Post by logos on Oct 3, 2008 8:06:16 GMT -5
Well the much anticipated VP debate is in the history books. I have to say I was suprised by both candidates.
Biden was really on his game last night, and his senatorial experience really shined through. There are some major speaking blunders that can be tracked down on the internet just by searching for Biden - but last night, he did well. He only got tongue-tied once, but nothing catastrophic came out. The most important thing about his debate last night was that he rocked the house on foreign policy. (I'll come back to this in a second)
Palin did very well considering, like she said, she's only been at this for "five weeks now." She came across as sincere, and straight talking - perhaps a little too straight at times. She did well supporting McCain, and made enough references to his policies often. She did have one problem though, and that was talking about her record a little excessively sometimes. At one point, you would have thought she was running for office! But overall she did very well with the domestic policies points.
Now, overall, they both had a lot of problems going back and forth with worthless information. "Well so and so voted for this this many times" "thats not true, he voted for this this many times" and there were a lot of "you're another" style arguments. Biden was the worst for it with "McCain voted for that to..." Palin stayed on the ropes too many times and took a lot of Biden bait, and missed several opportunities to knock his lights out - politically speaking. She missed the fact that just because McCain voted for it to, doesnt make it better/worse. It's the value of the issue itself. I could write a book on this, but I will let that rest there.
Now, the reason why Biden being on his game so much with foreign policy is important, is because of the previous presidential debate. McCain was supposed to rock Obama on foreign policy and frankly, he didnt. He allowed Obama to hold his own, and his major strength was reduced to mid range at best. With Obama holding his own in foreign policy, and Biden doing very well with it, they actually stepped above McCain on the issue overall last night. This election is mostly about making allies and rebuilding american credibility on the international level and the Dems are in the lead after last night.
On the flip side, IF, again IF McCain can do well with domestics in the next debate, then he and Palin can take the energy crisis and domestic policies away from the Dems, which is supposed to be one of their strongest points and bring balance back to the race. As always though, this race is going to be about voter turnout and what those voters consider more important right now - international or domestic issues.
Right now, I would have to put the Dems in the front runnings overall though.
Thoughts from the crowd?
Biden was really on his game last night, and his senatorial experience really shined through. There are some major speaking blunders that can be tracked down on the internet just by searching for Biden - but last night, he did well. He only got tongue-tied once, but nothing catastrophic came out. The most important thing about his debate last night was that he rocked the house on foreign policy. (I'll come back to this in a second)
Palin did very well considering, like she said, she's only been at this for "five weeks now." She came across as sincere, and straight talking - perhaps a little too straight at times. She did well supporting McCain, and made enough references to his policies often. She did have one problem though, and that was talking about her record a little excessively sometimes. At one point, you would have thought she was running for office! But overall she did very well with the domestic policies points.
Now, overall, they both had a lot of problems going back and forth with worthless information. "Well so and so voted for this this many times" "thats not true, he voted for this this many times" and there were a lot of "you're another" style arguments. Biden was the worst for it with "McCain voted for that to..." Palin stayed on the ropes too many times and took a lot of Biden bait, and missed several opportunities to knock his lights out - politically speaking. She missed the fact that just because McCain voted for it to, doesnt make it better/worse. It's the value of the issue itself. I could write a book on this, but I will let that rest there.
Now, the reason why Biden being on his game so much with foreign policy is important, is because of the previous presidential debate. McCain was supposed to rock Obama on foreign policy and frankly, he didnt. He allowed Obama to hold his own, and his major strength was reduced to mid range at best. With Obama holding his own in foreign policy, and Biden doing very well with it, they actually stepped above McCain on the issue overall last night. This election is mostly about making allies and rebuilding american credibility on the international level and the Dems are in the lead after last night.
On the flip side, IF, again IF McCain can do well with domestics in the next debate, then he and Palin can take the energy crisis and domestic policies away from the Dems, which is supposed to be one of their strongest points and bring balance back to the race. As always though, this race is going to be about voter turnout and what those voters consider more important right now - international or domestic issues.
Right now, I would have to put the Dems in the front runnings overall though.
Thoughts from the crowd?