Comments on: VP Debate Revealed: Strengths, Weaknesses & Strategies

By: movie fan

movie fan — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 22:08:00 +0000

the GOP wouldn’t dare schedule any more unscripted air time for Palin, this would give people more time to realize that she’s totally clueless… the prospect of her becoming the Commander in Chief is frightening

By: Jim S

Jim S — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 22:18:30 +0000

McCain has been running to the social conservatives for about 18 months. He already agreed with them on the abortion issue, he just went the rest of the way and pandered endlessly while doing so.

By: rob

rob — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 21:20:35 +0000

Very true. McCain shouldn’t have run to the SoCons. He should have let Palin do that, recognizing publicly that they have different points of view. That her job is to give the SoCon perspective a voice within the oval office, allowing McCain to unabashedly court the moderates, hawks, and fiscal conservatives.

Palin wouldn’t have trouble remembering what to say, because she could shoot from the hip and ply her charm factor would’ve been an added bonus for their ticket.

Hindsight is 20/20.

By: Agnostick

Agnostick — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 19:25:29 +0000

[Odd that as I type this on Friday afternoon, iTunes pulls up Metallica's "The Struggle Within"]

While we’re talking about “hammering,” I’ll hammer this one home again:

McCain has a long history of being a champion for moderates and independents. It was moderates and Independents, voting in open primaries, that largely gave him the nomination.

As soon as he scored the nomination, he turned his back and ran full-speed-ahead at the social conservative base of the GOP. I feel like he’s kept his back turned on me, ever since.

Opportunity has knocked on several doors this year.

When it knocked on Ron Paul’s door… he didn’t answer.

When it knocked on Michael Bloombergl’s door… he didn’t answer.

When it knocked on Colin Powell’s door… he didn’t answer.

I’m not interested or impressed in Nader, Barr, or McKinney… they’re too extremist, and at least one is a world-class hypocrite.

Short of writing in a name, I’m left with Barack Obama… who at least has offered a few diplomatic words to Independents and moderates (despite playing “politics as usual” with his VP choice).

Agnostick
agnostick@excite.com

By: rob

rob — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 15:48:35 +0000

Joe did what he needed to do:

1. Hammer the opposing ticket.
2. Come off affable while doing it.

Palin did what she needed to do:

1. Prove to the GOP that she’s not a stammering idiot so that they don’t feel compelled to outwardly distance themselves from her (like g-dubya),
2. Related to 1., shore up any SoCons concerned about her previous performances (see fox news poll results), and
3. Not lose independents (CBS Snap Poll 33% said they tied and according to the Pew Research Center, 37% of voters are independents.)

They both got in a few good shots, made a few decent points and misrepresented the truth. Par for the course.

Strategy-wise I think it was smart for Joe to attack a surrogate and then attach McCain and/or Palin to the surrogate. Without that he’d probably have come up short for fear of coming off as a jerk for going after Palin.

I also think it was wise for Palin to relate or redirect questions to areas with which she was most familiar.

I honestly felt this was Biden’s debate to lose, which he didn’t, but he didn’t win it either if the CBS Poll is accurate. Biden had an opportunity to sway independents, yet they didn’t budge which I’m sure the Obama camp is disappointed to see.

It just means that Obama has to be the engine that drives independents his way and that Palin didn’t make that same task more difficult for McCain. Interesting election year from a purely spectator’s point of view.

By: Jedd Bob

Jedd Bob — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 15:20:25 +0000

Sorry. My apologies to Captain Obvious. I will refrain from name calling in future comments. I agree, that is not constructive and serves no good purpose.

Jedd Bob

By: Jennn

Jennn — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 15:17:38 +0000

Thanks for the comments, all!

I think the Article 1 argument is kind of weak, though, considering Article 1 does make some mention of the vice president’s role in the senate and talks about the legislative branch of congress, without mentioning the VP — which in itself is telling. True, Article 2 goes into more depth about the qualifications to be a VP and the executive branch. In a nutshell, it’s nitpicky. When you look at his answer versus her answer, he really showed more expertise.

By: Agnostick

Agnostick — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 14:04:23 +0000

Palin took a â€œKobayashi Maruâ€ approach to things. And it got her out of the debate just fine. But just as Kirk found outâ€¦ you can change the conditions of the test, but you can’t change the conditions of real life. Palin can change the conditions of the debate, even temporarily. She won’t be able to change the conditions of the vice presidency, or the presidency, if it would come to that.

Agnostick
agnostick@excite.com

By: Justin Gardner

Justin Gardner — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:53:52 +0000

Jedd, cool it with the name calling. It serves no good purpose here.

Although I will say Captain Obvious…your comment was, on the whole, incorrect.

By: rawdawgbuffalo

rawdawgbuffalo — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:47:13 +0000

Palin and Mccain scare me so sleep they seem to forget that Silk Worms’s aint only in China

By: Jedd Bob

Jedd Bob — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:31:58 +0000

Captain Obvious is a buffoon! He knows not that of which he writes. What is obvious is that his math is fuzzy and he thinks that somehow unleashing 3% of the world’s oil supply would generate $84bn to spend on developing alternative energy sources…what?

By: rob

rob — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:01:25 +0000

I can’t believe you don’t know who won. It wasn’t even close. Palin read from her notes, and Biden showed command of the subjects.

Couldn’t Ifill ask a follow up?

Win – Biden
Lose – Palin/Ifill

By: Natalie

Natalie — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:00:23 +0000

But Article 1 of the Constitution doesn’t mention the executive branch. How did he give a better answer, when it shows he doesn’t know the constitution very well, after 30 years in the senate?

By: Captain Obvious

Captain Obvious — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 10:39:59 +0000

Palin won big. Biden proved he was unable to discuss any questions in depth without fabricating “facts” out of whole cloth. He contradicted Obama’s stated positions on clean coal and troop withdrawals. He refused to answer the questions about how he differed from Obama, and what was his Achilles heel. He also distorted McCain’s positions on alternative energy, troop funding, and banking deregulation. He misstated Gen McKiernanâ€™s comments about the surge being applied to Afghanistan. He also misstated Hezbollah’s involvement in Lebanon.
His answer regarding the VP office in which he failed to know the difference between Article I and Article II of the constitution, as well as the historical powers of the President of the Senate was atrocious.

Biden’s entire discussion of energy was devoid of reality. Drilling for 3% of the world’s oil supplies would have a HUGE impact on the 25% consumption. He failed to realize that 3 is 12% of 25, and that if we could save 12% of our annual expenditure of $700bn on foreign oil, that would be $84bn we could be spending on developing alternative sources…. almost 1.5 times the amount spent annually in Iraq. Also, carbon cap and trade schemes are bigger scams than subprime lending. This is one of McCain’s worst positions and I’m glad to see Obama shares it. Sunspot activity regulation (the real source of climate change) is not feasible now, nor is it predicted to be in the next 2000 years.

By: Gaucho Politico

Gaucho Politico — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 07:37:31 +0000

Biden won, big. Palin proved she was unable to discuss questions in any depth. She contradicted mccain’s established positions on gay rights and on bankruptcy. She refused to answer the questions posed to her and her response after biden talked about his family was pretty bad. She also distorted Biden’s positions on the war. She misstated Gen McKiernan’s comments about the surge being applied to Afghanistan. Her answer regarding the vp office as not being part of the executive branch was terrible.

Palin’s entire discussion of energy was devoid of reality. No amount of drilling will contribute to “energy independence”. there is no safe clean low impact drilling either. also, there is no clean coal. that is one of obama’s worst positions and i am glad to see mccain shares it. carbon sequestration is not feasible now nor is it predicted to be in the next 20 years.

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