Biden vs. Palin
Sure, Sarah Palin sounded much better in last night’s vice Presidential debate than she sounded in Katie Couric’s CBS News interview two weeks ago. She answered questions without stumbling, though her answers seemed generally vague. She managed to project some semblance of competence about a wide variety of subjects.
But following the debate I remain unsure as to whether Palin understood what she was saying. Her answers seemed scripted and relied heavily on Republican populist cliché. She also went to great lengths to keep the conversation focused on subjects that she was comfortable with, or that she’d memorized her positions on. In response to a question posed on the economy, Palin said (paraphrase), “I’d love to talk about that, but right now I want to continue on the issue of defense.” She never got back to the economy.
Thus, the question still remains, does Sarah Palin understand the issues, and can she speak her own mind? I doubt we’ll get an answer to that question before the election. I suspect that Palin made her last independent, high profile appearance last night. She did a great job holding her own against Joe Biden, and she repaired some of the damage she’d inflicted upon herself in earlier interviews. The McCain campaign will now likely leave well enough alone, and keep Palin’s words few and far between.
Joe Biden also did a good job, and his focus on issues important to middle class voters will probably earn his ticket more points than the generalizations offered by Palin. First and foremost, he avoided attacking Palin and thus denied the Republicans the opportunity to tag him as condescending or elitist. Biden showed mastery of foreign policy and economic issues, and robbed Palin of her monopoly on emotionalism when he choked up while referring to his first wife, who died in a car accident three decades ago. Most important, he pointedly attacked John McCain, repeatedly referring to the Republican candidate’s gloomy record on economic policy and, as Biden framed it, misfocus on foreign policy.
That was smart, because following this debate Palin is going to slip into the background and McCain is going to be the focus once again of the Republican ticket.
But following the debate I remain unsure as to whether Palin understood what she was saying. Her answers seemed scripted and relied heavily on Republican populist cliché. She also went to great lengths to keep the conversation focused on subjects that she was comfortable with, or that she’d memorized her positions on. In response to a question posed on the economy, Palin said (paraphrase), “I’d love to talk about that, but right now I want to continue on the issue of defense.” She never got back to the economy.
Thus, the question still remains, does Sarah Palin understand the issues, and can she speak her own mind? I doubt we’ll get an answer to that question before the election. I suspect that Palin made her last independent, high profile appearance last night. She did a great job holding her own against Joe Biden, and she repaired some of the damage she’d inflicted upon herself in earlier interviews. The McCain campaign will now likely leave well enough alone, and keep Palin’s words few and far between.
Joe Biden also did a good job, and his focus on issues important to middle class voters will probably earn his ticket more points than the generalizations offered by Palin. First and foremost, he avoided attacking Palin and thus denied the Republicans the opportunity to tag him as condescending or elitist. Biden showed mastery of foreign policy and economic issues, and robbed Palin of her monopoly on emotionalism when he choked up while referring to his first wife, who died in a car accident three decades ago. Most important, he pointedly attacked John McCain, repeatedly referring to the Republican candidate’s gloomy record on economic policy and, as Biden framed it, misfocus on foreign policy.
That was smart, because following this debate Palin is going to slip into the background and McCain is going to be the focus once again of the Republican ticket.
posted by CatZoo at 3:58 PM
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