On Friday, Greta Van Susteren asked Sarah Palin for the best reason to vote against Barack Obama. Palin said, she “can’t ratchet is down to one,” but then gave a cogent critique of  Obama’s economic vision:

I believe they are going to put this nation on a course that will erode the work ethic and the entrepreneurial spirit that has grown this country into the greatest country on earth. Because their idea of taking more from our families and more for government from our small businesses will kill job creation opportunities and it will kill that idea that you will be rewarded for your hard work ethic. Unfortunately that kills opportunity, too. for us to be generous and compassionate with our fellow Americans. The Democrats, it seems, on this ticket anyway, led by Barack Obama, seem to want government to mandate that we be generous and compassionate with one another via spreading the wealth. That is not the American way. We don’t need to go down that road. John McCain has a better idea that’s spreading opportunity by allowing our businesses to keep more of what they earn and produce so that they could hire more people, grow the economy that way, provide more for their employees . . .

On national security, she dubbed McCain the better choice “hands down,” citing his role in supporting the surge. She also threw this sharp elbow: “He is not one to invite this international crisis that Joe Biden is promising will happen if Barack Obama is elected.”

That’s the case in a nutshell for McCain. Someday, we will get to the bottom of the nefarious plot to keep the ticket’s most effective and engaging spokesperson under wraps. One wonders where the race would have been had she been doing this over and over again since September –or frankly, if John McCain had been this articulate on his own behalf in the debates.