According to The Note, Good Morning America's Kate Snow said "There was only one real show of emotion [during the VP debate] . . . Joe Biden was talking about being a single parent after his first wife died."
In a session most notable for two aggressive debaters offering aggressive semi-accurate, semi-answers to sometimes awful questions the "one real show of emotion" stands out.
Senator Biden's choking up when talking about being a single dad created a connection of a sort that has often been missing from this race. Senator Obama inspires grandly, he is best when playing to a big room - but we don't often see him up close and human, he doesn't have President Clinton's gift for empathy. Senator McCain's strength is his strength; he stands in for our better selves, which means he doesn't much connect with the real lives we really lead. Governor Palin veers between dingbat and that mom down the street who does it all and has it all together. Senator Biden is, well, Senator Biden.
There have been few moments during this long campaign season when candidates have personally, directly, and unexpectedly connected with us. This moment of connection, of human reality in the form of pathos, should not go unnoticed. And, I suspect, it may yet be more important than the professional observers realize.
