Can't say that any my of original views and feelings have been changed at all, as a result. I'm still pro-Obama/Biden, though I don't hate Palin as much. Actually, let me rephrase that....I've never "hated" Palin; I just hate what she represents, and that is how little respect McCain and the his Republican cohorts have for us, Americans, in the way he chose a running mate simply out of desperation, a pure gimmicky ploy to sway the election in his way, knowing that he would've been crushed, likeability-wise, otherwise.
But enough about that....about this particular debate...
["Can I call ya Joe?"....slick ice-breaker, but did anybody else notice how she never once actually referred to him as "Joe" after the fact? Didn't think so. Hey, I'm just saying....]
Clearly, Senator Joe Biden knows tons and oodles more than Palin does, pretty much about every single thing. She's a total robot in this sense, when publicly speaking, simply regurgitating what her handlers cram into her head pre-speaking. And I honestly, in my heart of hearts, feel that this notion of mine was only strengthened tonight. She, at least for the firslt half or so of this debate, hardly ever answered the questions presented by the moderator Gwen Ifil (who, by the way, did a fucking terrible job as moderator. Why couldn't she ever challenge either candidate, specifically Palin, by saying, "Okay, but now answer my question this time...." Fuck, man). It was like she had a list of addressable topics and preferred talking points that she had to spit out, so she'd redirect whatever questions Ifil issued back to whatever prepared response she needed to deliver before it left her mind.
Chris Mathews, on MSNBC, said it best right after the debate, when he said that Palin reminded him of a kid in a grade school spelling bee, having crammed the answers in his/her head and spewing them out when asked, most likely forgetting them once the heat is gone.
I will say, though, that Palin didn't necessarily fail, miserably. She did just well enough to save some face, and to continue to assuage nervous American people, who are fucking stupid enough to value a candidate based off "gee, she seems swell and makes me feel cozy" rather than "is this person qualified, in every sense, to lead me." She most certainly is not, if you ask M.B.
Joe Biden, now, I think he played this rather wisely. Obama is ahead in the polls right now, so Biden bashing Palin in and going for her throat could've proven too risky for his ticket. It would've flirted with scaring and appaling indecisive voters, seeing him as a bully for poor ol' underqualified but charming and folksy Palin. So, he plays it cool and gentleman-ly, and focuses his gun's scope on McCain himself, continually bashing McCain and pointing out his fuck-ups and sore spots. And I think this was pretty smart.
You can't have left this debate disliking Biden, honestly. I mean, could you have, seriously? He did nothing to piss anybody off, or rub viewers the wrong way. Sure, he may not have blown everybody away and positioned himself as the Don Mega of politics, but he certainly didn't make any vehement enemies. And as long as McCain keeps reminding people of Bush, especially in this shitfest economy caused by Bush, I can't see how voters will go with McCain in early November.
And Biden surely knows his shit. He has the great deal of experience, he articulates his knowledge and POVs with strong acuteness. And at the end of the day, I'd much rather have him lead me, in the wake of a tragedy, than Sarah Palin. And no, it's not because she's a "she"; she just doesn't seem well-rounded enough, well-versed enough, and naturally able enough to do so. Sort of like George "Dubya" Bush, and he's a HE.
But God, this moderator was terrible. Maybe she took her title on surface value, and just "moderated." But, in my eyes, her job is to challenge the speakers, and make them go above and beyond the bare minimum, by putting them on the spot and not allowing them to simply regurgitate prepared rhetoric.
Palin, I'm sure, has re-injected some juice into Conservatives and the Republican party, which was definitely shitting bricks going into this debate. But, now most of them can sleep a bit more comfortably tonight. So, that have been said, I tip my hat, only slightly now, to Palin, for not blowing this one royally. She did what the McCain candidacy needed, and the ball is in her mate's corner now.
But really, the only person that Sarah Palin truly, undoubtedly, helped tonight was Sarah Palin herself. She made some people like her again,. She proved that she's not 100% inept at this stuff, at least from personality and poise standpoints. She somewhat exceeded what most expected of her, VP Debate-wise. But she did nothing to make John McCain look any better than he does now. It's fucking obvious that anybody voting for John McCain in November is voting for Sarah Palin, not McCain. He's basically her running mate now.
Can any Republican or right-winger honestly look me dead in my brown eyes and say: "I really like John McCain." Like, for real, for real? It's the Palin/McCain ticket now, my friends, and I really hope that people see and understand that. Barack Obama still looks strong as a result of his running mate's actions; McCain, on the other hand, is the exact polar Alaska-cold-like opposite. Word to Wasilla, son!
And honestly, I feel that McCain's true shit-brown-tinted colors will shine through in the coming weeks, hopefully in the upcoming two debates. I don't think Barack Obama is the perfect candidate, or our true saving grace, but I really do, passionately now, feel that he's the better of our only two choices. We need something new, fresh, and changing, and this doesn't mean a smiling, MILF-y, goofy, and likeable hockey mom.
***Wow, Matt Barone discussing politics with some real passion.....who would've ever thought, huh? Certainly not moi. I'm becoming bigger, faster, stronger, and now, smarter. Feels kinda nice.
This was all just immediate post-debate reacting, not a thought-out, in-depth analysis. I'll leave that to the dudes and dudettes who are paid to do so at CNN, MSNBC, The New York Times, Time, etc.
Oh, and by the way, did anybody else realize that Sarah Palin was the lead in a pretty exceptional movie at one point? From the Coen Brothers, at that? For whatever reason, though, she used a stage name of "Frances McDormand" here. Go figure. See for yourselves:
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