My opinion: Meh.
Really, honestly, I wasn't overly impressed at all. Palin exceeded the expectations, but frankly, as long as she didn't catch herself on fire or fall off the stage, she would have exceeded the expectations. I thought it before the debate and I still think is now: her handlers had 10-12 issues that they drilled into her and made sure she understood inside and out. And they told her, if a question is about one of those issues, use the answer, if it's not, then pivot to one of those answers. The prime example I remember is the question on Darfur. Her answer went to energy production in Alaska. She was talking much more in generalities, not in specifics.
On substance, I think it's clear Biden won. He was all over the facts, statistics, figures, that sorta thing. Somewhat dry as well, but then Biden is very wonk-ish, so I'm not surprised. But he was just as specific as she was general.
On style...I don't know. Her handlers made sure she had the "folksy charm" in full force, they made sure she talked a lot about her family and such. But the "aw shucks" thing she does, that some people love, I find insulting. I don't really care about how things are with your diverse Alaskan family, I care about how you and your running mate will specifically answer the issues of the country.
I'll also say that her answer about the Constitution being 'flexible' when it comes to the Vice President's duties was as frightening as it was ill-informed. But I question whether "Joe Six-Pack" can understand exactly what she said and it's repercussions.
I think with her performance, Palin might have stopped the belief that she's a buffoon. But I don't know that either candidate helped their running mates. I don't think either of them hurt the top of the ticket either. So I think it's a wash all-in-all. And it's on the remaining two Presidential debates....
POLT Listening to the post-debate coverage
"I believe that diplomacy should be the cornerstone of any foreign policy." "And I can see Russia from my house." - Tina Fey as Sarah Palin, SNL
3 comments:
Yeah, I don't think this will really change things. Had Palin messed up I think McCain could have suffered. The one thing that struck me was Biden agreeing that marriage should be defined as a union of man and woman. I'd have to look it up to verify, but doesn't Obama support same sex marriage? It just seems to go against most of the Democratic trends in the country. I seem to remember you having a post a while ago about this topic.
Obama was in the 'gay debate' on Logo late last year. He stated there he's against gay marriage, but he's for civil unions. He thinks marriage is a religious issue and churches and synagogs (sp?) shouldn't be forced to do something against what they believe in. But he does believe that gay couples should have the same rights and responsibilies of straight couples, and could get thoughts through a civil union.
I don't necessarily agree with his position, but I certainly disagree with it a LOT less than I do with the standard Republican position.
HUGS...
I had put a really long comment but then my internet janked on me and it didn't go through and now I can't remember half of it (still drunk from last night) so I'll just say...the wink, the darn it, the snake charmer smiling, the blatant non-answering...really, Sarah?
The wink pushed me right over the edge.
I've never been much of a fan of Joe Biden and his naked ambition, but I'll take him over her any day.
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