Yes, today was the day that Gov. Sarah Palin and Sen. Joe Biden rolled up their sleeves, put up their dukes, and battled it out in front of tens of millions of prospective voters. Both had their axes to grind, both had their weak points, but they each had very different missions and tactics.
Sarah Palin had to walk onto the stage after having a particularly bad couple of weeks. After having the notorious 'Russia Question' with Katie Couric get blasted all over the media, as well as having other bad interviews, Sarah Palin really was a hurting unit. The GOP ticket was going downhill, and many of her supporters were questioning whether she really has what it takes. Palin's main goal in this debate was to re-prove herself to the American public, and I think she did it well. By turning on the soccer-mom attitude, the folksy charm, and her signature relate-ability, she was able to stand behind her podium and do a lot of damage control. On the downside of her performance tonight was her dodging many of the questions asked as well as not really being as strong as she could have been on the foreign policy parts of the debate.
Joe Biden, on the other hand, seemed like he was from a different world entirely. Perhaps a bigger one, a world of budgets and procedure and deal-making. A fish that's a lot more used to living in the bigger pond that Sarah Palin is trying to survive in. One thing you noticed right off of the bat is that he hardly talked about himself at all. It seemed that just about every question that was asked him, he answered by saying "Well, Barack Obama..." or "Now, John McCain....". A good strategy, I admit, but one that is a little off-putting. We have to keep in mind that Joe Biden is not under nearly the same amount of pressure that Sarah Palin is dealing with. If the Democrats win this election, it will be because of Barack Obama, not because of anything Joe Biden has done or could do. All in all, I think that he did a very good job in holding his ground and keeping gaffe free.
Which brings me to my conclusion on the debate, which was that like the first one, there wasn't a clear winner on either side. Both came with objectives and both accomplished them. I will expect that for the moment the Republican polls will stop dropping and perhaps recover to their former status, just below Obama. Joe Biden made a good call of not picking on a woman, but instead his peer, John McCain, who wasn't present. I doubt he picked up any votes by his performance but I doubt he lost very many.
And so the race continues, if Congress can clean up this economic mess relatively quickly and effectively, John McCain should do better than he has been this week. If not, it looks like the Republican ticket is slowly, but surely, loosing ground.
2 comments:
I disagree with you Sam... what else is new?? You said
"One thing you noticed right off of the bat is that he hardly talked about himself at all. It seemed that just about every question that was asked him, he answered by saying "Well, Barack Obama..." or "Now, John McCain...."."
I think he spent a lot of time talking about himself, alot of the reporters argee with me, it sounded (more or less) like HE was running for President not Obama. I didn't like it!
I think Sarah Palin did very well! She stood up to Biden and let the American people know what SHE (and McCain stands) for! I liked that she talked "down home style"
Overall it was a MUCH better debate then the presidential one!!
I don't know if it was a better debate, per se. It depends on your definition. I would say that it was a much nicer debate, compared to the Presidential debate, with Palin and Biden taking more shots at McCain and Obama than at each other.
You do touch on an interesting point, though. Both of the VP candidates seemed interested in continuing the Dick Cheney approach to the Vice-Presidency. Constitutionally, the VP has only two jobs: to lead the senate and to be at the ready in case the president either dies or becomes either unable or unfit to continue in his office. Dick Cheney in the last eight years has significantly expanded the office to control much of the executive branch as well as take a much larger role in policy making. I noticed no hint in the debate that either Joe Biden or Sarah Palin had any intention of downsizing the office to its more constitutional size.
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