even though the voters in the Electoral College don't have to.

To be chosen to perform the typical tasks of a vice president, it is not necessary for the public to know a vice presidential candidate's views on much of anything — which means most of the questions that were asked tonight had little bearing on what the candidates will do if elected — except for the hypothetical question that asked what each would be likely to do differently if called upon to assume the duties of the presidency (which came near the end of the debate).

If we were going to judge the potential each candidate has to perform the job of vice president, we would have asked hypothetical questions dealing with procedure in the Senate or protocol at a royal wedding.

But we really didn't get much from either candidate except prepackaged sound bites — even in response to the hypothetical question, which had the potential to give voters real insight into each candidate's mindset.

Palin is scheduled to campaign here in Dallas Friday. Perhaps she'll be able to answer that question while she's here.

I heard the same talking points I can hear on the TV ads — or read on the websites. I did not hear a genuine discussion of the issues.

Let’s call it a draw — if not a waste of time.