I'm predicting that Gov. Sarah Palin will win the debate tonight, but the mainstream media will report it as a defeat. I say this after having watched all the clips from the Katie Couric interview as well as the Gibson interview in its entirety. I'm not concerned over stumbles about factual information, because what I saw in both interviews was a woman of remarkable intelligence, great poise, unusual candor, and who expressed a philosophy of governance and a vision of America which represents both the tradition of conservatism and the non-negotiable values of our Catholic faith.

I am as impatient with the snobby elites on the right as I am with the hostile elites on the left in their joint insistance that Sarah Palin have immediate intellectual access to the data bases of the New York Times and the Washington Post over the last 30 years. 

 I predict that this evening both Senator Biden and Governor Palin will both perform well, civilly, and in character. Biden will be the amiable, knowledgeable, and typically liberal Catholic pro-choice senator that he is. Palin will offer the American people a refreshing voice both patriotic and circumspect, pro-family but inclusive, pro-life but compassionate, in other words, the combination of traditional values and genuine tolerance that America has long subscribed to.

It is regrettable that so many conservative pundits have either abandoned support for Palin or jumped ship all together. What I find in common with all of them is either conservative arrogance or fear of standing against the recent media generated misgivings about Sarah Palin.