VP DebateFollow

Why do so many people in the Asylum sign their name to their posts?

Sadly, I missed the last half of the debate because I was having a debate of my own. Apparently, there are people in the United States that believe Obama is the antichrist. Something to do with him 'backing the Euro.' Seriously.

If I heard Palin say "Well, back in Alaska, we..." Yes, we get it. We know where you're from. Ugh.

But overall, she did better than I expected. But like some of you have already pointed out, I was getting quite annoyed with her constantly going back to the only subjects she'd been coached on. And there were a few times that she stumbled over what she was saying, and I honestly had no idea what she was talking about.

Biden did well also, but I kept waiting for him to start yelling. I was kind of disappointed that he held himself in check so well, haha. And yeah, when he finally called her on the use of "maverick", I gave him a high-five. Well, not really, I don't think I've ever given anyone a high-five.

Reaction on the talk station I listened to this morning, the word was that Palin did "well" although no one was calling it a big win for her. Folks admitted that, with the expectations bar set where it was, it was virtually impossible to do worse than expected. I think both candidates got out of it what they needed to -- Biden didn't say anything profoundly retarded and came across as knowledgable and able to lead if need be. Palin didn't set herself on fire or throw up and, while she avoided saying much of substance, she didn't look answerless. She gave a good showing to those who only knew her from interview flubs.

I don't think the interview was a game changer for anyone (and McCain needs one) but, at least until the 10th, it changes the narrative from "Does Palin have brain damage?" which is a good thing for their campaign.

It wasn't even close.

She had to be prompted to speak when it was her turn as if she didnt know what was going on. As others mentioned when addressed with issues off her talking points she quickly changed issues, one noteable example is where Biden talked in detail on a subject, her rebuttal was to disagree then ask if she could talk about something from 4 questions before that was on her talking points. She was vague, she stumbled a few times, she clearly was doing the best she could with the coaching they could give her but lacked any practical knowledge of her own. Flea also pretty much hit one of the clutch points of the night on the head. As Sarah Palin tried to rely on her background and family to earn public sentiment she stumbled across Joe Biden a man who has been some real **** and who almost choked up when sharing it with the public and if that isn't one of the biggest moments of the night I don't know what is.

She tried to say that taxes on 250k+ would affect small businesses, Biden blew that out of the water. He exposed her lack of knowledge about things on the world stage when it came to talking about an arms race in the middle east, on the subject of the israeli/palestinian conflict and how it has emboldened Iran and given power to Hezbollah and Hamas. She was unable to frame Baracks willingness to meetand negotiate the way she wanted to (though Lieberman was much more effective at that in the post interview). More importantly Biden was able to push the idea that John McCain was wrong on the economy, on the war in iraq and that Barack and himself had the foresight to see the outcomes.

One moment that really outlines the level of skill in debate is when Sarah Palin nervously and hamfistedly dropped a line given to her by her handlers "for a campaign looking to the future you sure focus on the past" with Biden simply retorting with "past is prologue". The comfort he had on the stage, the command of the subject matter, the knowledge and personal experience all came to light. Now remember this is one of the arguments that the Republicans made for McCain when it came to Foreign Affairs in the last debate once it got off Economics.

And thus we have the negative of a political debate of this nature. The general public at large is too indifferent or ignorant to realize that her appearance last night was as staged as it possibly could be and that it doesn't take away from the mountains of evidence we've seen over the past month that she simply cannot think on her feet. While this may not be such a hinderance for domestic matters where decisions can be made in an office full of well qualified advisers, it's incredibly scary to think what might come out of her mouth at any high level meeting with foreign leaders.

I think we can all agree any kind of peace talks would be beyond her limited capacity, regardless of the circumstances.

Someone else already said it. She fell back on her sportscaster persona.

If she'd winked at the camera one more time I was ready to rip her throat out. Can you please TRY to convince me you're taking this seriously? This is not a high school debate.

Yeah, she kind of takes the cult of inexperience way beyond what we think of as populism.

You're an outsider, oh my gawd, we get it. I half expected her to show up dressed as Pony Boy.

Needed more and *** shots.

Other than mistaken our Commanding Officer in Afghanistan for a terrible American Civil War general (twice), she didn't do too bad. Yeah, she avoided certain questions, but that was to be expected and I suspect her camp drilled it into her to NOT answer those ones.

He had to disappoint. If he'd attempted anything more, he would have come off as an intellectual snob next to Palin's animated ignorance.
Shaggable eh;)

I still maintain that Biden had the better teeth and smile (admittedly I'm biased towards the male mouth). The real kicker though, would be in the breath.

There were also a number of moments where she was clearly outclassed.

The constitutional rights of homosexual couples, that was a cringe moment for me. After Biden had a speech about constitutional rights, hospital visitation, property rights etc you have Palin come out and say something to the affect that she has met a gay person once and that gives her insight, well that was just embarrassing. When it came to the powers of the Vice President she went off on a rant that only showed her lack of knowledge about the position while Biden went into detail about the executive branch and how Cheney's push for power in the legislative branch was a bad thing. What it boiled down to was a person who knows and a person who knows only as much as they could retain while cramming for a debate.

I understand that after 8 years of Bush having a nominee that doesn't completely embarrass themselves when talking about subjects they are clearly ignorant on is big hope for a lot of people, however it is still a pretty low bar to set for a position like the VP ofthe USofA.

Edited, Oct 3rd 2008 12:09pm by bodhisattva

What a great word. I will use it frequently, thank you.

Biden had the debate of his life.

Palin won back some respectability, & may not be the butt of everyone's jokes (until her next interview, and/or SNL).

She lied ("stretched the truth"), he gave the correct information. He NEVER attacked her directly, always using McCain's name (As to not appear demeaning as GHW Bush). While she was keen on using The Republican talking points, she offered little substance while Biden got into specifics of actual plans.

She pissed off the Evangelicals when agreeing that Gays should have the same legal rights.

So did Biden when using "Gay Marriage" before clarifying his position in the follow up.

"White Flag of Surrender" =/= "Phased Withdrawal" while turning over security to The Iraqi govt. and getting a taste of that sweet, sweet, oil $. Independent voters HATED "White Flag of Surrender".

Voters tend to agree with Obama/Bidenon his plans for the war, the economy, & taxes. After giving up Michigan, McCain is now forced to hold on to states that went "Red" to W. As his economic policies stay tied to W's, more and more people are siding with Obama.

I foresee McCain going negative in the near future.

Edited, Oct 3rd 2008 4:29pm by Omegavegeta