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Thank heavens for Sarah Palin. If an era when too few Americans say they're reading newspapers, Palin reads 'em all.

In her much-publicized interviews with CBS's Katie Couric, Palin was asked which newspapers and magazines informed her world view. Palin looked momentarily confused and then replied: "I read most of them ...."

Couric tried again. Name some, Couric politely said. "All of them," Palin replied. Wow! I'm a newspaper junkie and even I don't read "all of them."

The aforementioned episode illustrates a typical "Palin-ism." Namely, vagueness when answering questions. (This column was written before Thursday night's debate because of deadlines, and maybe she has overcome this problem.)

Sure, Palin made a good speech at the Republican National Convention, but that speech was scripted. Thinking on her feet with coherence and intelligence has not been her long suit in the past. Lately, she has sounded like somebody who crammed the night before an exam but didn't really understand the subject.

Palin's answer about her newspaper-reading habits is indicative of her vagueness. It also implies that she hadn't read many newspapers and magazines, an answer that inspired confusion, not confidence.

Palin's fuzzy speech and convoluted syntax have been the butt of jokes ever since her first national interview with ABC's Charles Gibson and later with CBS's Katie Couric.

Palin's shaky grasp of the English language echoes her speaking style in Alaska, suggesting she has not improved with time. In a 2006 gubernatorial debate, she was asked how she would fund health care programs in Alaska. Palin replied:

"Well, the point there ... is that these are critical, and again it's a matter of prioritizing and it's a matter of government understanding its proper role in public safety, is health care, so it's a matter of priorities."

As Katharine Q. Seelye of The New York Times recently wrote: "On paper, her sentences would have been difficult to diagram."

Palin's muddled speech does not indicate a grasp of national and international issues nor a readiness to be the leader of the free world. This has prompted conservative columnists such as George Will, David Brooks and Kathleen Parker to say she is not ready for high office and should step aside.

Yet if Palin is no golden-tongued Demosthenes, Sen. Joe Biden has his own verbal hang-ups. It's not that Biden is unprepared for high office (he is well prepared in foreign and domestic affairs). Instead, Biden's problem is that he talks too much. He also puts his foot in his mouth.

I was among the 18,000 who heard Barack Obama and Biden speak last Saturday at the downtown political rally. I was standing in the press section and overheard an out-of-town reporter wonder aloud if Biden would "goof" that day. He was referring to Biden's motor-mouth tendencies and his propensity for gaffes. (Biden kept his speech concise and without goofs.)

Though Palin's speaking style is tangled and fuzzy, Biden's rhetoric is direct but sometimes sounds urgent. And his foot-in-mouth problem? Here are some examples.

* During the Democratic primary, Biden called Obama "articulate, bright and clean." (Obama said he wasn't offended and named him his running mate.)

* In one speech Biden referred to Obama as "Barack America" and John McCain as "George."

* In a recent speech in Ohio, Biden recognized a paraplegic state official sitting in a wheelchair. He told him to take a bow. "Chuck, stand up and let people see you," Biden said to state Sen. Chuck Graham, a friend. Then Biden realized his error. "Oh, God love ya. What am I talking about?" Biden said apologetically.

By the time you read this column, the vice presidential debate will be over and you will be the scorekeeper. It was the only Biden-Palin debate, but more stump speeches lie ahead for them before next month's election. Stay tuned for Biden's motor mouth and Palin's incoherence.

Rosemary Roberts writes a Friday column. E-mail: rmroberts@triad.rr.com.