Am I going to discuss last night? You betcha!
What happened last night? Whatever it was, it sure as hell wasn’t a debate. Let’s start with the obvious. Ifill sucked. She honestly deserves the award for the worst debate moderator ever. All her talk about how she worked on the “debate” questions… Nonsense. In fact, halfway through the event anyone would be forgiven for thinking they could be Vice President.
Moving on to Biden… Joe did well “debating” with one arm tied behind his back. How badly did he want to point out Palin’s General McCellan gaffe? Come on, it must have killed him to bite his tongue lest he be called a sexist bully. And the fact he won handily is no surprise. People who answer questions competently and intelligently tend to win.
Okay. Deep breath. Sarah Palin…
Is there any defense of her performance last night? I guess you could say she memorized her talking points and didn’t drool, but beyond that the empress had no clothes. She was too cute by far, and the winking… WTF? (Note to McCain Campaign: Women don’t like that sort of behavior, and while some men like flirts they rarely take them seriously.) I could focus on her gaffes (McClellan, embassy in Israel, troop levels in Iraq, McCain’s policy on foreclosures), but the sad truth is last night was not about the issues – at least as far as Palin was concerned. To Palin, last night was a game of dodge ball at best and an audition for the Miss America title at worse. But maybe I’m being too hard on her. She has, after all, only been at this for like five weeks.
In the end, Obama has to be thrilled with Biden’s victory, while McCain continues to demonstrate his deep insight into the female psyche.
End of rant.
Shorter GOP spinmeister:
“Look, she proved she’s not retarded! We win!”
Y’all remember that old SNL skit “Lowered Expectations”?
That was it…and the national joke continues….
Sorry but the worst moderator ever will forever stay with the buffoons that moderated that ABC clinton/Obama debate.
Wimpy questions and poor follow-ups don’t beat tendentious questions and one-sided follow-ups.
You have a point, Benjamin.
Still, Ifill stunk. She really didn’t even need to show up.
“In the end, Obama has to be thrilled with Biden’s victory.”
You assume Biden actually won.
Of course Biden won. Stop being silly.
I know W really set the bar low with “Look at me
I was a C avergage and hell I’m the president”, but this is just getting absurd.
What’s next an uneducated chicken fucker from Mississippi that doesn’t DROOL????
Righteous, pandora!
The winking was getting to me. Was she trying to flirt? It was not at all appropriate.
“Y’all remember that old SNL skit “Lowered Expectations”?”
That was “MAD TV” and it was on FOX!!!!!!!!
Hahahahaha
Rupert Murdoch rules!
The debate was over and Sarah still hadn’t answered the first question. I walked away with the feeling that SP had several scripted talking points and she was going to get them out hell and be damned if they didn’t attach to any of the questions. The pundits are all saying she didn’t fall on her face because she was able to string more than two sentences together. Boy, their expectations were even lower than mine! She obviously spent the last 5 weeks memorizing her remarks and doing test runs on her snarks at Joe to bait him. I’m glad he didn’t take the bait. That would’ve been the only thing we heard about if he’d fallen to her little games.
I still am reminded of the Q&A at a Miss America contest everytime I hear Palin speak. What I saw in Joe’s presentation last night sort of reminds me that our ticket has the lightweight on top. We had so many candidates to consider and we really did end up with the weakest of the lot. I hope the magic is still alive on election day and all of those Obama supporters that started with him are collecting new worshippers.
I will vote for Obama only because I have nothing else to choose from.
Kind of disappointed that Palin did not take the opportunity to trounce Biden when he attempted to correct her on a VP’s relationship to the Senate, but I guess I can forgive her for that.
Otherwise, of course Biden won… he somehow managed to speak in front of an audience without a teleprompter, while simultaneously keeping both feet out of his mouth. For him, not shoving his legs all the way down his throat is a victory…
Pandora,
You have to remember that the winking was a way to tell the male audience that there is a sex tape and it will come out before the election. Either that or she has a problem with her eyes that really needs to be checked out.
As for her non-answers, I really thought she was working so hard to remember her points and what she had been trained to do that she looked like she was a puppet.
Right – Mad TV…. I think I might have confused it with “Deep Thoughts”, but certainly not Snigglets or the Bass-o-matic…..maybe Mr. Robinson’s neighborhood?
Point stands.
I honestly felt sorry for her. She was clearly outmatched. If it wasn’t on her cue card she had no idea how to answer the question.
I guess if your definition of winning is combining two sentences in a coherent manner, she wins. However, as far as I know, she has yet to answer any of the questions.
But despite her obvious lack of knowledge, her comments on the expansion of the VP office and its separation from the executive branch are very troubling. The last thing this country needs is another criminal rouge as VP. Or maybe she’s just “Mavericky”.
And Linoge –
That link is silly!
There are two duties of a VP – wait to take over the presidency and cast a tie-breaking vote in the Senate. That is all.
What? Did you want Biden to say that sitting in a comfortable chair with a gavel in hand is a duty?
Your desperation reeks.
Pandora and Cassandra–You’re right….and you’re also smarter than the average bear….that being said….America just wanted to see her…her being silly, her being foolish, her being colloquial, her being tongue-tied. And they didn’t…at least to any real damaging degree. So no–it wasn’t a debate–but most Americans don’t know that…and don’t care…they saw her….and other than the VP faux pax, there really wasn’t the sensationalized show all were hoping for—just another boring political thing…honey is anything else on now? No new ground here…just better coverage for Palin. Stagnant positioning for the Dems. Just my take.
Linoge,
Article I, section 3 states:
The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided.
Just sayin’.
How could you confuse MAD TV and SNL?
One is hilarious and the other is on NBC!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyhTJXFBPyg
I bet she’s finally proud to be an American!!!
Pandora,
Oddly enough, Biden’s long-winded Washingtonese pretty much contradicted that particular section. I wonder who wins in a disagreement – the VP or the Constitution?
Just sayin’.
Hi Joanne,
I was wondering….if the….period key on your keyboard……is ……broken……or does your hand……rest on it….sometimes while you are typing……
What’s your other hand doing, anonone?
Haven’t watched either one in a very long time, g.
Though I wouldn’t be suprised if Mad TV is better. Anyway, network comedy blows.
She’s really Larry King!
😉
anonone–just this conversational computer I have.But is your question mark gone?
Can you imagine her running the Senate? Guess the constant comedy would make C-Span pretty popular.
The other duty of the VP is to certify the vote of the electoral college. Cruelly, Al Gore had to announce in the Senate that W was the next president of the US, but if there is a God and he/she has a sense of humor, the favor will be returned Jan. 6 when the total Dick has to announce that Barack Obama is the next prez.
Hi Joanne,
Yeah, I decided that I didn’t need it anymore. Punctuation is so passé these days.
🙂
Snigglets? Wasn’t that HBO’s “Not Necessarily The News”?
BTW, I’ll take “Stagnant positioning for the Dems” when we’re up by 7 points nationwide.
Please, someone, link me to a funny MadTV sketch because I’ve never seen one (nor have I ever seen a talented comedian emerge from their cast). SNL has put out a lot of crap in the past 30 years, but I can at least think of dozens of funny sketches (the Fey/Palin ones, a whole bunch of Samberg sketches, and basically anything with Walken as the host).
If you want sketch comedy that’s way funnier than either of these, I go with That Mitchell And Webb Look. That’s Numberwang!
I am not going to stand here and say she blew Biden away. There were many times when she dodged when she could have rushed the net and slammed Biden. Missed opportunities. Especially when Biden disappointingly resorted to lying to get out of some of the jams she put him in. She did not call him on it enough.
But I think in your bias, you are not fairly evaluating the impact. In fact, you guys were so quick to point to the Luntz live polling after the 1st Presidential Debate and yet you have been mum on this…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKrk_6QjcNw
Among undecided voters, nearly all felt she won the debate. Only three ultimately said the debate changed their mind from Undecided to McCain and one said that they changed to supporting Obama.
I guess the polling over the next few days will tell the tale. But don’t be surprised if McCain’s numbers don’t plummet like I believe you think they will as a result of the debate.
Of course Ifill stunk they scared the shit out of her with that book thing. Also I believe that the Katie C interview was good acting by Sarah to set the bar as low as possible so by just showing up she looks good betja. Or am i given this Dip Shit to much credit?
Way to much credit. With Couric, Sarah was being Sarah. Last night she was repeating what she memorized. If a question wasn’t in her prepared script she simply ignored it. Imagine if Ifill had insisted she answer the question.
“Last night she was repeating what she memorized.”
Granted alot of what she said was prepared and rehearsed. But you are crucifying her for it and giving Biden a pass. If you really LISTENED to Biden it was obvious he too had a bunch of rehearsed and memorized lines that he was spitting out. Which is why he got upset when she would challenge him. It simply wasn’t in the script.
“the favor will be returned Jan. 6 when the total Dick has to announce that Barack Obama is the next prez.”
Five bucks says he finds a way out of that!
Never underestimate a Dick. (Most white men don’t!)
Funny thing is that the Luntz poll is definitely an outlier from the CBS and CNN polls which gave it to Biden pretty decisively. The live CNN focus group was very interesting — women were especially interested in what Biden had to say, and Palin’s attacks and more scripted points did not move the dials at all.
Today, everyone is unwinding what she actually had to say, and I think that in retrospect, folks are certainly seeing that while not the train wreck of last week, she is still completely out of her league. This morning’s NPR fact check had way more issues with Palin’s claims than Biden’s.
Lots of spunkiness, a good set of talking points and a moderator who doesn’t insist on answers to her questions basically gave her the platform she is comfortable in — the beauty queen interview.
I agree that Ifill was very bad and Joe was sharp as a tack.
The Jed Report points out the fundamental difference. As usual, Sarah makes no sense.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3zrGU28crg
Joe was sharp as attack and Sarah had negligible imPalining.
OK. Let’s settle this once and for all.
The skit on SNL was Jon Lovitz saying “Lower your standards!”
Best Biden quote of the year.
“Barack Obama is not ready to be President of the United States.” Sen Joe Biden
Funny, Obama won his primary.
hey mike P I bet you voted in the DRUGE report poll and the AOL one made you feel good to know that the TROLLS gave it to Sarah by a wide margin. You couldn’t even beat a old guy like Bill Lee who wants to give driver licenses to illegals
Didn’t really need Ifill, Sarah could have run that debate. Oh wait, that’s right, she did!
Sorry I couldn’t play with you guys today…honestly people thought Joe Biden won last night’s debate? Amazing!
Joe called Afghanistan “The central war on the front on terror,” referred to “Bosniaks” instead of “Bosnians” despite all the work he did with Holbrooke & Co. and apparently he eats in a restaurant that’s been closed for 28 years.
Oh, and I don’t think there’s anyone in Greenville who has to worry about filling the gas tank of their Esclade all the way! Maybe he thinks he still lives in Scranton? McCain says Sunni instead of Shi’ite any it’s senile dementia, but Joe thinks NATO was going into the Sinai or something (it was the UN, dope!) and nobody says boo.
One last thing, Gwen Ifill’s last two questions to Biden were so painfully obviously scripted for her by the Obama campaign! Talk about softballs!
I really hate to do this G Rex, but Biden was correct.
Bosniaks is the correct term.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosniaks
Better stop listening to Rush.
I guess the wingnuts just wanted an excuse to fall in love again. Did anyone see the, um, love letter to Palin from Rich Lowry?
OMG! I just posted this. Great minds think alike! 🙂
Best Protack quote of the year:
IPOD is “not the right vehicle at this time.”
Yes, anon88 you are correct and so was I. Voters will have a clear choice and the results will have an impact for Delaware and the GOP.
IPOD is corect on many issues but the political structure was not there to run a statewide race. I stood up and made the right choice while I am sure you will continue to hide in the shadows and pontificate with a big keyboard and little personal courage.
Sen Biden clearly said Obama is not ready. I am sure we see that phrase in many ads.
As for Gov Palin-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKrk_6QjcNw
What debate are you talking about? Look up the definition of “debate” and of “forum.” They are two different formats. We have not seen a debate in ages, not in my memory. I’m old enough to remember if there has been one in in the last 30 years. A real debate has direct challenges to the position of the opposition speaker. All I have heard and seen are campaign talking points modified to fit in the time alloted. Neither McCain/Obama nor Biden/Palin actually had the speakers justify what they said when challenged. Challenge? What a strange concept. As far as Ifill is concerned, any child of an age to read the questions could have done the same job.
“I really hate to do this G Rex, but Biden was correct. Bosniaks is the correct term.”
Okay, Joe was speaking specifically about them, i.e. Bosnian Muslims as an ethnic minority, so I concede the point. You learn something new every day!
Now, can you explain how he said Hamas won an election in the West Bank, when in fact it was Gaza? And how NATO was supposed to move into the Lebanon, when in fact the UN was already there? Not that they were effective, mind you – I have a picture of one of the border posts in which the Hizbullah flag is flying next to the UN flag, because the Hizb were using the UN troops as cover against Israeli airstrikes.
Hamas won in both the West Bank and Gaza to get the majority of the seats in the Palestinian Parliament. The election wasn’t just n Gaza.
As the border war (if that is what you can call it) between Hezbollah and Israel subsided, there was alot of discussion re: an international force (not UN) to keep the peace. NATO was discussed alot and was a favorite option of Israeli leadership.
And who do you think the audience was for the answer to that question?