Biden – Palin Debate: Any Feedback?

Just a few thoughts…interested to see what your reactions were.

It seemed to me like Palin pretty much held her own. She did appear weak in some areas where she completely skipped the question and went back to stock answers on energy policy in Alaska. Biden kept giving that goofy (maniacal?) grin. Biden seemed to have his facts down a little better than Palin just like McCain seemed to have his facts down better than Obama in the presidential debate. That all comes down to experience. By the way, I would rather the presidential candidate be well versed in the affairs of the country and the world than the V.P. so point McCain-Palin on that.

Both misrepresented the other on a variety of issues. I would all but say they lied about the other’s positions…who knows. They each say the other voted against funding the troops. How does that happen? A bill comes before the Senate to fund the troops with a timetable for withdrawal. McCain opposes the timetable but is in favor of funding the troops so he has to vote against the bill. A bill comes before the Senate with funds for the troops but with no timetable for withdrawal. Obama wants a timetable and wants to fund the troops but cannot support the bill due to lack of a timetable for withdrawal. Here is the problem. Both want to fund the troops but can’t vote for one or the other bill because of other conditions in the bill. Then each side accuses the other of not wanting to fund the troops. I am going to go ahead and say it. That is not politics. That is lying against the other candidate for political expediency. Both sides are guilty. The same is true with how they misrepresent each other’s tax cuts and tax cuts for big oil but I won’t go into those now.

Palin should have used more of Biden’s quotes against him. She should have spoke against Obama by quoting Biden. Have some common sense…that would have been brilliant if I do say so myself. She only did so once or twice. Biden shouldn’t have tiptoed around her because she was a woman. Everyone was saying he would be coached to smile big. He did. It looked kind of weird and forced to me. He should have gone right after her and her weakness on foreign policy and the fact that her inexperience would be scary if something were to happen to McCain. Counterpoint is that the Democratic ticket has the presidential nominee himself as the one lacking experience.

Another issue – why is all the news feedback and commentary all about Palin and the quality of her answers. If you analyze Biden you can find a bunch of garbage in what he had to say. I think Palin is being scrutinized and she should…but not any less than Biden is. On the Today Show this morning they had a group of “undecided” female voters. 4 of 7 voted for Bush. They watched the debate and 5 of 7 then said they were convinced to vote Obama. What a crock. I wouldn’t be surprised if they had several focus groups with several anchors and picked the one that fit their narrative. Why not have some men critique Biden? Anyway…All in all I thought they both did a decent job. I just wish they would stop lying about the other’s policies and stick with the facts. I was glad they were able to agree on issues like Darfur. Any feedback?

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Republicans and Democrats Have the Same Message?

I think it is kind of humorous that when you see the campaign adds you might actually come away thinking they have the same message. The Democrats say the Republicans have done a terrible job and so you need to vote change and vote Obama. The Republican candidates say the Republicans have done a terrible job in need of reform that could only come from a maverick. They are the real party seeking to change Washington so vote McCain. I guess it is all an effort to get as much distance between themselves and Bush as possible.

Something about that just seems humorous and sad to me all at the same time.