INITIAL IMPRESSIONS
PALIN: Palin comes out in a nice, conservative yet-still-stylish, black dress. She asks Biden before they take their places whether she can call Senator Biden “Joe”. Biden says sure. Totally disarming comment and speaks to her “ordinary gal” creds.
BIDEN: He sure is tall!
SCORING: None yet, though if I was being really partisan, I’d give her a point for her disarming introductory comment.
FIRST QUESTION
MOD (paraphrased): Was the bailout the worst of Washington or the best of Washington?
BIDEN: Says neither. Hits all the talking points. Goes on the attack against the Bush economic record of the last eight years. Excessive deregulation, lack of oversight, Wall Street running wild, etc. Says Obama/Biden will bring change and focus on the middle class.
PALIN: Doesn’t answer the question. Talks about people at a soccer game and their fears. Also says that more regulation and oversight is needed. Promises reform and reminds that it was McCain who warned about Freddie/Fannie in 2005 and tried to get legislation passed for more regulation on them. Pushes McCain as bipartisan.
WINNER: Even. Biden foists the lie that deregulation is responsible for the current crisis, but does get the talking points out on the Democratic economic message. Palin failed to answer the question, but gets the message out about McCain’s regulation efforts on Fannie/Freddie. I give the round to Biden for audacity!
SCORING: Biden 10 – 9 (Overall: Biden 10, Palin 9)
SECOND QUESTION
MOD: What to do about political polarization?
BIDEN: Says he’s been bipartisan his whole career. Gives examples of legislation against violence against women, 100K cops, Bosnian genocide. Says he has as many Republican friends as Democratic friends [and?]
Biden pivots to add the obligatory “John McCain said the fundamentals of the economy were strong… then says that we’re in a crisis”. Proves McCain is “out of touch”.
PALIN: Parries Biden’s attack on McCain by saying that McCain’s reference to the fundamentals of the economy being strong was a reference to the American worker. Says she and McCain have track records of reform and put partisan politics aside to get things done.
Accuses Obama of voting with his party 96% of the time. Claims that shows he’s committed to partisanship.
WINNER: Palin. Effective parry of Biden’s attack on McCain for his “fundamentals” remark. Nice attack on Obama’s partisan voting record and lack of reaching across the aisle.
SCORING: Palin 10-9 (Overall: Biden 19, Palin 19)
THIRD QUESTION
MOD: Who’s at fault for the subprime mortgage crisis?
PALIN: Says it was the “predator lenders”. Notes “deception, greed corruption on Wall Street”. Promises her and McCain will get rid of corruption. Appeals to “hockey moms and Joe Six Pack”. Says “never again” should Americans be exploited and taken advantage of. Says that Americans should practice “personal responsibility” and resolve to “live within our means”.
BIDEN: Says Obama warned about the subprime mortgage crisis 2 years ago [oh really? Proof?]. Goes back to the well with the deregulation rant, accusing McCain of always supporting it and that it caused the subprime meltdown [again, proof?]. Says Obama was for “reinstating these regulations” [which ones specifically?]. Says McCain wants to deregulate health care like he did banking.
Brings up the case of Joey Danco, a guy who can’t afford to fill his tank with gasoline. [How exactly does this relate to the subprime mortgage crisis? Perhaps Mr. Danco would be able to fill up his tank if, say, a gallon of gas was cheaper than 4 dollars a gallon?! Does Mr. Danco believe that Mr. Biden is really going to be the one to lower gas prices?] Says the middle class needs tax relief.
PALIN: Says that Obama/Biden wants to raise taxes and that would kill jobs. Says government needs to “learn to live with less” and must be made more efficient to rein in its growth.
BIDEN: Says Palin’s accusations are not true that Obama voted to raise taxes. Then says McCain voted the same way [so which is it? Was there a vote or not?!]. Goes back to the deregulation well one… more… time.
PALIN: Touts her record of cutting taxes as mayor and governor. Says McCain regulated tobacco industry and did campaign finance reform.
WINNER: Palin. Not a good answer that it was “predator lenders” who caused the subprime mortgage crisis [certainly that was part of the cause, but certainly not the sole one or even the major one]. But recovers with her call for personal responsibility [a woman after my own heart].
Biden bizarrely talks about a guy who can’t fill his gas tank up. Palin is the first to mention reining in government growth. Continues the “excessive deregulation” lie.
SCORING: Palin 10-9 (Overall: Palin 29, Biden 28)
FOURTH QUESTION
MOD: Obama/Biden wants to raise taxes on people earning more than 250K. Why is that not class warfare?
BIDEN: Says it’s about fairness. Says 95% of American people will get tax break under the Obama/Biden plan [how is that possible when only 70% of people actually pay taxes?]. Accuses McCain of wanting to give 300 billion in corporate tax cut and nothing for the middle class. Says people won’t pay more than they did under Reagan’s tax code [I’ve read this is incorrect].
PALIN: Takes issue with “redistribution of wealth principle”. Says millions of small businesses will get a tax hike under Obama plan [not millions]. Says tax hike will result in fewer jobs being created. Points out Biden’s comment that paying taxes is “patriotic”. Disagrees. Makes the point that Obama is proposing nearly a trillion dollars in new spending.
WINNER: Biden. Nice contrast between a middle-class tax cut in Obama plan and McCain’s corporate tax cut. Palin misses an opportunity to point out that American corporate tax rates are some of the highest in the world. Good point about Obama’s spending plans.
SCORING: Biden 10-9 (Overall: Palin 38, Biden 38)
FIFTH QUESTION
MOD: McCain’s health care plan, some say, would leave 20 million without health insurance and why isn’t that taking things out on the poor?
PALIN: Pushes the 5K tax credit for health insurance of McCain plan. Says McCain wants to allow competition in health insurance across state lines. Contrasts with Obama’s government-run plan. Says Americans can’t be confident that government can run health care after its recent performance.
BIDEN: Mentions Scranton [surprise!]. Brings out the bogeyman of Big Oil, saying that McCain wants to give a 4 billion dollar tax break to ExxonMobil [obviously a corporate tax cut will benefit ALL corporations, not just Big Oil. By the same logic, Obama wants to give tax cuts to child molesters with his middle class tax cut as someone said on National Review)]. Points out that 95% of small businesses make less than 250K per year (and thus wouldn’t get a tax hike under the Obama plan).
Says McCain wants to tax employer-provided health care as income [this is true]. Says 20 million people will be dropped [this is untrue]. Does some math. We snooze. Pulls out the obligatory “Bridge to Nowhere” line.
WINNER: Even, but Palin gets the win for a clear and succient explanation of the McCain health care plan. Biden is just throwin mud at the wall.
SCORING: Palin 10-9 (Overall: Palin 48, Biden 47)
SIXTH QUESTON
MOD: What promises (spending) will you have to break because of the bailout plan?
BIDEN: Says foreign aid increase may have to be slowed [and that constitutes exactly how much of the 800 billion in new spending proposed by Obama?]. Says Bush tax cuts should not be extended (gaining 130 billion). Won’t support 300 billion dollar corporate tax cut McCain wants [but we’re still many hundreds of billions of dollars short!]. Repeats 4 billion for ExxonMobil charge.
Not going to slow down on an energy policy that will create jobs. Not gonna slow down on education spending. Not gonna slow down on health care spending. Gonna cut wasteful spending such as 100 billion in offshore tax shelters. Says “that’s unpatriotic”. Twice. Then says “that’s what I’m talkin’ about”. Mmkay.
PALIN: Says Obama voted for tax cuts for oil companies in energy plan vote of 2005. Says she took on oil companies in Alaska. Says there’s no promises she or McCain has made that they won’t be able to keep.
BIDEN: Says Obama voted for the tax breaks for oil companies because energy plan contained funding for alternative energy. Said Obama voted against the tax breaks when they were separated from the energy bill. Repeats the 4 billion in tax breaks for ExxonMobil charge.
Praises Palin for imposing a windfall profits tax in Alaska on oil companies. Says he and Obama are for that while McCain is against it.
WINNER: Biden. Good parry of Palin accusation that Obama supported tax breaks for oil companies. Palin did not respond to windfall profits tax charge [I’ve read that it’s not really a windfall profits tax, but if that was so, then she should’ve explained it]. Biden does not account for nearly 600 billion of the new spending Obama proposes.
SCORING: Biden 10-9 (Overall: Palin 57, Biden 57)
SEVENTH QUESTION
MOD: Congress passed a bill that made it harder for debt-strapped mortgage holders to declare bankruptcy. McCain supported it, would you have?
PALIN: Says “yes”, although I don’t think she knows anything about this bill. Quickly moves to previous talking points about “corruption and greed on Wall Street”. Repeats information that McCain warned 2 years ago about the Fanny/Freddie crisis. Flubs when saying “it’s a toxic mess on Main Street that’s affecting Wall Street”.
BIDEN: Says bankruptcy bill did not really affect mortgage holders who were in trouble (10%). Says Obama voted against it because he saw the glass as half empty. Biden saw it as half full. Repeats claim that Obama warned about subprime crisis 2 years ago. Says McCain said he was surprised by subprime crisis. Says bankruptcy courts should be able to reduce the principal homeowners owe [wowza!]. Accuses McCain/Palin of being against that [as they should be].
PALIN: Palin says it’s not so (that they do agree with reducing principal by bankruptcy judges). [I think that’s a flub too. That doesn’t sound like a very conservative position.]
Pivots to energy policy. Makes the point that it’s nonsensical that we’re not tapping our domestic energy resources [that is correct]. Says we’re sending 700 billion dollars overseas for energy supplies to a lot of people who don’t like us much [correct x 2]. Says energy independence is a national security issue [correct x 1,000].
WINNER: Biden. Palin makes good points about energy, but Biden was more substantive on the question that was asked.
SCORING: Biden 10-9 (Overall: Palin 66, Biden 67)
EIGHTH QUESTION
MOD: Climate change. What is true, what is false?
PALIN: Dissembles a bit by saying some of it is caused by Man and some by cyclical temperature changes. Says she doesn’t want to argue about the causes but what to do about it. Says she was the first governor to create a climate change sub-cabinet. Says we need an “all of the above” energy policy. Makes a good point about how drilling here is safer than getting our supplies from overseas since those countries do not have the same environmental safeguards as America does.
BIDEN: Says climate change is definitely man-made. Says you can’t solve a problem if you don’t know the cause [good point]. Says we need to invest in clean coal and safe nuclear [I’ll believe it when I see it. And that whole canard of saying “safe” nuclear energy. Do we ever hear the words “safe” clean coal? What do you think has killed more people: generating nuclear power or mining for coal? What’s really meant by that “safe” qualifier is “we aren’t really gonna ever support nuclear power because it will never be safe enough. What is “safe enough”. Well, I think it would have to be 100% safe before any liberal politician would support it.]. Says it will be 10 years before a drop of oil comes out of newly-drilled wells [so we should start now, right? And how many years before these alternative energy solutions bear fruit? Let’s say it also will take 10 years (and this is being generous). That would mean in 10 years we’d have an energy GLUT, right, and prices would collapse? Cheap energy… sounds good to me].
WINNER: Even. Palin gets points for making the “we should drill here because we can do it safer than other countries”, but loses a bit for waffling on global warming. Biden gets points for the whole “can’t solve a problem unless you know the cause” bit (although that’s not stopping us from doing this bailout, huh?) and at least gets partial credit for saying that he supports clean coal and nuclear energy, but he gets a big minus for supporting an excuse on why not to drill here (“10 years”). However, Biden probably wins this one in the eyes of the viewer because of his better handling of the “cause” question.
SCORING: Biden 10-9 (Overall: Palin 75, Biden 77)
NINTH QUESTION
MOD: Do you support carbon caps on emissions?
BIDEN: Yes.
PALIN: Senator McCain supports it [ugh]. Goes back to the energy rant. Points out that Biden called new drilling off the American coasts as “raping the outer continental shelf” [oy!]. Attacks Biden’s rope-line comment to a voter that an Obama administration wouldn’t be for clean coal or for building coal plants in America.
BIDEN: Says his comment was taken out of context [look it up on YouTube. Hard to see how what he said could be taken out of context]. Accuses McCain of voting 20 times against alternative energy.
WINNER: Palin. Her quote of Biden that drilling would be “raping the outer continental shelf” went unrefuted. Doesn’t exactly sound like a man who would be open to new drilling, does it? On the other hand, Palin did not respond to Biden’s charge that McCain had voted 20 times against alternative energy (could that possibly derive from his opposition to ethanol, one of the biggest alternative energy boondoggles ever?!).
SCORING: Palin 10-9 (Overall: Palin 85, Biden 86)
TENTH QUESTION
MOD: Do you support same-sex benefits as they do in Alaska?
BIDEN: Yes. Emphatic yes. Says that rights should be granted to same-sex couples “under the Constitution” [?].
PALIN: Yes. Offers up her opposition to gay marriage unprompted.
BIDEN: Says he also doesn’t support gay marriage.
WINNER: Fairly even, but Palin gets the nod because she probably surprised viewers with her non-radicalness. Biden looks a little odd being overly emphatic for gay partner rights but then also being emphatically against gay marriage. It makes his position seem false and political [which, of course, it is].
SCORING: Palin 10-9 (Overall: Palin 95, Biden 95)
ELEVENTH QUESTION
MOD: What should the exit strategy be in Iraq?
PALIN: Mentions the Surge. Says that Obama voted against funding the troops after he said he would never do that. Mentions that Biden called Obama out on that vote and accused it of being a “political” vote by Obama. Piles on by saying that Obama voted the way he did due to political pressure (from the Left during his primary run).
Says we have a plan for withdraw, but we do not need early withdraw. Says we must win in Iraq. Says troop levels in Iraq are down to pre-Surge levels [Incorrect].
BIDEN: Says he didn’t hear a plan from Palin. Says Obama has a plan (withdraw in 16 months). Says it’s the same plan that Maliki and Bush are negotiating now [debatable]. Says that McCain also voted against funding the troops [voted against a bill with a timeline in it, but voted for the bill that actually was passed… the one that Obama voted against]. Says we must have a timeline. Goes after our Iraqi allies by saying they have 80 billion in the bank, so why is the US spending 10 billion a month there? Says Obama/Biden “will end this war”, McCain will not.
PALIN: Says Obama/Biden plan is akin to “waving the white flag of surrender”. Points out that Obama/Biden opposed the Surge and says that Obama still cannot admit that it worked. Says we’ll know when we can leave when our ground commanders tell us [this is a bit of backwards thinking… the tail wagging the dog. I don’t think we should give a blank check to our generals]. Repeats the charge that Obama voted against funding the troops.
BIDEN: Repeats his charge that McCain also voted against funding the troops. Says it 4 times, actually [talk about your programmed candidates!]. Says that McCain was wrong about the war, wrong that we would be greeted as liberators, wrong about how long it would take and how expensive it would be, wrong about Sunni/Shia relations, dead wrong, in fact, wrong about the whole damn thing! Doesn’t mention if McCain was wrong on the Surge. Strange that.
WINNER: Biden. As much as I hate to admit it, and as much as his answers were based on repetitive lying, he effectively got across his charges and refuted Palin’s. Iraq should be a winning issue for Republicans [now] and Palin needs to do a better job on winning that argument.
SCORING: Biden 10-9 (Overall: Palin 104, Biden 105)
TWELFTH QUESTION
MOD: Who’s more dangerous: a nuclear-armed Iran or Pakistan [pretty dumb question. Kinda like saying “what’s more deadly: grizzly bear or great white shark?”]?
BIDEN: Both extremely dangerous. Says he and Barack have been focused on Pakistan for a long time. Says their nuclear weapons can already reach Mediterranean and Israel [apparently this is incorrect]. Says Iran getting a nuclear weapon would be a “game changer”.
Says McCain is wrong in his focus because he says the central front in the War on Terror is in Iraq. Says the problem is in Pakistan and that’s where any attacks on the US homeland will come from. Said there’s been 7,000 madrassas built on the Pakistan-Afghan border [I didn’t know there’d been a census on such things]. Says we need to help Pakistan fund its education system (secular).
PALIN: Both extremely dangerous. Says Petraeus and Al Qaeda itself have said that the central front in the War on Terror is in Iraq and that she would trust their opinion. Mangles delivering the statement a bit.
Says that Iran cannot be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons. Points out what a threat that would be to Israel. Trots out Ahmadenijad’s quotes on destroying the state of Israel. Brings up Obama’s flub in the primary campaign about how he’d meet with foreign leaders without preconditions. Says that “goes beyond naivete and goes beyond poor judgment”.
WINNER: Palin. What’s important here is the clarity of her declarations. Iran “cannot be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons”. Israel must be protected. Nice strike to refer to Obama’s completely unserious answer that he would meet foreign leaders without preconditions [he definitely said it… just YouTube it]. Also a sign of Obama’s stubbornness and inability to admit he’s wrong even when he obviously is. I thought Democrats didn’t like that sort of thing? ☺
SCORING: Palin 10-9 (Overall: Palin 114, Biden 114)
THIRTEENTH QUESTION
MOD: Former Secretaries of State recommend some form of engagement with our enemies. Are they wrong?
PALIN: Says no. Mentions her meeting with Kissinger. Repeats charge that Obama’s promise to meet foreign leaders without preconditions is “dangerous”.
BIDEN: Says it’s not true that Obama said he would meet foreign leaders without preconditions [100% lie]. Show his encyclopedic knowledge [I’m being facetious] by saying that McCain doesn’t seem to know that Iran is a theocracy. Says McCain isn’t serious about diplomacy because he won’t sit down with our enemies. Says even Bush [wait, I thought McCain was Bush?] sent a high-ranking diplomat to Europe to meet with Iranians [this is an exaggeration, at best. The meeting was with a bunch of EU countries and Iran. The US diplomat did not directly engage with the Iranian rep.].
Claims that McCain said he wouldn’t even meet with the leader of Spain [lie].
WINNER: Biden. Despite the lies and distortions, he at least brought out new bullets, dipped in lies though they may have been while Palin just repeated her previous charge.
SCORING: Biden 10-9 (Overall: Palin 123, Biden 124)
FOURTEENTH QUESTION
MOD: What has the Bush Administration done right/wrong vis-à-vis Israel and the two-state solution?
PALIN: Says that a two-state solution is correct. Indicates support for Secretary Rice’s diplomatic moves to get that implemented. Says Israel is our best ally in the Middle East and we must not allow a second Holocaust. Mentions her support for building the American embassy in Jerusalem. Says that Israel has success in getting peace agreements in the past with Jordan, Egypt. Expects future success in that area and it will be a priority of the McCain/Palin administration.
BIDEN: Goes to the third person references “no one in the United States Senate has been a better friend to Israel than Joe Biden” [I guess he’s forgetting his threat to cut off aid to Israel during its 1982 invasion of Lebanon to expel the PLO from that country]. Says the Administration’s Mideast policy has been an abject failure. Says Bush insisted on elections in the Palestinian territories and that Biden and Obama warned that Hamas would win and they did [whopper of whoppers. Please provide evidence of this. And does this mean that Biden is actually anti-democracy?].
Says that we kicked Hezbollah out of Lebanon [obviously he meant “Syria”, but if Palin had made this mistake, the liberal press would’ve absolutely skewered her and said she obviously wasn’t qualified to be VP]. Claims that he and Obama supported putting NATO troops in Lebanon to fill the vacuum left by Syria’s leaving [um, what?]. Says that they warned that Hezbollah would take over if we didn’t and that now Hezbollah is a part of the government [Talk about your neocons! Biden is basically saying that he wants NATO to destroy Hezbollah and push it out of Lebanon. Finally we agree on something!].
Says Obama/Biden will change the Mideast policies of the US with “thoughtful, real, live” diplomacy [as opposed to the thoughtless, fake, dead diplomacy we have been practicing before, I assume? Including by the Clinton administration?].
PALIN: Says Bush administration’s Mideast record is not an abject failure. Says she’s encouraged that “we both love Israel”. Says that Biden bringing up the Bush Administration is a case of constantly looking backwards and pointing fingers. Admits there have been “huge blunders” in the Iraq War. Says McCain/Palin will learn from past mistakes. Reiterates the McCain campaign’s talking points on reform and change.
BIDEN: Says that “past is prologue”. Says that he hasn’t seen any difference between McCain’s and Bush’s policies.
WINNER: Palin. By a landslide. Biden went off the deep-end on this one. This is probably the only time in the debate where his mouth got out to a significant lead over his brain. His bizarre claims that NATO should have kicked Hezbollah out of Lebanon [if Israel couldn’t do it, why does he think NATO could? We barely were able to do it with the Serbs in Bosnia. Taking out Hezbollah would be a lot more bloody and it wouldn’t be possible to do it from the air like we did in Bosnia/Kosovo] and his anti-democratic rants were just plain ol’ weird.
Palin didn’t say much (although the point about ensuring there’s never a second Holocaust was a good one), but Biden is penalized a point for inserting foot in mouth and chewing.
SCORING: Palin 10-8 (Overall: Palin 133, Biden 132)
FIFTEENTH QUESTON
MOD: Is there ever a case when we should use nuclear weapons?
PALIN: Says our nuclear weapons are used as a deterrent, which is a “safe, stable way” to use nuclear weapons. Reiterates that we cannot allow certain regimes to acquire or use nuclear weapons.
Pivots to Afghanistan and says that McCain/Palin policy on Afghanistan would be different than Bush administration’s policy. Says that there will be a Surge in Afghanistan like the one that was so successful in Iraq. Pulls out the Obama quote that all American forces are doing in Afghanistan is “killing civilians and air-raiding villages”. Calls the comment “reckless”.
BIDEN: Says that American commanding general in Afghanistan has said that Iraq-type Surge will not work in Afghanistan [http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/08/08/afghanistan.surge/. Seems to be a bit of parsing problem. I don’t think anybody believes that the EXACT same strategy used in Iraq will work in Afghanistan. But Petraeus was able to figure out the right strategy for Iraq. I would trust him more than anyone, especially more than Obama and Biden, on what the correct strategy is to win in Afghanistan.]. Refers to himself in the 3rd person again. Says we need more troops in Afghanistan [hmmm.. kinda souns like a… surge, no?]. Says we spend more money in 3 weeks in Iraq than we’ve spent in 7 years on reconstruction in Afghanistan [apparently, this is largely correct (we can quibble with the exact numbers). But one could make the point that it was the military spending in Iraq that turned that war and that, thus, we should spend more money militarily in Afghanistan in order to achieve the same order of success].
Says that McCain voted against a Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban treaty that “every Republican supported” [Untrue. Republicans voted in great numbers against it, not just McCain.]. Touts Obama’s reaching across the aisle to Republican Senator Richard Luger on a bill to keep nuclear materials “out of the hand of terrorists” [very controversial, no?]. Says McCain is not for arms control.
PALIN: Denies that the commander in Afghanistan said an Iraq-type Surge wouldn’t work in Afghanistan [misidentifies commander as “General McClellan”. It’s General McKiernan.]. Makes the point I made above that Afghanistan strategy will be different than the Surge strategy in Iraq in details, but largely the same (counterinsurgency, clear/hold/build, more troops) in the main.
BIDEN: Repeats his claim on what the general said. Says McCain was quoted as saying 2 years ago that the reason Afghanistan wasn’t in the news at the time was because we were succeeding. Says he, Obama, Hagel, Lugar, have been calling for more troops and money for Afghanistan.
WINNER: Even. Slight edge to Palin, because Biden seems a bit confused. More troops and more spending is the answer in Afghanistan but a Surge there wouldn’t work? Seems contradictory. Flat-out lied about “all” Republicans being for Nuclear Comprehensive Test Ban treaty.
SCORING: Palin 10-9 (Overall: Palin 143, Biden 141)
SIXTEENTH QUESTION
MOD: Says Biden is an interventionist (Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq (initially), Pakistan, Darfur). Asks if Americans have the stomach for that level of intervention.
BIDEN: Says American public has the stomach for “success” [um…]. He “admits” that he was the first one to recommend intervention in Bosnia [that Joe… so modest!]. Says McCain opposed it initially [kind of like how Biden initially supported the Iraq War?]. Says “But the end result is that it worked” [since that’s the criteria, then the Surge was a smashing success, right, since the ‘end result’ is that it worked, right?]. Says there’s now a stable government in Kosovo [still supported by American troops, natch, although none are being killed]. Claims his Iraq vote was not a vote for war [do we want a guy who is so easily snookered by those evil Republicans?!]. Claims he predicted the war would be at a great cost and says that McCain said the opposite.
Emphasizes that we should intervene in Darfur because he “doesn’t have the stomach for genocide” [but I suppose if there was a genocide of Iraqis caused by a precipitous US withdraw in Iraq, that’d be okay? How do we square that circle?].
PALIN: Points out that Biden voted for the war and now he’s claiming that his vote wasn’t actually for the war. Attacks Biden for being a politician and touts herself as a straight-talkin’, Washington outsider.
Agrees with Biden on Darfur and details her efforts in Alaska to divest any Alaskan government funds in Sudan.
BIDEN: Says that Palin is wrong to say that Biden supported McCain’s war strategy before.
WINNER: Palin. Once again Biden sticks his foot in his mouth by disingenuously claiming that his Iraq war vote wasn’t in fact an Iraq war vote. Obama can claim to be “clean” on the Iraq War because he never had to vote on the resolution to go to war and he says that he would’ve voted “no” (instead of “present”, I suppose). Biden cannot make this same claim. He voted for war in Iraq and he should be honest about it and, as Clinton begrudgingly did, admit that he now considers that vote a mistake. Biden loses half a point for dishonesty.
SCORING: Palin 10-9 (Overall: Palin 153, Biden 150)
SEVENTEENTH QUESTION
MOD: What if the President died? How would a Biden/Palin administration be different than an Obama/McCain administration?
BIDEN: Wouldn’t be any different. He’d carry out Obama’s policies, because he agrees with every one of them. Spouts Democratic talking points about middle class, tax breaks, affordable health care, alternative energy, end Iraq War, etc., etc.
Says that this is the most important election people have voted in since 1932 [I’m going to assume that most people weren’t alive, or of age, to vote in 1932. So stripping away the hyperbole, or at least a layer of it, he’s saying that this is the most important election EVER in modern American history. It must be because Joe Biden is on the ticket.].
PALIN: Says that she disagrees with McCain on some things (gives example of ANWR drilling). Says “What do you expect from a team of mavericks?” Spouts her own talking points “greed and corruption on Wall Street”, “putting government on the side of the people”, etc. , etc.
BIDEN: Goes to bizarro land again, asking people to come with him down to Katie’s restaurant [closed for 20 years] or Home Depot where he says “I spend a lot of time”. He’s clumsily trying to relate to the middle class, which he does better by saying that if you ask anyone if they’re better off today than they were 8 years ago, they would mostly say “no”. Says McCain is no different than Bush on “taxes”, “health care”, “Afghanistan”, “Iraq”, “education”. Mentions Scranton again! [because, you know, he’s middle class… or was a long time ago.]
PALIN: “Say it ain’t so, Joe! There you go again, pointing backwards again.” Good line. Mentions Biden’s wife is a teacher, saying “God bless her. Her reward is in heaven, right?” Priceless. Relates her family’s background in education. Says teacher pay needs to be raised. Gives a “shout out” to her teacher brother’s 3rd grade class: “you get extra credit for watching the debate.” Perfect. Says “No Child Left Behind” is not doing the job.
WINNER: Biden. His appeals to the middle class are completely transparent, but he has a good rant on “no differences between McCain/Bush” on a host of issues. Palin does well, but needed to respond a bit better and more directly to Biden’s attacks in order to win the round.
SCORING: Biden 10-9 (Overall: Palin 162, Biden 160)
EIGHTEENTH QUESTION
MOD: Biden had said he didn’t want to be Vice-President. Palin had said she didn’t even know what the Vice-President did. What do they think of the office now that they’re candidates?
PALIN: Says that she thinks both of them made lame jokes when they said what they said. Gets the biggest laugh of the night. Says she’ll be the point man for McCain’s legislative agenda [this is my interpretation of what she meant by “I'm thankful the Constitution would allow a bit more authority given to the vice president if that vice president so chose to exert it in working with the Senate and making sure that we are supportive of the president's policies”. Liberals afraid of Dick Cheney and the Imperial Vice-Presidency probably have a different interpretation and I grant them that. Palin could’ve been more clear here on what she meant.].
BIDEN: Says he’ll be the same kind of point man for Obama’s agenda in the Senate. Says he’ll “be in the room” for every decision Obama makes, offering his advice.
[Then there was a long, rather pointless and boring exchange on Cheney and the expanding powers of the Vice-Presidency. I’m skipping it because I think it was pretty immaterial.]
WINNER: Even, but Palin wins because she made the best joke of the debate. Biden just seems angry and a bit unhinged when he calls Cheney “the most dangerous Vice-President in our history” [um, Aaron Burr anyone?].
SCORING: Palin 10-9 (Overall: Palin 172, Biden 169)
NINETEENTH QUESTION
MOD: What is your Achilles heel? [Perfectionism! Duh!]
PALIN: Since the moderator suggested that her lack of experience might be her Achilles heel, she goes on a long explanation of exactly what her experience is (mayor, regulator, governor). Tries to push up her bonafides that she understands the middle class because she’s been in the position before of having to pay out-of-pocket for health care.
Says her lack of national experience is trumped by the fact she shares a world view with John McCain and ties it back to Reagan’s vision of America as a “shining city on a hill”. Probably her most polished rhetoric of the night, but sounded more like a closing statement.
BIDEN: He’s too passionate. Tries to match Palin’s human touch lines by relating the story of the death of his wife and daughter years ago and how he had to raise two kids alone. He chokes up in his most human moment of the night. Says he’s better off now than most Americans now (implying that he wasn’t in the past).
Challenges the charge (that no one made) that just because he’s a man he doesn’t know what it’s like to raise two kids alone. I’m not sure who he’s arguing with here. He understands, as well as Palin or anybody else, what it’s like for people sitting around the kitchen table. Says that they need help [and by golly, Joe Biden is gonna be there for them!].
PALIN: Acknowledges that people are looking for help and tries to explain that they will be helped because McCain has a proven record as a maverick, taking on his own party, putting partisanship aside to get things done. Says she’s done the same things as governor. Says she didn’t see much progress from 8 years of Republican rule or 2 years of a Democratic Congress. Implies that McCain is a “third way”.
BIDEN: Says that McCain is not a maverick. Goes on an anti-maverick rant: John is not a maverick when it comes to health care, education, on the war [um, hello… the Surge?], on anything that really matters to people (or as he put it “He’s not been a maverick on virtually anything that genuinely affects the things that people really talk about around their kitchen table.” [there’s that kitchen table again. Gettin’ a lot of use!]).
WINNER: Even. They both got their points across well, I think. Palin delivered with a smile while Biden was a little weird with his refutation of a charge no one made (“that he didn’t know what it was like to raise children alone”) and he looked a bit angry here. Maybe he’s getting tired.]. However, Biden probably “wins” this exchange simply because of the audacity of his attacks and the fact that Palin did not refute them.
SCORING: Biden 10-9 (Overall: Palin 181, Biden 179)
TWENTIETH QUESTION:
MOD: Have you ever changed a long-held view?
BIDEN: Says he used to believe in the Constitution’s definition of the role of the Senate in confirming judicial nominees. Now he gives political litmus tests. He’s actually proud of that. Okay.
PALIN: No major principles have changed. Says she wish she could’ve cut spending and taxes more, but settled for budgets that did less than she wanted.
WINNER: Even. Biden’s a goof for saying that he applies a political litmus test to his judicial nominees. It’s a horrible use of his senatorial powers, but it’s the norm now. Palin showed a bit of lack of self-knowledge or self-examination by claiming that she’s never changed anything major. Biden wins by answering the question more honestly, even if his answer was excreable.
SCORING: Biden 10-9 (Overall: Palin 190, Biden 189)
TWENTY-FIRST QUESTION
MOD: How would you change the tone of excessive partisanship in Washington?
BIDEN: Claims he’s worked across the aisle. Says he’s learned to not question a person’s motives, just their judgment [so I guess this means he has a personal moral blind spot when it comes to people whose motives are unpure? Fascinating.].
PALIN: Says she has appointed Democrats in her governments in the past. Says “you walk the walk; you don’t just talk the talk”. Then goes on a partisan attack [oh the irony!] and contrasts the two tickets again.
WINNER: Even, but Biden wins by displaying bipartisanship in his answer while Palin missteps by injecting partisanship into her answer to a question about how would you overcome excessive partisanship!
SCORING: Biden 10-9 (Overall: Palin 199, Biden 199)
CLOSING STATEMENTS
PALIN: Summation of the arguments she’d been making throughout the debate. I did like what she had to say about freedom:
“It was Ronald Reagan who said that freedom is always just one generation away from extinction. We don’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream; we have to fight for it and protect it, and then hand it to them so that they shall do the same, or we’re going to find ourselves spending our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children about a time in America, back in the day, when men and women were free.”
BIDEN: Similar summation of arguments made throughout the debate. Here’s the most effective part of his statement, I think:
“You know, in the neighborhood I grew up in, it was all about dignity and respect. A neighborhood like most of you grew up in. And in that neighborhood, it was filled with women and men, mothers and fathers who taught their children if they believed in themselves, if they were honest, if they worked hard, if they loved their country, they could accomplish anything. We believed it, and we did. That’s why Barack Obama and I are running, to re-establish that certitude in our neighborhoods. Ladies and gentlemen, my dad used to have an expression. He’d say, “champ, when you get knocked down, get up.” Well, it’s time for America to get up together. America’s ready, you’re ready, I’m ready, and Barack Obama is ready to be the next president of the United States of America.”
WINNER: Fairly even, but Palin’s Reagan quote was more inspiring.
SCORING: Palin 10-9 (Overall: Palin 209, Biden 208)
MY CLOSING STATEMENT
Whew, that was more work than I thought it was going to be. Very even debate. Both sides scored some good points and won rounds, but Biden seemed to lose some steam in the 2nd half of the debate, especially with his bizarre Hezbollah rant. Both sides made factual errors and fudged on some things, but I think Biden outright lied more. But then again, I make no claim about being objective.
So in my vastly underrated opinion, Palin won. To be fair, even a tie or a small loss would’ve been seen as a win for Palin because the expectations were so low coming in. This analysis was just off the transcript, but I also watched the debate and I think she won on style points as well. Her performance was even more of a surprise because of her recent stumbles. She’s quite something.
Was this the perfect performance? No. But it was solid and I predict that those polls that had been going against McCain for weeks will start to move back the other way (assuming McCain doesn’t blunt that momentum with his own debate performances).
Palin did what she had to do. No doubt, it would’ve been harder for her to win if she had been going against Hilary Clinton. But luckily Barack chose Joe Biden, the gaffe machine that keeps on giving. Thank you, Mr. Obama!
