Polling wrap up on last night’s VP debate. (Again, I’m not linking to these so if you doubt me check out a lovely thing called “google”)
CBS - Biden, as more uncommitted voters went his way. Though Palin’s numbers did increase as far as knowledge and preparedness (though I can’t imagine they could have gone down considering...)
CNN - Biden, though again Palin did better than expected.
MSNBC - Biden
Fox News - Biden - I could actually find the poll this time. Commentator Aaron Bruns gives it to Biden, but thinks it won’t have an effect on voters whereas Palin has reassured her base that she can handle the job.
Media Curves - Isn’t up, though commenters who saw their results said once again independents favored Biden.
BBC - commentator Kevin Connolly gives it to Palin, but again prefacing that with the fact that she was expected to fall on her face and didn’t rather than on her making any decent points. If not for that he would have called it even.
My Take: Yeah, I admit that I was watching this for the same reason that millions of NASCAR fans watch cars driving around in circles - I wanted to see a fire ball explosion. And yeah that didn’t happen. But paying any attention to Palin’s answers to the questions compared to Biden, it is clear that she doesn’t know what she is talking about but just managed to hide it better than she has in her interviews. What I thought was interesting was that Biden never once attacked her on anything. He defended against attacks on him by her, but never attacked her directly on anything about her experience or her being a maverick. (I’m so sick of that word I could scream) This was clearly calculated and I think it worked as instead of getting bogged down into what is a monumentally bad decision by McCain, he basically ignored her while coming off as gracious. One of the biggest fears for Obama’s side was that Biden would come across as a big overbearing bully against Palin, but by ignoring her and her *ahem* experience, he avoided that trap.
The Rational Moderate
6 comments:
First off, your comments can be best characterized by one word: maverick.
Biden did what he had to do-- act like she wasn't in the room. He just kept hitting McCain, and she kept trying to hit him, and was essentially swinging at air. There was nothing for Biden to gain. It was the Sarah Palin Crash-Watch in primetime. That's all.
BUT, while we're on that, CAN WE KNOCK IT OFF WITH THE FOLKSY "AWW SHUCKS" CRAP?! Here are words that will henceforth be off-limits:
Betcha
Dontcha
Hockey-mom
Joe Six-Pack (really? doesn't that denote a drunk, blue-collar worker?)
Golly
Gosh
Darn
Darnit
Maverick
Wasilla
Alaska
"Drill, Baby, Drill!"
"Hey, big government, don't...insert action here..."
Winking (not the word, the action-- she ruined that the same way The Exorcist ruined pee soup)
She's a walking, talking nightmare. She's...and thanks, Matt Damon...a f***ing Disney character.
I can only hope, somewhere in Wilmington, that Joe Biden has the best surgeons in Delaware sewing his tongue back on.
Golly.
But it wasn't that Biden really ignored her as a person. He acknowledged her a lot. Listened to her responses. Laughed when appropriate. So he did act like she was there, but he never once attacked anything about her or her credentials. I thought that was a brilliant strategy.
And as far as my maverick credentials - If Democrats think I'm right wing (and many do - I was ganged up on a lot in grad school for asking hippies reasonable questions) and Republicans think I'm left wing (and they do - ditto though not in grad school but rather in and around town) then I must be doing something right.
And the folksy bit was really her being coached to come off as Regan-like as they could make her. most of her lines as such were originally Regan lines. I swear, these Republicans would make necrophilia legal if they could sleep with his corpse.
This is way late into the game, but I figured I'd add my two cents to this, but mostly just to let you know I read through the tons of blogs I've missed up until now.
I like Palin. I like her a lot actually, and I think she was a good choice by McCain. And here's why, she's an American. She represents the huge chunk of the center of America, the part of America that the Republicans always win votes from. And the Coastal Democrats hate her because she is definitely not like them. She comes across as ignorant or unsophisticated with her dialect and her mannerisms, and this scares people.
But she is the head of a state,there might not be a lot of people there, but it's a pretty important state when it comes to energy and resources. I know that other states elect some real winners to lead them, gosh look at Maryland with O'Mally or when Minnesota had Jesse Ventura. But I like that Palin is a real down to earth person, not some Congressional Pig like McCain, Obama, or Biden. I like how she talks, I like her responses to questions, and I like how she's not perfect, just like the rest of us. I don't get that feeling from anyone else who's running here.
Maybe I once did for Obama, but lately I see him for who he really is, just another politician like the rest of them. When he wins, because I really do think he will win, he's going to prove that he's as lame as everyone else.
I hate that I chose this election as the one I'd finally vote in, because all it has done is remind me why we need a new government, maybe I think Palin could put the final nail in the coffin of the failed United States, or maybe she's just down-home enough to carry us through and remind us of why America used to be a great country. But in the end it won't matter because the media has made a mockery out of her, and her running mate is a butt face. Obama pretty much has this one in the bag.
Thanks for commenting Pete!
Having said that, do you really want someone as the head of this state that is just like the rest of us, or would you prefer someone who is, you know, smarter than the rest of us? I never understood the idea of thinking someone is qualified for these political positions because they are like the average person. I don't want the average person negotiating with Iran and North Korea. I don't want the average person figuring out how to handle the military or any emergency situation such as Katrina. I don't want an average person appointing judges. I want someone better than that. Palin isn't even close.
Any truly smart person wouldn't run for office in the first place, at least in the current era. At this point I think I'd want someone more like myself sitting at the head of the table, at least I'd understand what the hell kind of point they were trying to get across with the world audience. Plus, for once, I think I'd feel actually represented. When anyone else is leading this pony show, I really feel like they don't represent the US as a whole, except for maybe Jimmy Carter...oh wait, I'm kidding there.
Anyway, tomorrow looks to be interesting with the last debate on the cusp of this financial crisis. Let's see what McCain takes credit for this time, stupid wacko!
I know you pretty well Pete, and I guarantee that you do not share anything in common with Palin and that she would not at all represent you. 1. uber-religious believing that the end days will happen in her lifetime. 2. Shoots wolves from helicopters which sounds cool i a video game, but not so much in real life. 3. was fine with banning books... need I go on? If you'd like more on whom Bill Maher called a "category 5 moron" go back to my post, Good thing/bad thing... Sarah Palin, in September.
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