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I actually agree... I thought she regained her excellent presentation that she nailed at the GOP convention. I felt myself rooting for her almost. Yet despite showing knowledge of what the issues are... she still lacked any answers about how she would solve them.
I find Sarah Palin, very intriguing in some ways. She certainly isn't Washington elite. It's almost a shame she's running with someone so tired as McCain. I think she will be a force in 2012 and beyond. Although despite the great presentation her answers were incomplete or outright avoided. The canned American pie bullsh*t didn't stick with me at all... neither my 72 year old mother in law who screamed several times at the TV... "What the hell is she saying? Nothing!"
Overall given the low expectations I thought she did very well. Now she needs to really learn and understand policy... not just repeat memorized rhetoric through a speechwriter.
Biden by contrast seemed boring... at least the first half. However he addressed the issues, and answered the questions and he really looked and seemed as confident as you could expect a commander in chief. I'd give the edge to Biden in the answers delivered. But she earned some new respect from me...
I didn't find Biden boring at all. In his first statement he gave he the opening she needed to nail him on GSE reform. S.190, is out there now like Jason wandering around outside the dems cabin.
I watched the debate, and I turned off the TV immediately after it. I haven't read any expert "analysis" this morning, to the point of skipping to the end of this thread - I just wanted to put down my own reaction without being influenced by the words of others.
I think Palin did great. To say she exceeded expectations would be an understatement. Even though the format of the debate was more favorable to her than the format of the first Presidential debate would have been, I don't see how anyone can say that she didn't do a good job.
Both candidates obviously had done their homework. Although they didn't know the specific questions ahead of time, they certainly could anticipate the areas in which they would be questioned. As an aside, I thought Gwen Ifill did her usual solid, professional job. The right was whining about nothing (not the first time for that!).
I would call the debate a draw. Once I saw that Palin wasn't going to be the train wreck she was in the interviews, I concentrated on the answers themselves, and the ebb and flow of the debate. I didn't see either candidate get rattled, I didn't see either candidate wander too far from the campaign themes we've heard many times before, and I don't remember any gaffes. I thought Palin got a little tired toward the end, and repeated some stuff, but that was relatively minor.
I thought Palin was smart right from the very beginning, with her "May I call you Joe". Talk about disarming! And later to use "Joe" in a zinger (something to the effect of "There you go, Joe") was excellent.
I was surprised to see that any condescending that was going on was coming from Palin. I was very disturbed with her answer about the powers of the office of Vice President. Anyone who agrees with Cheney that somehow the Constitution isn't VERY clear about the Vice President being in the Executive Branch ... well, it's not like I was going to vote for McCain/Palin anyway, but this twisted view alone is sufficient for me to fear that a McCain administration would mean much of the same we have endured for the last 8 years.
Palin did good - better than McCain. Biden did good - he clearly showed a solid grasp of the issues. Palin got to be herself, and frankly, she reminded me of Bush - personable, likable, with views and beliefs I do not share.
I am sure that in the minds of many, Palin won, and I can understand that, given her miserable performance during the interviews. Taken by itself, I thought the debate was a draw, much the same as I thought the Obama-McCain debate was a draw.
Obama is as rehearsed as Palin--he's king of the teleprompters. And you know what? I think it's only fair that she's getting a pass on harsh treatment. Heck that's what Obama got from the media everytime Hillary Clinton and her crew pointed out the facts--the media got Obama on the top of that ticket.
It's karmic justice that he's now having to see what it's like to deal with that problem from the opposite side of the coin.
I am still unsure what to do. I may actually write in a candidate--
On the fence--coin tossing--praying it will all be over soon.
maybe now people can get back to focusing on contacting our representatives and stopping this train wreck of a bill that they insist on jamming down our throats today. republicans and democrats working together to defeat a bad bill will make us all feel good about being americans again, working together.
Obviously having been kept under wraps and schooled to death paid off for Governor Palin but I wasn't impressed at all. Her only reference where governance is concerned is Alaska which, when faced with a question to which she didn't have an in-depth answer, she backtracked to. Her responses were obviously schooled responses and her cutesy-pie jocularity left me cold. I thought I was seeing things when she winked the wink! With McCain so ancient and doddering it's quite conceivable that, were that team elected, she could be the next President of the USA and I do rather feel that world leaders would be extremely hard pushed to take her seriously... "Oh, come ON, Mr. Putin!" (wink wink)...
Her summation sounded like that segment in the Miss America beauty pageant where the bubbly young ladies espouse their concern for their country, starving children. and global warming.
She belittled Senator Biden for his references to the past but, as Ziggy Marley sang, "You don't know your past you don't know your future," and she proposes more power for the Vice President of the US.
Compared to what she HAS said and mangled in the very few occasions she's been let off the leash of late she handled the debate well but that's comparing Palin to Palin and isn't the issue. Several thousand people right off the street could have done equally well and several thousand more could have done much better.
When W was voted in for a second term I was flabbergasted. If McCain/Palin get in I shall probably be apoplectic and succumb to a massive stroke. Cheers!
After her ''only in this for 5 weeks'' remark, and a'' washington outsider''...biden could have driven the final nail..But kept in civil.I was pulling for Her and she did well considering her being a 5 week outsider opposed to a 40 year insider! with one prez with extra security and a bullseye on his back and the other who took paul newmans spot in the death pool.. The odds are better then ever that a VP could be running things!!!!
Governor Palin made a good appearance last night. I think she went a long way towards dispelling her image as a bumbler, and that's pretty much what she had to do. So, in terms of "not melting down" on stage, it was a positive for her and the GOP campaign. She reinforced her down-home image as a pleasant and likable woman.
I doubt that it will have any significant effect on the election, though. Her image as a lightweight will remain with voters and the early polls indicate that Biden actually won the debate.
I watched it and I'd call it a draw, myself. Gwen Ifill treated her with kid gloves, lobbing softball questions and then not following up when Palin insisted on not addressing the questions directed at her. Instead, she stuck to the scripted talking points she'd been coached on for the past couple of weeks. We'll probably never see Palin interviewed one on one again in this campaign. I suspect she'll go back into hiding now.
She looked good, controlled her answers and did not have anyone countering her, so I will give her points. I want someone to ask her a question and when she goes off into her "I don't care what you asked, I am going to answer some other question routine', bring her back on board. Since she was asked for an achilles heel, and whent off on her strengths, either she refused to answer the question or she cannot understand them. Either way, she pulled it off, because no one stopped her.
As someone who personally likes both people, I'll weigh in:
Who won? It was a draw. Biden had to avoid the gaffes and he succeeded. Palin had to not look like an idiot, and she succeeded. That said....Biden sounded more policy-wonk ish. He wasn't his affable friendly self. That's expected, he's a senator, in a debate. Though when he choked up while talking about his family, that was moving. I truly like Joe Biden. He's tactless as all heck, but bless his heart, he's a good person.
Palin was more likable. You can't beat her on that score anyway. She talked like someone who just came in from the soccer game. I liked the folksy colloquialisms. (What can I say, I'm from the midwest) She was fairly repetitive and evaded some answers, but overall, she DID exceed her low expectations. She got a second lease on life, and even if the ticket loses, she has a future in the GOP. She is the leader of the conservative wing of the party.
So it was a draw. There will be a bit of movement for McCain, but McCain has to win this on his own. We'll see what happens in the next month.
So she prepped well. Good on her. If she had made any comments about "Putin rears his head over Alaska" I would have turned off the TV in disgust. I think its sad though that many people watched to see if she would make another gaff.
I think Biden's experience and substance showed last night. I felt he answered questions directly, I did not like it when Sarah would not talk about the cause of global warming, Joe is right, how can you solve a problem without knowing the cause of it?
Is she a cutesy puppet? I don't know. I do know the job of VP is a serious one and I would rather a person without personality who was competent had the job rather than a someone with personality with no competency. Its not a beauty contest. Its a serious job.
I don't think these VP debate will matter as much as the next Obama-McCain debate.
Last edited by minibrings; 10-03-2008 at 10:30 AM..
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My thoughts after the VP debate
) She was fairly repetitive and evaded some answers, but overall, she DID exceed her low expectations. She got a second lease on life, and even if the ticket loses, she has a future in the GOP. She is the leader of the conservative wing of the party.
