I’ve been swamped lately and hard pressed to find time for much but I had to comment on last night’s debate while it’s still fresh in my mind.
First I suppose we have to look at the expectations for each candidate. It’s no secret Biden has a tendency to let his mouth get him into trouble. We could all think of at least two or three things right off the top of our heads. What’s more if you complied the list from that you’d find it goes far beyond a few.
Joe has what my mom would call incurable hoof-in-mouth disease. He can’t help it. It’s his nature. He sometimes manages to control it but it is always there awaiting an opportunity. I’m quite sure many Obamacrats were holding their collective breath last night. Hoping he wouldn’t make some blunder or come off as condescending.
For the most part I believe he managed to meet expectations in this regard, though I take issues with other aspects of the debate.
Palin on the other hand has been under fire from the far left and the MSM from the minute she was announced as the VP pick. We have been “informed” by the media that she is a complete idiot and that she would not stand a chance in the arena of real political debate with a veteran politician.
The press has been pushing this theme from day one and they have gone all out to portray it as such. The heavily edited interview with Charlie Gibson comes to mind as I saw the un-edited version and the difference in the over-all feel of the interview was definitely coloured by the edits. Just as I feel the interview with Katie Couric was scripted for the spin.
In truth between the media and the Obamacrats, Sarah Palin could not help but exceed expectations. She did so with a lot of personal style and spirited responses. She showed that she can take it and dish it out and do it all with class.
So, no train-wrecks, no major screw ups. Both candidates fared better than feared and really there was no clear winner. Having said that I also thought both candidates could have done better on certain issues.
Biden, for starters, seemed absolutely shocked that Palin was not just some babe-in-the-woods that he could marginalize and intimidate with his “father-knows-best-so-run-along-and-play-now” approach. In fact, to my surprise and amusement, she actually had him on the defensive a few times and did not allow him to control the situation. Miss Sarah is no pushover!
I couldn’t help imagining a thought bubble over Joe’s head as he kept grinning ear to ear. He seemed to be thinking, “Man! They said this was going to be an easy one! Just keep from making any gaffes and treat her like a silly, misguided girl they said! Be gracious they said! She won’t be able to hold up under pressure. Be cool and let her lose on her own. Jeez! She’s not gonna give it up. She’s like a dog with a bone. Who said she could DO that?” All the while grinning like a guy who knows he’s been had.
I found it really tiring that he kept going back to Bush, Bush, Bush. Much as I personally detest Bush, John McCain is NOT Bush and it was really not getting anywhere going on and on about Bush. He also said several things about McCain not being a maverick and not being worried about the sub-prime mortgage crisis that were not true. He claimed Obama warned about this two years ago. I call BS there because he never said a word about it until Hillary announced her 10 point plan for the economy at which time he immediately took it changed it up slightly and announced it as his. Just like her health care plan and so on. Obama had no concerns about the mortgage crisis until it was upon us.
The other thing Biden kept injecting was his “greatness” as told by him. Seriously he tried to stay on the McCain = Bush thing but often resorted to blathering on about himself and his roots. Blah, blah, blah. I want to hear what you are really going to do and why you think you can characterize wealth re-distribution as “fairness”. Or why he said Obama voted against funding for the troops for political reasons risking thousands of lives and now defends it.
As far as speaking for his ticket, he spoke more of himself than of Obama’s abilities and he far from honest about the cost of all the spending that would accompany the proposed changes. He also stated his position in the administration would be to be there for every meeting and decision to advise Obama. That doesn’t speak too well to Obama’s confidence or ability to lead without a “mentor”. (read: training wheels) Hmmm sorta reminds one of Cheney/Bush no?
The moment that really cracked me up was after Sarah Palin talked about how Americans were ready for Hockey moms and Joe Six-Pack types in office because the could relate to them and vise versa. Biden began his rebuttal with his “for you to say that because I’m a man I don’t know what it’s like to raise a child and worry whether they will make it, sniff, sniff, well that’s just sniff, that’s just not right…” as he tried to play the “sexist” card on Palin! Too funny! She never once intimated that he did not understand any of that she was stating that Americans relate better to people more like themselves, more like her. Small town hockey mom turned Mayor/Governor/Vice Presidential Candidate. It was ridiculous for Biden to try playing it that way and looked desperate in my opinion.
As to Palin’s performance I have to say she earned some respect as a strong debater. She knocked him off his game a bit and scored some points talking to the voters and the camera. She was warm and honest but I admit it was frustrating when she wouldn’t answer the question and would steer the debate back to what she wanted to get across. But you have to admit it was an effective tactic and it seemed to serve her pretty well. She’s not the first or the last to implement such strategies.
I thought over-all she came across as passionate, not nearly as stupid as the far left and the media would have us believe and she seems to have a better grasp on energy policy as it relates to the economy and foriegn policies than expected. She held her own and made some points for her team. I think she made her ticket proud. I may not agree with her on certain issues but I can respect her and I think the candidate at the top of the ticket is more important anyway.
When the time comes to cast my vote I’ll be thinking of who I can trust, who really has the willingness, the desire and the passion to serve rather thanan ego driven need for power and fame. I’ll be thinking about who can actually get someting accomplished instead of talking in platitudes about vague “changes”. I’ll be thinking about how one candidate has a record of accomplishments and a reputation for being a straight talker and the other candidate has none of the above.
I’ll be thinking about how one candidate spent time being tortured in a POW camp even after being given an opportunity to leave. How he stayed for his men and what he had to endure in that awful place because of his service to and love for his country. I’ll be thinking about how another candidate was using the lives of our troops as pawns in his bid to get elected to the highest office in the land by trying to halt negotiations to bring our troops home from Iraq until after the election because he wanted to use the war for his own means.
When the time comes to vote I’ll be thinking of how putting the country first is the only way we will ever achieve the goals we set. How it is the only way to keep our country and our democracy safe and how it is the only way we can force our party to remember we are the base and they cannot take us for granted. The only way we can set the standards of principal before party. The only way we can make the DNC accountable and bring them back to the principals we hold dear. We must not reward treachery and abandonment of principals.
No instead we must ensure adherence to principals regardless of partisan politics and electoral victories. If we have no principals then we have no party, no country, no democracy. The founders wanted this to be protected at any cost. This year it will cost the Obamacrats the election. I shudder to think what it might cost should Obama actually win. Country first!
CQ
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