After the unbearably painful performance by Palin during her recent interview with Katie Couric, it’s obvious to most that she is not ready for the Vice Presidential debate next week. Whether the interview is the reason, or only part of the reason that McCain has fled his own debate with Barack Obama scheduled for Friday isn’t entirely clear. The McCain camp has requested that the Presidential debate be moved to the date of the Vice Presidential debate, conveniently delaying the Vice Presidential debate to an unknown date in the future. Presumably this will give Palin some much-needed extra time to bone up on all the things she would have learned if she had ever studied or participated in international diplomacy, and matters outside the state of Alaska.

It’s also not clear yet, whether this “delay tactic” is going to work. Barack Obama has said that if McCain doesn’t show up to the debate, he’ll be there to hold a Town Hall meeting instead, leaving the Vice Presidential debate to go on as scheduled. Interesting…

“Delay” is apparently the theme of the day for our Republican VP nominee. Today we hear that Palin has requested, and received a four day extension for the disclosure of her personal finances. The new release date for these forms? October 3rd, the day AFTER her scheduled debate with Joe Biden.

Trevor Potter, general counsel for the McCain-Palin campaign, told the FEC that the campaign initially thought it had until Oct. 4 to file the report but then learned the FEC set an earlier due date.

Oops. They forgot to check the date. Those silly McCain people… I bet they felt really stupid.

But now that they’ve got their dates straight, they’ve got to tread very carefully with this one. Ask indicted Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, who is facing seven felony counts for filing false financial disclosure forms. Ask Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich who just got in a little hot water himself because his federal and state forms didn’t match.

[The forms will] show whether she and her husband, Todd, hold any mortgages for real estate investments, and roughly how much any property held for investment purposes is worth. The financial reports that Sarah Palin filed as Alaska governor list property the couple held at that point, but not how much it was worth; how much, if any, profit they made on real estate sales; or how much, if any, mortgage debt they held. Such information is a standard part of the personal financial disclosure reports that members of Congress, administration officials and federal candidates must file each year. The reports allow the public to see whether politicians may be receiving favorable financial treatment from people with issues before government or have any potential conflicts of interest. They also offer a glimpse of their ability to manage their personal finances.

Another extension may be filed, but the last possible date for the extension is October 6. Will there be any interesting little surprises there? Forensic accountants, sharpen your pencils, clean your glasses and circle the day on your calendar. You’re on!