CLOSED: Vice Presidential Debate

[Gina.Maria]

Well, this time I got up at 3 in the morning to watch the debate - hard to do and I'm suffering greatly for it now. I'm interested to know if anyone thinks anything's really changed now that we've seen the VP candidates face off.

[Sharia Braxton]

I'll come back to this, but for anyone that didn't get to watch it, you watch the full debate here, as well as read the transcript of each question, and watch each question seperately.

Mr.Disciplined vs Ms Folksy

[Chreamps]

I only got to see the last part (maybe 30 minutes). It seems from what I saw that they both did well, though I don't think it changes anything.

[Sharia Braxton]

I came back because I did want to say that I found her to be somewhat evasive in her answers. 1 example: What's your plan, Gov Palin, to get out of iraq? A: We do have a plan...etc etc etc...no plan even talked about, just that the surge is part of the plan. Okay....that's not your plan dude, that was this administration...

[mlpieters]

i did watch it although i was easily distracted about 1/2 way through.

did i hear anything new? nope.
was i surprised by anything? nope.

blah blah blah...yada yada yada...

[JCSimon]

I doubt it changed anything, though it probably helped her image some after the disastrous interview with Katie Couric. She's definitely not stupid but her performance was somewhat wooden and obviously rehearsed to death.

It kind of surprised me when she announced, almost at the beginning, that she wasn't going to answer the questions; she would talk about whatever *she* wanted to. It was scary to hear her talk about taking more power for the vice presidency.

My final impression: a female Dick Cheney.

[Gina.Maria]

I'm really quite confused by the media response to the debate. While, I'll agree that Palin kept herself from completely coming unhinged and spewing gargled "catch-phrases" in incomplete and disjointed sentences, I'm not impressed by her answers. She seemed to understand the questions but twisted their intent to suit the canned responses she'd prepared, as evidenced by her repeatedly ignoring the subject to return to areas where she considered herself something of an expert. Energy, anyone? Her grasp of the subjects is fleeting, at best, and her knowledge of even Energy wouldn't fill a thimble.

On the other hand, I was impressed that she refrained from talking down to Biden which has been a trademark of hers since the beginning. I'm assuming she decided his experience and wisdom granted him a pass on her typical snideness.

Biden did well, though he made the mistake of repeating already disputed figures incorrectly - $80 billion surplus in Iraqi budget that's actually gone down to somewhere near $29 billion since the news was first broken and 95% of middle class people seeing a tax break under Obama's plan that is actually 95% of families with children or 81% of all middle class taxpayers. These errors are hardly issues I have a problem with but I expect the GOP to pounce heavily and with glee.

Palin's insistence on repeating the lies about Obama's plans regarding meeting with foreign leaders was frustrating. I also thought it was comical to see her admonishing Biden on Foreign Relations when the best she could accomplish was not stumbling over Ahmadinejad's name.

Also, her characterization of the Obama Health plan as government-controlled health was a blatant attempt to scare voters. His plan has been laid out quite clearly as an insurance-based plan with no government component to care.

I'm sure I missed some points because I was half-asleep and fighting a migraine, but after a search of all the major news sources, all I could find was cautious praise for Palin and approval of Biden. I guess I was looking for something deeper than that.

[kjbstevens]

She proved to me that she doesn't think the gov't isn't always the answer with that line. That was the only line I wanted to hear from any of them. I'll agree her accent is a little annoying but what comes out is more important than how. Usually the VP isn't the vocal one in public. Maybe it'll stay that way. LOL

[bho]

I think everybody sees what they want to see when they watch the debates.

[JCSimon]

I'm sure she was told, during her coaching, to keep turning the subject to something she was comfortable with. I wasn't surprised, but was disappointed, that she didn't get specific about anything....all of her answers were broad, generalized comments with no "meat."

VP candidates rarely affect the election. I doubt this one will be any different.

....btw, I know this is picky, but you'd think *someone* in the McCain camp would teach her the correct pronunciation of the word "nuclear." Every time I hear "nu-cue-ler," I cringe. Eight years of hearing Bush mispronounce it is enough.