matt ([info]pxlt) wrote,
@ 2008-10-02 23:24:00
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Entry tags:2008 election, politics

postgame
America learned a lot more about Joe Biden tonight than they did about Sarah Palin.

I think he looked presidential, and at the same time, like someone who knows about government but didn't forget why government was important to the average person. He came across as having a deep knowledge of foreign policy, and why the McCain administration would not serve the best interests of the middle class.

She sounded much more confident than on any of her YouTube greatest hits. No major gaffes, no stumbles. She gave McCain supporters an opportunity to safely take the focus off of her, which was really the best case scenario.

They both exceeded my expectations.

However, Governor Palin's stock coming into tonight was so low that I have to give her the win. Plenty of people tuned in tonight expecting to see more "In what respect" moments, and were instead treated to a woman who seemed very poised and confident. Considering the worst case scenario, the fact that her answers lacked much depth will be overlooked by most of these casual viewers.

So at least for the moment, she isn't the colossal burden on the ticket she was a few hours ago. Now the focus goes back to the top of the tickets.


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Dissenting opinion
[info]onewordprayer
2008-10-03 01:42 pm UTC (link)
They both exceeded my expectations as well, especially with Gwen Ifill asking much more pointed questions than Lehrer.

However, I disagree with the notion that giving Palin the "most improved" award somehow wins her the debate. That might be good enough in 6th grade, but not here.

I found her failure to answer the questions asked incredibly irksome, and with the networks pasting the questions right on the screen, dodging one with rehearsed rhetoric doesn't pull the wool over the public's eyes. Do you think casual viewers will overlook things like this (paraphrased):
Ifill: "What promises will you have you break as a result of the bailout?"
Palin: "None. I didn't make any. I've only been here five weeks!"

Ifill: "What are your weaknesses?"
Palin: "Did I mention energy independence?"
The big question about Palin is not whether she can be President, not VP. Ifill even asked as much. From CNN's poll, 87% thought Biden was qualified to assume the presidency and 42% thought Palin was. That gap is astounding.

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Re: Dissenting opinion
[info]pxlt
2008-10-03 08:56 pm UTC (link)
Most polls that I've seen back up what you're saying-- people seem to recognize that despite not screwing up, she had very little to say (when she wasn't outright ignoring questions).

Biden impressed me, and I think he surprised a lot of people who were tuning in just to see a train wreck on the other half of the stage.

But what I keep coming back to is what Palin's camp needed her to do last night. That was basically to come out and not sound like a moron. And I think she went way above and beyond that. It's sad that a barely passable performance could be considered a win under any circumstances, but there is a huge subset of people out there who want to vote for John McCain, but needed to see a mere semblance of competence from his running mate after what's gone on the last few weeks.

Traditionally VP candidates don't make or break a ticket. Palin's monumental screwups were threatening to do away with that conventional wisdom for once, and I think last night relegated her to a nonfactor once again, as far as Republicans and some independents were concerned. The "ready to be President" numbers were interesting last night in that they really hadn't budged, but I guarantee you that plenty of people who answered negatively for Palin are still going to vote for her because of what Obama represents to them. They just needed an excuse to not think about Palin anymore, and that's what they got.

That's my analysis based on the assumption that the swing voter is always dumber and more easily swayed than we think. If I'm wrong, then that's great.

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Hello, Alaskan Maverick. Can you tell me about energy independence?
[info]tresjoliecoco
2008-10-03 07:10 pm UTC (link)
To be honest, I can't say she exceeded my expectations.

She sounded so hopelessly robotic (or is that "hopefully robotic?") when she was on her script, waffled foolishly when she was off, and attempted to smother her many weaknesses with her overbearing talking-points fest on energy issues.

She sounded like one of my students, fishing for extra credit points with obvious non-sequiturs.

Sure, Joe Biden had his own chevaux de bataille with "hometown" and "clean coal," but he sounded so much more intelligent.


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Re: Hello, Alaskan Maverick. Can you tell me about energy independence?
[info]pxlt
2008-10-03 09:04 pm UTC (link)
Joe slayed me last night. I was worried about him being too cautious or holding back too much, but he took the gloves off when he needed to... and never came off like a bully (which we knew was going to be a tough line to walk). Like I said, there were moments last night when one half of the stage looked presidential and the other side clearly didn't belong, and I just hope it was as obvious to everyone else as it was to me.

But again, I think a lot of people tuned in looking for either a) a train wreck or b) the smallest excuse to take the focus off of Palin... and I think her performance was more than enough to surprise a lot of them. I just don't think most undecided voters, especially this year, are going to parse her statements for actual depth and substance like they should. So I am definitely evaluating it in terms of a style competition, and I thought she held her own.

I just think that at the end of the night McCain's base was giving a sigh of relief, and that's a win, considering what might have been. The polls and reaction so far have definitely judged her more harshly that I have, and I'm not complaining about that.

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