Deeeebate

Did you watch the debate last night? That's the hot question this morning I guess. We watched, along with my sister who watched with us on speaker phone. Generally I hate these things because it makes me uncomfortable for everyone involved and I certainly felt that at times last night but overall I'm kinda "meh" about it. I don't necessarily think that it swayed any undecided voters and I think that whatever you felt about either party going in, you probably felt the same way going out. I disliked Sarah Palin going in and I continue to dislike her. See? I did have a few issues, mostly with these things called facts, which both of them manipulated quite well. In that respect it was a draw. My biggest compliment of the night is for Biden for maintaining his tone and keeping the focus on McCain and not Palin. The news people chided him a bit for not being more on the attack but he was in a lose-lose situation. Had he attacked her at all, they would have jumped on him immediately, calling it sexist and whatever else. If he went too soft and talked down to her, he would have been called condescending. I think that by remaining as neutral as he could, which I feel he did for the most part, he escaped any unfair labels.
Which brings me back to Palin. I know that most people, well most dems anyway, thought she would fall on her face or run off the stage, neither of which happened so I absolutely give her that. She maintained composure, even when it was clear that she didn't know the answer to the question. My biggest issue was that she began by basically saying she wasn't going to answer the moderator's questions the way they wanted them answered, which I thought was disrespectful. Clearly she had been extensively coached to answer key questions a certain way and when those questions weren't asked, she dodged the question at hand to answer what she had been taught. In fact, it became clear to me that she really wasn't paying much attention to the questions at all as she answered the question "What is your Achilles heel?" with a long, rambling statement about what her "strengths" were. That was really annoying. She also talked in circles, as she is prone to do, and really only definitively answered maybe two questions, one of which was about gay marriage. She clearly thinks being gay is a choice and to have that attitude in 2008 is ridiculous, but that's my own opinion. The other thing that bothered me tremendously was when she would take on her "folksy" way. She uses her "aw shucks" attitude when she's caught without an answer and it pisses me off to no end. You know what Sarah Palin? I'm NOT Joe Sixpack and I'm NOT some folksy retard that needs to be talked down to. This whole "hockey-mom with the Fargo accent and the smarmy attitude" thing may work in Alaska, but if you're trying to appeal to the intelligent women of the entire country, yes the entire country, not just the small town people you seem to think are the only important ones, how about learning your shit and giving answers that don't require an eye roll or a catchphrase? And do not, I repeat, DO NOT, claim that you work for women's rights. That statement caused me to stand up and yell "fuck you" to the TV repeatedly. This took a lot of energy so I expect an apology. I could go on, but I will conclude by saying that she gave her supporters exactly what they wanted to hear and she didn't freak out and vomit on the podium so well done. The bar was set low for you and you met it. Good job.

There you have it. Biden didn't eat his foot and Palin didn't vomit on the podium. Done and done. I don't think anything has changed so let's go back to the actual candidates we are voting for. Next I would like John McCain to explain to me how his health care policy isn't going to totally screw us.

Have a great weekend.