Casting McCain and Palin as the Thénardiers in this parody of the musical version of Les Miserables is a small stroke of genius. Still, I'm sooooo not looking forward to this group's improvisational "Empty Chairs and Empty Tables" follow-up on November 5th.

Yeah, I'm convinced that no matter how badly the Republican party continues to screw up over the next month that there's no way that America will vote for the Democratic candidate for president in this horse race. A guy named Barrack Obama over a white "war hero" and his adorable and oh-so-folksy female stooge? Not gonna happen, no way. Not even if McCain "temporarily delays" his campaign twenty more times between now and Election Day. Not even if McCain and Palin get caught selling state secrets to the Russians after being found solely responsible for the economic crisis. And no, not even if they get caught drinking kitten blood in a Satanic ceremony presided over by Osama Bin Laden, his dialysis machine and the ghost of Saddam Hussein.

The bar is set so low for Palin in tonight's debate that the only way she's going to lose is if she bursts into tears and runs off the stage. No matter how cool and calm he remains, no matter how many gaffes he avoids or zingers he flings, there's just no way Joe Biden can win it.

My uneducated prediction: everyone will be so shocked at how Palin managed to not say "you betcha" a single time that McCain's numbers will climb ten points between now and Monday.

Do you hear the people groan?

UPDATE THURSDAY NIGHT: She made it all of, what, three minutes without saying "betcha"? I didn't hear a "you" but a "betcha" is still a "betcha."

Labels: politics