Friday, October 3, 2008

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.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I pretty much agree w/all that you said. Although Palin distorted A LOT more facts than Biden did. And at least he answered most questions directly. Yes, she has a way of coming across as a regular person as opposed to a stuffy Washington politician, but I agree that her ways of trying to do so are a bit offensive. Not to mention highly cheesy. I find her completly insincere. Biden I love for his directness and bluntness (surprise surprise). I have always had a thing for Biden because of that. In my opinion, he comes across as much more "real" than her because of his frankness. Being "real" doesn't mean calling yourself a hockey mom to relate to "main street". Palin was totally disrespectful to Ifill, but Ifill didn't call her out on it which was a shame. Overall I didn't think Ifill did a good job at all as moderator. She didn't maintain control of the debate, let Palin talk about whatever she wanted, and for the most part I thought her questions sucked. I expected a lot more from her. Palin may not have flopped completely, but IMO Biden blew her away. yay!

Amy, Jeff and the kimchis said...

Agreed LM. Ifill should have made her answer stuff directly instead of allowing her simply use her scripted answers. I also agree that she told more lies than Biden, but I blame McCaine for that because I don't think she's smart enough to come up with her own info. She couldn't even name a freaking newspaper or supreme court decision for chrissakes!

Anonymous said...

And what was with the WINKING? I thought when people winked they were not serious and only kidding. And she wants the VP to have more power? Yikes.

Amy, Jeff and the kimchis said...

Seriously with the wink. Don't wink at me, bitch. We are not friends and I see through your little dog and pony show. I can cram for a test too but that doesn't make me knowledgable about the subject. The whole more power for the VP thing was also just totally unbelievable. Good on Biden for calling out Chaney as the dangerous fool he is. It also pissed me off that she kept talking about her MAVERICK team and going off on Biden for mentioning the Bush administration and yet she still offered no evidence to support the claim that they are different. I'm SO glad Biden called that one as well. Oh yeah, and another thing, STOP STEALING THE DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM. Come up with your own ideas, please.

OK, I'm done. I promise.

Gwen said...

Did you guys catch it when she called Joe "O'Biden"? I cried I laughed so hard at her. He laughed too, which was awesome.

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

At least Biden tried to explain
how McCain's health care plan would screw us all. I give him a lot of
credit for that, because McCain/Palin sure hasn't been telling people how potentially dangerous it is. We've been trying to get dental insurance at work and it's a nightmare. Giving people money to buy their own plans without having a system in place to force the insurance companies to grant their policies is ridiculous. Anyone with pre-existing conditions can kiss their coverage good-bye. Shudder.
Also: vote yes on prop C. Clean energy!

jkw said...

the debate would've been so much more entertaining if Palin's handlers had fitted her with a device so they could shock her every time she winked or said something adorable like "you betcha!"

but here's something really shocking -
http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/

Allie said...

Oh, so I wasn't the only one yelling f-bombs at the TV?

I did think Biden did an amazing job of keeping his cool with her. But it's sad that he had to so much. And boy do I wish Palin was called out and forced into actual answers.