ELECTION 2008:VP Debate

I will say this about the VP debate: it certainly wasn't as exciting as thought it was going to be. I was disappointed a little that Sarah Palin was so well spoken (is it bad that the gauge we now use for candidates is, "they were so articulate" as opposed to "they sure knew their stuff"), and I was disappointed Joe Biden was so reigned in.

It was just a debate, nothing special.

It was a mild Biden win. Palin came off as interesting and engaging, though I think she will regret having said (essentially), "I'm going to answer the questions I want to answer, rather than the questions you nasty, darky, biased moderator asks me."

OK, maybe that was a little bit of hyperbole, but you get the impression. Besides, with the week long smear campaign against the superb moderator, Ms. Ifill, that the McCain campaign put out, I think we deserve to rag on Palin a little bit. The whole week, the McCain camp essentially was basically admitting that Palin may not be ready. And that's disappointing. But Palin did do fairly well, all things considered.

Jerekeys gave us a live twitter feed on his blog, and I have to give him some of the very very humourous commentary that he had as it went along:

-Sarah Palin wins the best hair part of the debate!
-And YOU said you didn’t know what a vice president does. #
-“there’s not a whole lot I’ve promised” or said in a press conference.

And thanks be to Pam's House Blend for eviscerating both camps about there lack of support for gay marriage. I genuinely believe Joe Biden would not fight it if it came... and he may come out after he's elected as pro-marriage. But Pam also gives us this excellent quote where Biden tore apart the whole "maverick" thing:

Biden: Can I respond to that? Look, let's talk about the maverick John McCain is. And again I love him, he's been a maverick on some issues but he's been no maverick on things that a matter people's lives. He voted four out of five times for George Bush's budget which put us half a trillion in debt this year and over three trillion in debt since he got there. He has not been a maverick in providing healthcare for people. He voted against including another 3.6 million children in coverage of an existing health care plan in the United States Senate. He's not been a maverick when it comes to education. He has not supported tax cuts and significant changes for people being able to send their kids to college, he's not been a maverick on the war, not been a maverick on virtually anything that generally affects the things people really talk about around the kitchen table. Can we get mom's MRI? Can we send Mary back to school next semester. We can't make it. How will we heat the house this winter? He even voted against what they call LIHEAP, for assistance for people with oil prices going through the roof in the winter. So a maverick he is not, on the important critical issues that affect people at the kitchen table.

Overall, I think it comes down to: it's nice to finally hear that Palin can finally put a full thought together. But, ultimately, Biden won. And I'm not alone on this one.

This will have little affect, I think, on the election and the headlines of the weekend and the analysis will focus on two things: look, Sarah can speak English clearly! And, Biden really does know his stuff! Oh, and the whole thing that's coming out about the instapolls giving Biden the heads up by nearly a 2:1 margin, especially among independents. That's definitely definitely a great bit that will come out for the Dems this evening.

PS On how they "looked" -- and I was listening to NPR, not watching TV, I wanted to listen and not see for most of it -- does anyone else think Biden is extraordinarily attractive? Oh my god I think I have a crush on Joe!!!!

And Palin looks more like a mom than a VP? She's 25 pounds away from wearing mom jeans...

Also: Check out the pre-debate evaluation over at Juliet and Juliette. I think Palin was chosen for what was between her legs, not for what is between her ears.