“I know education you are passionate about with your wife being a teacher for 30 years, and God bless her. Her reward is in heaven, right? I say, too, with education … I come from a house full of school teachers. My grandma was, my dad, who is in the audience today, he’s a schoolteacher, had been for many years. My brother, who I think is the best schoolteacher of the year. And here’s a shout-out to all those third graders at Gladys Wood Elementary School, you get extra credit for watching the debate.”

So said Sarah Palin to Joe Biden at the Vice-Presidential debate. To recount her family background in education is one thing. It has redeeming value showing that she has been exposed to a background surrounded by the importance of education. But that last line…

“And here’s a shout-out to all those third graders at Gladys Wood Elementary School, you get extra credit for watching the debate.”

Palin can play the folksy, next-door-neighbor, middle-class value hockey mom all she wants, but that third grade line is completely unbecoming of a debate of this magnitude. I am somewhat surprised she did not say “Hi, Mom” as if she was at a homecoming football game, and the television cameras were suddenly thrust on her.

We are talking about the Vice-Presidency here.  This is about being a heartbeat away from the Presidency. Addressing third graders does not give me the comfort that Palin is in the same league as the other three people on the major party tickets. That third grader comment is provincial, flippant and a bit scary.

We are talking about someone who might become President and need to face down a Putin, Ahmadinejad, Kim Sung-Il or resurgent Al-Queda.

“Shout-out to all those third graders?”

Where is a shout-out to our allies in the war on terror or the middle class struggling to pay mortgages and keep jobs?

Before that line she was impressive. No, Palin did not have the knowledge of Joe Biden, but for someone with such limited experience to handle tough questions in an intensively stressful time as that debate was phenomenal. Yes, she did not answer many of the questions directly, but she kept her composure, even if she had to fill time telling stories of her family and days as mayor in Wasilla.

But to talk to third graders about extra credit when tens of millions are trying to decide on their vote? I do not care about Biden’s gaffes, Obama’s standoffish professor demeanor or McCain’s angry old man.  These people are competent. They understand what is appropriate and when it is appropriate.

Is there any other Presidential or Vice-Presidential candidate who could say such a thing in the last 30 years and get away with it? Carter, Ford, Reagan, Mondale, Ferraro, Bush, Dukakis, Bentsen, Dole, Kemp, Clinton, Gore, Edwards, Lieberman, Bush, Cheney, Kerrey or even Quayle? No, none of them would say such a thing. They are all respected and experienced political leaders compared to Palin. What if McCain, Obama or Biden said such a thing? Again no. None of them would trivialize or ridicule such an important forum as a debate for the selection of the Presidential ticket of the United States.

After all the primaries, debating and vetting, is this what we have left? A Vice-Presidential candidate who is a cheerleader for third graders?

Has the bar been lowered so far that it is okay to treat this election like an election for class President?

I am not sure Sarah Palin gets it. One can agree or disagree with the policies of Obama and McCain, but at least they understand the gravity of the world in 2008. Third graders have nothing to do with an election about terrorism, the prolonged Iraq war and a failing economy. It is time to get serious, not for shout-outs to third graders.