Here are some ideas I have that I hope the McCain camp has shared with Sarah Palin for tonight's debate:

1.  Be yourself.  You shine when you talk like yourself.

2.  Turn this economic decline we're currently facing into another reason to vote Republican.  Higher taxes lighten the pocketbook.  Saying "NO!" to higher taxes means saying "Yes!" to McCain/Palin.  Higher taxes = economic death.

3.  Our energy crisis needs addressing.  Urgently.  YOU know all about energy.  Let 'er rip when it comes to what we need to do regarding alternative energy and drilling in America TODAY.  Debunk the myths about nuclear energy, too.  France uses it and it's been just fine. 

4.  Showcase your ordinary background/education.  Reasonable people of all parties get sick of the elitist nonsense.  Don't talk like an indecent lawyer who labors over each word for fear of alienating someone.  Tell it like it is.  Period.  Don't be scared.

5.  Highlight your renegade, rebellious past with members of your own party.  Remind us how you'll give the Beltway a good shake-up upon your arrival.  Tell us how every pol from every state, red and blue alike, is going to be playing by a fresh, more ethical set of rules if you get elected.

There's more but those are some of the basics.

I wish her well.  She's got an increasingly partisan media stacked against her.  If she walked on water during this debate and Biden starting drooling all over himself while articulating why his plan to divide Iraq into three ethnic enclaves was a good idea, the headlines tomorrow morning would still say something like "Palin's Drownin'!" or "Biden Buries Palin!"

Rubbish.

God bless this finest among nations.