Palin Debates: The Reaction
Posted on October 3, 2008 at 6:56 amI’m sure the left is tremendously disappointed that Gov. Sarah Palin didn’t crash and burn. I believe many were certain she’d do herself and McCain in last night. It didn’t happen. Didn’t even come close to happening. From my seat on the couch she won because she held her own while being toe to toe with a 36 year veteran of political bloviating of the highest order.
Sarah Palin held here own with the big boys, exceeding the expectations of many Beltway Pundits. She talked directly to the camera, by-passing the media filter that has attempted to minimize her abilities and polish. She performed the role of an average American very nicely, charming the audience with her optimistic hockey mom warmth.
Dear pundits, please quit bringing up the “likability” factor when it comes to the debate. Dick Cheney is about as cuddly as a dead giant squid so just stop it. Al Gore was so cold during his vice-presidency he could have made snow cones just by willing them to be with his mind. We won’t even get into Dan Quayle.
From Nigh Seen Creeder:
Sarah Palin just field-dressed Joe Biden like a moose. She was awesome. She connected with the people. She had fun. She was relaxed. She was awesome.
Palin’s answers are great for the base. But everytime Palin is seen arguing against income distribution and what not, Biden and Obama have effectively framed it as arguing against the middle class. And McCain and Palin seem to be suckers for it. Her principles are right without a doubt, but independents are un-idealogical by definition.
Gov. Palin’s performance renewed my confidence in her ability to be a capable running mate and potential vice-president of the United States. It was certainly more memorable and impressionable than Joe Biden’s. She talked directly to the American people and yes, she even looked at her opponent when she addressed him. I think the “maverick” line she attributes to Sen. John McCain wears thin over time and Biden eventually used it to his advantage. That would be my only criticism of her overall performance during the debate.
On grounds of merit, Biden won. But context is everything. In making up the most ground, Palin scored big. Some pundits are already saying that her foreign policy answers were scripted. That’s no shock. But she knew which ones to marshal, and that’s a departure from the interviews.
She was scary pathetic. Before I criticize her further, can anyone tell me why she pronounces “nuclear” like President Bush pronounces it? It is republican code for “I’m an idiot and so are you?”
Palin and Biden debate to a snore.
Palin as a vice presidential candidate would have me up all night laughing if it weren’t for the serious possibility that her ticket could get elected.
Sarah Palin found a way to minimize the Senator’s deeply personal reflection by pasting on that former sports anchor smile and resorting to her redundant maverick script after his emotional comments. The happy hockey mom shtick looks smug and diminutive in comparison to Biden’s passionate comments. Her response was about as genuine as false eye lashes on a pit bull.
Gov. Palin flabbergasted Joe when she corrected his mistakes on Afghanistan policy, when he claimed that the commander of the forces on the ground there said the Iraqi surge strategy wouldn’t work. It turns out she knew more about what the general said than Joe did, and he was reduced to repeating irrelevant numbers.
I know politicians are good at answering questions with a prepared answer that has nothing to do with the question, but why did she think she shouldn’t have to answer some questions put to her in the debate? If she’s as ready to serve us nationally as her supporters say she is then questions from reporters and political adversaries shouldn’t bother her in the least.
She emphasized a Ronald Reagan conservative connection with our middle class. Some Republicans seem to have forgotten that it is our government that has failed us in Iraq, Katrina, the financial and our other crises.
Will tonight’s debate change the presidential race? I don’t know. Palin may no longer be as large of an issue, which is good. Obama and McCain need to fight it out on who is more experienced and who can bring change to a declining economy and an unacceptable war in Iraq.
You will hear pundits talk about who won on “points.” This is because all those journalists went to some Ivy League school where they had to take a debate class which was scored on whether you answered every point your opponent made. But this is a public political debate. It’s the political equivalent of “Whose Line is it Anyway?” The points don’t matter.
There is no question in my mind that Sarah Palin won this debate. She looked a little nervous at the very beginning, but it only took her a few minutes to get comfortable.
Bob:
There’s nothing to really say about the debate that everybody else hasn’t said. I’m just grateful that Biden didn’t beat up on Sarah Palin. In front of her family and children, that would have been awful.
Palin was VERY well coached. Also, props to her for memorizing her talking points. Beyond that, nothing substantive, though she will continue to thrill what remains of the Republican base.
Governor Palin was damn good. There may be some debate among those who want to debate such things about who scored a higher point tally, but only those hopelessly rooting against Gov. Palin could say that she didn’t hold her own against a Senator with over thirty years experience after this night’s performance.
Having watched Palin’s acceptance speech, and now her performance in this debate, I’m tempted to say she’s channeling Ronald Reagan. In truth, I hope that in the next presidential debate, John McCain is channeling Sarah Palin.
Regardless, this debate probably moved the needle a point or two in favor of McCain, but not enough to change the basic dynamics of the election which show Obama ahead by 5 or 6 on aggregate.
As for why there weren’t any embarrassing moments for Palin tonight, I think TPM has it right: No follow-up questions. Not only were there not any follow ups (which is where Palin generally tripped up with Gibson and Couric); Ifill didn’t even really push Palin to stay on topic at all. I think Publius may be on to something when he suggests that the right-wing got into Ifill’s head with the conflict of interest stuff.
Sarah is no Dan Quayle. And she is no Tina Fey cartoon. And she is no drooling moron.
Democrats set the debate up better than we ever could have. If you accuse someone of being a drooling boob, you darn well better make sure they are one. Palin showed up and made all those who ridiculed her look like idiots.
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?
Joe Biden lied when he indicated that John McCain and Barack Obama voted the same way against funding the troops in the field. John McCain opposed a bill that included a timeline, that the President of the United States had already said he would veto regardless of it’s passage.
Who won? Oh, that depends so much on the rubric you use to determine a debate winner. The Governor is still a Rorschach test. Few that hated her before have changed their minds. It’s all in the undecideds; strategically, that’s really the only demographic either campaign should care about now. Just like with the first post-debate polls, the results are all over the place.
SEE ALSO:
The Full Debate Video
Vandy students watch the debate
Snap polls
Factchecking the debate
Newsbusters
Replace Biden With Hillary
Posted on September 18, 2008 at 1:32 pmAnd in the process, turn this election into more of a circus than it already is. That’s what Katie Granju want to do.
I’d honestly like to say that her scenario would never work. Personally, I’d like to think that working class whites and women were not that politically malleable. But the premium placed on narrative and branding has never been higher in politics than they are right now.
Who knows, it just might work. As much as I’d like it not to be true, this election has become a battle of celebrity. First, it was Obama, now it is Palin.
Indeed what could top the ultimate celebrity ticket of Hillary and Obama?
In this political climate, in this popular culture? Probably nothing.
The Veepsteaks: And The Winner Is…
Posted on September 8, 2008 at 12:30 pm
Well, after sorting through a few hundred entries, we are ready to declare the winner of the Jimmy Kelly’s Steakhouse NashvillePost.com/Post Politics VEEPSTEAKS contest. Actually, we could have done this last week but political reporter Ken Whitehouse, out of pocket at the Republican National Convention, insisted on being on-site to oversee the drawing.
We did have one person guess both Senator Joe Biden and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as the vice presidential candidates. BUT, the contest rules said that all entries had to be in no later that August 1. This entry came on August 4. Jeff Coker, we think you have a great political gut, but unfortunately it won’t be filled with steak.
Congratulations are in order for…..SUSAN DAVIS of Mt. Juliet. Davis correctly picked Obama’s running mate, Biden. She swung and missed on the GOP pick, going with former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee.
A technical writer for ChemAdvisor Inc. by day, Davis said she picked Biden because, “I thought he had to be the most obvious choice because he counterbalanced the criticisms of Obama especially on foreign policy.”
When asked if she wanted to take the opportunity to rub her victory in the face of the other participants, Davis stuck to the political high ground and said, “I’m just looking forward to dinner at Jimmy Kelly’s.”
For the record, the drawing consisted of 21 names and was chosen out of a hat by City Paper editor Clint Brewer and witnessed by A.C. Kleinheider, Ken Whitehouse, and the entire technical staff for SouthComm Inc. Eighteen individuals had chosen Biden, three had picked Palin.
Thanks to all of you who played the game and a special word of thanks to the good people of Jimmy Kelly’s Steakhouse for co-sponsoring this contest.
*Veepsteaks graphic by Wild Billy Givens
Sometimes The “Call Me” Ads Write Themselves: Obama Kisses Jill Biden On The Lips
Posted on August 28, 2008 at 6:52 amBrian Hornback cannot believe what he saw last night during Barack Obama’s surprise appearance at the Democratic Convention:
I was watching CSPAN and when Obama surprisingly appeared on stage Obama kissed Jill Biden squarely on the lips. For the record she ran backstage until she had the whole Biden family. Big Joe should have slugged Obama right then, right there. He should have defended his wife’s honor.
SEE ALSO:
Video
Madness Hamster
Sandra Rose
The Campaign For Veep
Posted on August 25, 2008 at 7:25 amIt may not have been public, but it was there:
Biden allies also labored hard to turn one of his potential liabilities — his long career in Washington — into a strength. Point one: Sen. Biden took the train out of Washington almost every night to go home to Delaware. Two: his humble roots, as the son of a car dealer in Scranton, Pa., a pivotal state for Democrats. Biden aides pushed the idea that their man could help with working-class whites who eluded Sen. Obama during the primaries.
Team Biden also showed some sharp elbows against rivals for the No. 2 slot. When news surfaced that the wife of another leading vice-presidential contender, Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh, made nearly $1 million a year on corporate boards, Biden backers quickly pointed out to friends and former colleagues in the Obama camp that Jill Biden made far less working as a teacher.
Meanwhile, backers of Sen. Bayh and Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine also were trying to put the best light on their candidates. Gov. Kaine’s aides, for example, pointed to YouTube videos showing him firing up crowds in Spanish, reaching a key demographic in a swing state. Sen. Bayh’s partisans emphasized stature in Indiana, potentially another key state.
On Thursday Sen. Obama went to a tiny compartment in the middle of his campaign bus and called Sen. Bayh and other contenders to tell them they weren’t his choice. He then reached Sen. Biden at the dentist’s office where his wife was having a root canal to give him the good news.
When the two men appeared together Saturday afternoon, Sen. Obama explained his choice by invoking the talking points that Sen. Biden’s allies had pushed during the vetting process. “Joe Biden is that rare mix,” Sen. Obama told the crowd. “For decades, he has brought change to Washington, but Washington hasn’t changed him.”
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Obama Veep Choice Rails Against “Illegals”
Posted on August 24, 2008 at 11:34 pmSenator Joe Biden strikes a restrictionist pose at a South Carolina Rotary Club meeting in 2006:
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The Guy Who’s Not The Guy Is The Guy: Obama Picks Biden
Posted on August 23, 2008 at 12:21 amIt’s looking like the first African-American nominee has picked a man who once bragged on being from a slave state:
The United States Secret Service has dispatched a protective detail to assume the immediate protection of Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., a source tells ABC News, indicating in all likelihood that Biden has been officially notified that Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, has selected him to be his running mate.
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The Tangled Webb Of Vice-Presidential Politics
Posted on May 8, 2008 at 7:49 amWith his nomination all but certain, Sharon Cobb has taken to pondering who might be the best Vice-Presidential choice for Illinois Senator:
What about Joe Biden, who has more foreign affairs experience than any of the original people running for President with the exception of Chris Dodd? Would an older, established white man with a plethora of experience help Barack more than Hillary or John? Biden or Dodd might make a good balance, though I’m not sure either would benefit Barack in the states where he needs help. On the other hand, both men have been fully vetted as well.
Bill Richardson, anyone? Aside from his experience in negotiating with North Korea and other troubled spots, he could be most helpful in picking up the Hispanic vote, a group where Obama is relatively weak. Hillary is strong with Hispanics, so she would help there as well.
What do you think? Who do you think should be Barack’s running mate?
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