Hard to know who won this one. Palin carried out an effective gameplan put forth by her coaches. She didn't say anything as ridiculous as she had in her interviews with Couric. It certainly was not a knockout by Biden. She may have connected with a lot of people in America with her "folksy" talk. Same people who wanted to hang out with Bush at a BBQ. However, Palin wasn't really challenged on some of her answers, by either Gwen Ifill or Biden. She probably gained more than Biden tonight, given that many Republicans were calling for her to step aside.
Post-debate fact check.
10:32 PM. Palin- Will fight for America, middle-class, proud to be an American, need freedoms. Biden- most important election, last 8 years have been poor, need change in economic and foreign policy, can accomplish anything if work hard.
10:28 PM. Closing statements coming.
10:23 PM. Biden calls out "the Maverick". He points out how his positions have mimicked Bush's all along. Excellent rebuttal.
10:22 PM. She calls McCain the Maverick again!! And again a few sentences later! In reality, McCain has not been much a 'maverick' over the past several years. He has become quite predictable and partisan.
10:20 PM. Both trying to connect with American people, mentioning sitting around kitchen table.
10:13 PM. Another wink. She must have watched the Town Hall Debate Bush v. Kerry in 2004- Bush was winking at the whole crowd.
10:11 PM. "Say it ain't so Joe". She was waiting all night to use that!
10:08 PM. Palin mentions "maverick" again. That's enough, please.
10:05 PM. Palin mentions divestment of Alaskan holdings in Darfur. She avoids whether we should intervene in some manner.
10:03 PM. Palin calling out Biden for voting for the war before voting against it.
10:01 PM. 1 hour in, and I have to admit, Palin has certainly exceeded the expectations that I, and many, had going into this. The "Hustler"?
10 PM. Biden says General in Afghanistan says surge will not work in that country, right after Palin suggests this as a strategy difference.
9:55 PM. Biden calling out McCain/Palin...how will policies be different from George W. Bush....
9:54 PM. Biden recounting the mistakes of the current administration regarding policies and elections in the Middle East. Very powerful (and true).
9:48 PM. Palin with somewhat cogent arguments re: Iran.
9:46 PM. Biden making great points about where the heart of terrorism is located (not Iraq).
9:42 PM. Touche. Biden comes back with good counterpoints (re: timeline, etc).
9:41 PM. Palin making a nice point by pointing out the fact that Biden called out Obama about his votes on funding for the troops.
9:39 PM. Here comes foreign policy questions.
9:38 PM. Biden's right on with rights for same-sex couples. Palin has a pretty good answer as well. Points for both.
9:35 PM. Good for Biden going after the stupid "drill, drill, drill" mantra. Oh, gosh, then she comes back and corrects him on the mantra ("drill, baby, drill"). I'm going to puke.
9:33 PM. Circular arguments on climate change. If cyclical and not man-made, then nothing we can do. How many times is she going to say "energy independence"? Wow, she just mentioned conservation. I have to give her props for that. It's about time a politician mentions this as an option. Biden's arguments on global warming much more direct and objective.
9:25 PM. We are 25 minutes in, and Palin is holding up. Again, the expectations were so low, so it's not saying much. She is trying to pour on the charm with the repeated winks, big smile, and cute little words. She's been practicing a great deal....she's sticking to the script.
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7 comments:
If your metric is that she didn't spontaneoulsy combust or collapse on stage, then yes, she held her own. But, please, although we liberals are 'elitist,' shouldn't we all expect a little more from someone who could be president of the United States? I agree that she held up her end of the deal with sticking to only a few talking points that were spoon fed to her probably from the moment the Katie Couric interview ended. But please, is the "folksiness" really becoming? It was nervous, forced, and truly made me vomit (I thought morning sickness was over!). Not to mention, pretty Bush-esque to me. Is it really okay to brush this one off as "it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be" and overlook the facts that she didn't answer one single question, told the moderator and her opponent that she wasn't going to answer any questions, asked for the VP to have more power over the senate (a pretty scary thought given her lack of experience), said that she thought the constitiution could be interpreted "loosely" with regard to power (and said straight up that she agreed with Dick Cheney), completely blew off any moment to show an act of humanity after Biden got choked up, referred to the general in Afghanistan as McLellan (the prior White House press secretary who has pretty strong feelings about the Bush administration), reported that she will be doing no more interviews with a media filter and edits (can you imagine what the unedited version of those Couric interviews looked like?) and never once said how she and McSame were going to be different than what we have dealt with during the last eight years. She said a lot of words without ANY substance in my opinion. And I do find it sad that Biden was counseled to "hold back" on any attacks on her because you all know what would have happened if he did what he was completely capable of doing. Additionally, I am sure Gwen Iffel was told the same thing after the McCain camp, again in the eleventh hour, came out crying that it was unfair that she is writing a book where one chapter focuses on Obama. Would Hilary be given the same conscessions?
And please, for Pat Buchanan to call this "sensational" is a bit over the top. But when he was pushed and asked why..I love that he came out and said, "...because she is the most attractive of the four candidations."
I don't think the press is brushing it off as "good enough." There are lots of commentators pointing out the fact that she didn't answer questions or explain what the administration would do.
It's all fine. Obama will win.
Nucular is an ad hoc spelling of an incorrect pronunciation of the word nuclear, representing the IPA: (NEW-cue-lurr) pronunciation of that word instead of the correct (NEWK-lee-urr).
I think she had much more subtance than you give her credit for, and Biden invented half of his. Give her 2 years of running for President (or 35 years in the Senate) and she will be able to toss out meaningless (and/or fictitional) "facts" as well.
Palin will be around for a long time. Get used to her. I love her simply because she makes you all want to set your hair on fire. She could be a decapitated parapalegic, and I would still support her justo see the hissy fits she continues to cause on the left.
That being said, Biden clearly demonstrated that he is more qualified than Barry. He understands foreign policy on a much deeper level. He hit a chord with me when he said, he could respectfully disagree with his Republican colleagues without questioning his motives. I sure hope he rubs off on Barry.
As someone whose been called a stupid, racist, redneck (and all the synonyms that you can think of), I appreciate that.
Don,
That's the best defense you can give her???? She didn't answer the questions, she spoke so un-presidential (unless you compare it to Bush-talk), and it was all coached soundbites, just like Jeanette said.
She is the laughing-stock of the country right now. How can you want her representing your party?
She is the laughing stock wherever you live. She is still drawing tens of thousands of Americans elsewhere.
I wouldn't have answered Gwen Ifill's questions, either. Each one was gauged towards Democrat strengths, and I am happy Palin steered the questions towards Republican points.
I also must not have watched the same debate, because I saw her answer several questions with substance and ability. She talked about the Republican's efforts to rein in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. She smartly steered the conversation away from the bailout (because it hurts McCain even though it is largely the fault of Democrats) to taxes (I know y'all hate it when we bring up taxes, which is why Ifill never was going to). She talked about the $5000 tax credit for healthcare. She spoke at length about energy, which I know just ate up with a spoon (want some crude to wash it down?). She gave virtually the same answer as Biden on same sex marriage. She called Biden out for being smart on foreign policy BEFORE running for VP and adopting all of Obama's plans that he once criticized. She made Biden lie again about Obama's comments on tea with Satan, because that always works. She pointed out how an Obama administration would have resulted in millions of Iraqis suffering death and torture (as opposed to their relative peace today). She supported a two state solution in Israel. They both were wrong on the general's comments in Afghanistan, because his statement was confusing. He said the same surge principles won't work in Afghanistan, but they do need an infusion of troops and money. Sounds like a surge to me -- just done differently. She agreed we need to help Darfur. I loved her answer that she would be an independent VP (and Biden was grossly wrong on his Constitutional lecture).
Sure, she may not have been able to lie as well as Biden (his comments on Iraqi spending and Hezbollah were mind-blowingly incorrect but mainstream media will always give the left a pass on that), but she proved to me that she would be a fine vice-president and is at least as qualified as Barack Obama.
And I couldn't help smiling knowing that millions of urban liberals were spitting up their organiz chai lattes every time she dropped a g or said doggone it. Peoria is eating it up.
I am sure McCain was talking about the American workforce and it's ingenuity when he said the fundamentals of the economy are strong.
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