Palin shows she’s no slouch in debate with Biden
October 2nd, 2008 at 10:36pm Chuck Sweeny
So much for those of you who thought Sarah Palin was ditzy. She’s not. And her former career as a TV sportscaster served her well in the debate with Sen. Joe Biden. While Biden was more substantive by far on the issues, Palin looked directly into the camera as if she were wrapping up the NHL scores for Anchorage viewers.
I don’t think either veep candidate “won” the debate, but I found it informative. Biden, however, rarely looked up at the camera, did not smile much, and made the mistake of talking mostly to moderator Gwen Ifill instead of the millions at home. But Biden did succeed in pointing out that McCain’s record differs from the way Palin portrays it in significant ways.
He was smart to keep the center of focus on McCain, not attack Palin, and actually congratulate her for looking out for Alaskans by raising taxes on oil and gas companies that operate there, a position opposite to McCain, who wants to give tax breaks to oil and gas producers.
Palin was forceful, folksy and fetching, a formidable combination.
Biden was competent, folksy but defensive.
It’s either a wash, or slight advantage to Sarah.
Entry Filed under: Sarah & Joe
10 Comments Add your own
1. bestchoices | October 3rd, 2008 at 6:42 am
Sarah did better than I thought she would. However, she lost me when the debate ended. She brought her baby on stage which reminded me that she is first a mother. And then she handed the baby to a child that did not look big enough to carry the baby. I wanted to run on stage to help. I will not get over the fact that, as a mother myself, I think her family should come first. Go, Barack! (for many reasons).
2. Wester Wuori | October 3rd, 2008 at 8:12 am
We don’t need a Vice President who is “folksy” or “fetching.” We need a VP who can, without a doubt, become President at a moment’s notice and immediately assure the nation and the world that everything’s going to be OK. Biden has the capability, the intelligence and the deep grasp of domestic and world issues that we need in a VP; Palin simply does not.
Have we fallen this far down as a nation that smarts are no longer needed to be President or Vice President and that we should elect someone because they’re just like the average man or woman next door? We’ve had eight years of a President who is probably a nice guy to have a beer with but is rarely the smartest person in the room. Look where our nation is now.
Palin was well-coached, but she rarely veered from her prepared sound bites and flat-out ignored some questions so she could pivot back to her thoughts on energy policy. This new spin that “she’s just like me” or is a “Joe Six-Pack” is downright frightening.
The long list of issues facing the next President and VP is long, intimidating and will require amazing amounts of intellectual heft to address. Obama and Biden have the brainpower needed to do that. McCain, and especially Palin, simply do not.
3. the dude abides man | October 3rd, 2008 at 9:34 am
How did Palin do a better job?
She avoided answering most of the questions? I sat there watching the question at the bottom of the screen and thinking, “Ok, when is she going to actually answer the question.”
I realized my waiting was unnecessary when she stated “I may not answer the questions that either the moderator or you want to hear, but I’m going to talk straight to the American people.”
Translation: I can’t answer the questions, so I’ll be sidestepping and using lots of filler.
4. dave | October 3rd, 2008 at 10:04 am
Lost you? You must be from the 50\’s like I am, but I have evolved. A woman can me a mom and hold office. Many do and do it quite well. I was proud of her having her family there. If you forgot Obama voted for a bill 4 times, and that bill was to not call in a second doctor if for some reason a baby aborted was born alive. Obama said that doctor that aborted it could care for it???? What by suffocating it? By leaving it to die alone, cold on a table? I am embarress that Obama is from Illinois, with all hsi connections to Wright, Rezko, Blagojevich, Pflager, Ayers. Palin blew old Joe out of the water. 14 times Joe missreprsented fact, (thats called a lie) Obama cares nothing for the real American.
5. dave | October 3rd, 2008 at 10:07 am
By the way I have cancelled my subscription with the rrstar. Reason being, it is a leftist one sided rag.
uVote had over 1,000,000 votes cast last ngiht
86% for Palin 12% for Biden
In the tank CNN (along with Gannett papers) had it with just a tad over 500 votes
46% Biden 24% Palin
I don’t need some in the tank far left news service to tell me what the Real American knows.. McCain/Palin 2008
6. Judy | October 3rd, 2008 at 10:24 am
Palen hit it out of the park last night and the Dems are “so” disturbed that when Americans listen for themselves and don’t have to view just the sound bites that are edited to make Palen look bad that 86% of those viewing voted through uVote that Palen won, hands down. Where the rest of you were was probably sitting on the back of Obama’s band wagon as you’ve been doing instead of really listening to both sides. Biden has alot of experience and so does McCain. Obama go into the Senate because the other candidate dropped out of that race. He never had to be accountable for anything, so now………….things are different. Obama has NO experience for the high office of the President. I don’t want my leader meeting with the “enemy” who will “swallow” him up!
Go Palen!
7. Milton Waddams | October 3rd, 2008 at 12:51 pm
86% of a million Fox News viewers voting for Sarah Palin? Shocking! Only that it wasn’t 100%…
Explaining the difference between a self-selected poll and a random statistical sampling to you 86% people would be a waste of time, so just keep drinking the Fox Kool-aid.
8. doc | October 3rd, 2008 at 1:54 pm
Judy before expressing your poorly informed point of view of Obama, maybe you should learn how to spell your candidates name correctly. It is spelled P-A-L-I-N. Palin is extremely incompetent and if you don’t see that you are probably from the same trailer park. Since a large number of people in the Rock River area do not have a high school diploma or a job, I am not surprised that “Joe Six Pack” in Rockford honestly believe that this bimbo should be that close to the White House. I am ashamed as an American that this woman is even on the national stage. Mcain is a 72 year old joke and Palin is a puppet to fire up dumb women who couldn’t handle Hilliary’s loss.Please get a clue Judy and Rockfordians like her.
9. SNuss | October 3rd, 2008 at 10:42 pm
Doc, you sound like just another Obama elitist. There are a hell of a lot more of us “Joe Six-Pack” types in this Country, than you arrogant Far-Leftist snobs. The “Joe Six-Pack’s” of America are those who build the buildings, plow the streets, fight the fires, grow the crops, and fix what needs fixing, to keep this Country running. We can survive better without your kind, than you can, without us.
10. Doug Burton | October 4th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
Complete rubbish. Yeah she did better than the Couric interview, but if your bar is set at that you should find a new profession because you are not worth your salt as a reporter. This country is going though way to serious complicated times for us not to DEMAND anything other than the best of the best. And Palin is not even in the same ballpark as Biden. Chuck, I like a lot of wat your write, but you seriously missed on this one. Palin is DANGEROUS. Don’t beleive me? Look what the VP has done by expanding his powers between the exec and judic.branches. And this woman wants to further that. She has no clue of the constitution.
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