Sarah's performance yesterday

I don't know if you watched the show yesterday, but to me, it looked as if she treated the debate for the Vice-Presidency of the United States like a 2008 Ms Alaska Q&A session. There are a few really basic rules that you should follow if you're on stage auditioning for a job that is (sorry about the cliche) a heart beat away from the most powerful job in the world:

1. Don't address the TV, address the person who asked you the question.
2. And when you're at it, try to answer the question. So if you're asked about the mortgage crisis, don't talk about Afghanistan or tax breaks. Talk about the damn mortgage crisis.
3. Don't repeat phrases every 5 minutes. When viewers hear the exact same phrase more than 3 times (remember "the greed and corruption in Wall Street", "team of Mavericks"?), they understand that you've been crash-coached.
3a. Avoid already used phrases. So "there you go again" and "say it ain't so" isn't going to cut it.
4. Show your opponent some respect. If he chokes up when he talks about his wife and child dying in a car crash, at least pretend to commiserate. Don't start off about "team of Mavericks" again.
5. Don't give a cheer out to some third grader in Wasilla Elementary. It trivializes the event.

6. And finally, do not wink at/flirt with me. It pisses me off. I'm sure you gave a lot of old men chubbies with that shit. But most people are trying to find out how you will lead the country if McCain kicks the bucket. So as much as you would want to feature in their wet dreams, stick to policy and your ideas of getting us out of this mess - if you have any. Pretty please, sugar on top.

Here's how the debate went, in 10 short minutes. (I need to start embedding stuff instead of linking up.)