Seven times, by my count. If there is any doubt remaining that she is the female George W. Bush, that should have erased it. Also, she said "There you go again" towards the end. Who told her that was a good idea?
That was my initial reaction. Before I go into the actual recap, I'd like to give a shout-out to Wash U. One of the things I always loved about Cornell was the political activism of the student body. But I'd never seen anything quite like the excitement and the intensity of the Wash U students. Although the law school had its own event for the debate, I ventured out among the undergraduates for several hours to watch all the festivities. Although I felt really old, seeing their excitement (and overwhelmingly pro-Obama leaning) made me very happy and optimistic for the future. I didn't get to meet Chris Matthews, but I did get interviewed by a reporter from the St. Louis Business Journal. Hopefully my shameless self-promoting pays off!
But by way of a recap--I don't think this debate is going to change anyone's mind. Biden did what he needed to do, which was to show off his accomplishments and clarity without talking down to Palin, and Palin did what she needed to do, which was to not have a mental breakdown.
I know this will come as a huge shock to EVERYONE, but I do think Biden did a better job. He was sharp and he knew his stuff. Palin threw out the talking points that she needed to, but she seemed very scripted. Obviously, the McCain campaign couldn't risk letting her go off-script.
Also, some of her statements were very contradictory. She stated that we need less government intruding in people's lives, right after saying in response to the financial meltdown that what the American people want is "massive oversight." Also, on the question of whether she's ever had to compromise a policy position, she answered that she hasn't, because "in Alaska we always find a way to work together." Someone please inform her that putting aside your differences and finding ways to work together are generally what's known as "compromising."
The biggest thing that she did that annoyed me was how she accused Biden of pointing backwards. When accused of promoting the same policies as Bush, she resorted to that answer rather than explaining how they're different. What that means, of course, is that they're not different at all and she couldn't explain it if they were. But when Obama and Biden get to the White House, they'll be under quite a lot of pressure to not "point fingers" by bringing ex-Bush officials to justice. They can't bend though, I'm not waiting 20-30 years to find out exactly what happened the way we had to wait with Nixon.
There were two moments in which I was proudest of Joe Biden. The first came in response to a question over the power of the Vice President. He pointed out that Dick Cheney is the most dangerous VP we've ever had, and he promised to not be like that.
And then there was this:
Everyone in the room with me applauded after this answer. It was genuinely emotional, and fully showed Joe Biden as a normal person. Sarah Palin's inability to respond to the substance of the comment shows that she simply does not have an independent thought in her head.
The insta-polls are all indicating that Biden won the debate by large margins. Here's hoping they're right.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
She Said Nuc-U-Lar
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6 comments:
Insta-polls? Are you kidding me? Less than an hour after the debates, we are to believe that thousands of Americans were polled and they all unamisously agree that Biden won the debate. B.S. ! Sarah Palin did much better than expected. After all, all she had to do was show that she was well informed of the issues and resolved in her beliefs...she did that and then some. Joe Biden on the other hand had a harder row to hoe. After all, he had to not seem too agressive (a bully), not too condescending ( sexist ) and not too soft ( a wimp )...all the while support the Obama/Biden ticket. He did not do that. Instead, he talks mostly about Joe Biden, as if HE were the top of the ticket and worse yet, goes further to state that he will be by Obama's side any time he needs to make a decision as if Obama is incapable of doing it alone. Sarah Palin gets an A+ for exceeding expectations and Joe Biden gets a B- for forgetting he is the VP candidate and not the P.
i was at the CNN/OSU meeting tonite while the debate was going on and if its gonna be predicted by 30 people in a room twisting lil dials.....omg there goes the neighborhood.the indicators as i saw the graphs registering everyones likes/dislike on that debate pretty much says Dems. win by about 62 percent....go figger.
What we do not need in this country is 8 years of anything that resembles Bill Clinton. We surely don't need a person such as Obama or joe biden in the whitehouse. being senators already puts them to close to the office as it is. I cannot see any reason to indicate that Biden won the debate. he did not defend his record on voting for tax increases nor did he defend Obama's record to the such. Biden and Obama are typical democrats who have always believed in tax increases, and always will. if you know any background on the democratic way of thinking you would know that Biden and Obama are status quo for the dems, nothing more. Obama picked biden to try to give his run for president legitamacy simply because he has no experience at nothing. I shutter to think what would have happened to this country if he had been president when 9/11 happened. I do not think Bush has delivered on what he started out to do after 9/11 either. We should have already found Bin Laden and killed him, and anyone else associated with his terrorism. you cannot negotiate with these people , you must remove them. We do need change in this country but in the form of Obama and Biden. if they are elected to office to oofice by this country, then we as nation are stupid. sarah palin is an ordinary american and not a washington eliteist like Biden or a washington wanna be such as Obama. she understands what its like to live as an average person, and it speaks volumes to maCain for picking her as a vice president. Alot of the people in this country need to wake up and get thier act together.
Cnn started their "spin" immediately after the debate, insisting that Biden won. The American people are not that stupid, and neither is Palin. Get off your predetermined script you wrote for the debate's outcome 3 days beforehand.
Also, Biden made several (i.e. 10 factual errors which are indisputable! Where are you noting those oh "impartial" media???
Here is a reality check for Rep. who is disillusioned enough to believe Palin actually won the debate. I am one of the average Americans, too busy with ordinary, daily life to study politics and understand global economy. I sure didn't see this financial crisis coming, just as too many officials we have elected were too out of touch, uninformed and plainly not smart enough to see it either. The difference is that I am an ordinary person. My job doesn't include ensuring the health of our economy. I would like someone who is smarter than me to be in the office. At least Biden covered a lot of materials that demonstrated his knowledge and expertise in stuff that I would rather leave to politicians. Palin on the other hand did not say a single thing that I could not have said. She was busy connecting with Americans (harvesting votes). Yes, we get that she gets how we feel. But what I don't get is how is she going to do anything about it.
If the pressure was on, it was on Joe Bidden. He was forced to walk on eggshells to prevent any derogatory criticism. Because of this senario it can be considered somewhat of an unfair debate. If elected, she is a 72yr old man's heartbeat away from being the next President of the United States. Should she be treated any differently than any prior candidate? As for exceeding expectations, lets face it, they were not very high to begin with!
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