SENDAI — The most important televised debate of the current American presidential campaign was held on the night of Oct. 2, and it featured not the presidential candidates themselves, as one might expect, but rather their vice presidential running mates. The debate was interesting because, while the policy positions of Barack Obama and John McCain are by now well established, the positions and personal qualities of the nominees for the position of vice president are far less well known.
Surprisingly, however, the most interesting moment of this confrontation between Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and U.S. Sen. Joe Biden occurred just before the debate began. When the candidates strode onto the stage at the University of Washington and shook each other's hands, Palin asked her opponent, "Hey, can I call you Joe?"
This short question reveals a great deal, not only about differences in polite discourse between the United States and many other countries, but also about the underlying politics and strategy of this election-year debate, and about the state of gender relations in the U.S.