Category: The Vice Presidential Debate
Posted by Libby Spencer on Fri, Oct 3, 2008 at 10:32 AMBiden wins debate, Palin sticks to stump speech
Biden won hands down on substance. Palin managed to exceed expectations, which isn't all that difficult considering expectations were set at minus zero. So she didn't trip over her lipstick and say something so egregiously stupid that Tina Fey won't have to do anything but repeat her verbatim on the next SNL skit, but then again Palin didn't really say anything outside of her obviously memorized talking points. Biden shared his knowledge. Palin gave her stump speech with extra added fake populism thrown in. That's all she's got.
The most telling moment was the question on Cheney. Biden correctly noted that Cheney's power grab in expanding the definition of VP to a fourth branch of government over the last eight years was the most dangerous threat to our democracy in a lifetime. Palin thinks he doesn't have enough power yet and wants to expand it more. Also her failure to even acknowledge Biden's remarks on his deceased child and the trauma of having lost his first wife and instead launching into a rote talking point with that fixed beauty queen contestant smile on her face, showed how shallow and mean spirited she is. It was clear in the way she furiously scribbling notes while Biden was talking that she wasn't listening to the substance of the remarks but searching for a "gotcha" Reaganesque moment.
Palin's plan is obvious. She's depending on her faux Joe sixpack folkiness to reenergize the base whose enthusiasm has been flagging after her painful show of ignorance in the Couric interviews. Personally I found her style undignified, not befitting the seriousness of the office, or the serious challenges that now face us, at all. She's George Bush in a skirt.
Bottom line, Joe Biden is running for the office of Vice President of the United States and it showed in his serious approach to answering the questions. He could have shredded her on her lack of substance but he graciously stuck to addressing the issues instead. Palin can't break out of her beauty contest persona and apparently thinks she is running for a mean-spirited version of Miss America. She's did nothing to establish any intellectual creds, but hey, the base doesn't care about that anyway. In the end, it won't have much effect on the race. Those who were already in the Palin fan club, will think she did great and will love her cheap insults and refusal to answer the questions from the 'big bad media filter.' Those who realize she's not qualified for the office won't have been convinced otherwise.
This debate won't be a game changer and Palin has officially become boring. The campaign won't let her do any more interviews where she can be pressed to answer questions she has no answer to and the race will now focus on Obama and McCain, as it should.
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VP Debate
I have it Palin by a hair. Joe's talking points did not deviate from Obama's at all, and I really enjoyed his "country that is directly north of Israel" statement. You would think that being such a good friend of Isreal he would know about Lebanon, but that was just a blunder nothing to get riled over.
What really hurt Joe in my opinion is that he flat out lied twice. The first time was on meeting with Iran with no preconditions. Biden said Obama never said that, yet on Obamas website he is quoted as "Obama supports tough, direct presidential diplomacy with Iran without preconditions."
The second lie was the Clean Coal position. He told a voter a few weeks ago that he was AGAINST clean coal, but last night he said "I have always been for clean coal" even though he voted against it every time in the senate. This one I was watching for closely since Pennsylvania is a coal state and a swing state.
Another thin was when he was discussing Article I of the Constitution. Article I second 3 clause 4 states very matter of factly that "The VP of the US will be President of the Senate but will have no vote unless equaly divided." Joe Biden said "He has no authority relative to the Congress". Not that this is a big deal, but the VP has two roles in the constitution. break ties, and assume the role of the presidency in case of incapacitation. Each president has defined the roles, with some taking a prominent role such as Cheney, and some taking a lesser such as Gore. As both canidates are supposed Constitutional lawyers its really shocked me at their lack of fundamental understanding of it.
I am by no means a constitutional scholar, but I understand the basics of the 2nd amendment which Obama does not, and I understand the principles of the duties of the VP better then Biden. Kinda scary isn't it.
This is a guy whose ran for president twice, and had problems out debating a single term governor. Thats a slight edge to Palin in my book. Biden should have done much better for his credentials.
A woman's strength
Senator Joe Biden was certainly the most experienced and more comfortable and knowledgeable about all of the issues tonight. It is difficult to debate Sarah Palin because she talks and talks and avoid the questions. As the Bamilekes of Cameroon say, "A woman's strength is a multitude of words." Guy at http://guyblaise.com
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