I’m impressed. I was wrong in my predictions about Palin’s performance.
Palin stood much to lose by putting in a poor showing tonight, but that didn’t happen. This debate will likely quiet some of the criticisms of Palin’s competency, and it should. She put many fears to rest tonight, and while her inexperience still showed, it was more endearing this time, and she looked more like an up and coming pro than a woman out of her depth.
The debate went much more quickly than the Obama/McCain debate, and there was a much stronger likability factor on the part of both Biden and Palin. I actually enjoyed watching them together tonight. I wouldn’t say she won, but I think that she came out of the gate more strongly than Biden. In fairness, he was at a disadvantage because he couldn’t look like he was beating up on her. By the end, they were matching each other swing for swing without getting brutal.
This means McCain becomes the main issue again, and she can step out of the spotlight for a bit. Questions will - and should - linger about her ability to step into the role of President should circumstances require it, but she’s taken a good first step in putting those concerns to rest.
Well played.
Steve,
You were impressed? I admit (having only seen her acceptance speech) I was a bit skeptical of all the Palin jitters flying around last week,. But after last night’s debate, I do not think her weaknesses were overstated in the slightest.
I like Sarah Palin, and I’m genuinely sympathetic to many of her positions. I wanted her to do well, and to prove her critics wrong. With that said, I thought Biden crushed her. When she wasn’t openly dodging questions (like, admitting to it…”I want to talk about this instead!”), she simply resorted to chasing around poorly articulated ideological snippets (ones we had all heard before), and too often ended up like an overwrought kitten tangled in a ball of yarn. And even though I disagree with nearly all of Biden’s views, he actually ANSWERED the questions with poise, confidence, and SUBSTANCE.
Everybody is talking about how improved Palin’s performance was. Good grief! I’m glad I didn’t see any of her poorer showings. I could barely watch last night.
Brian,
It’s possible that my expectations were just really low. I’ve been very critical of her for the past few weeks, and I really expected her to bomb. In contrast, I thought she sounded intelligent, witty, and confident last night.
I didn’t expect her to answer all of the questions - she just doesn’t have all the answers straight yet. But her deflections worked much better than throwing talking points into a food processor like she did with Couric.
Now you’ve got me wondering what my impression would have been if I hadn’t seen her other interviews…
I’ll go ahead and back that up by saying that Palin should have addressed the question on the ‘05 bankruptcy bill instead of going back to energy independence pablum. Still, I don’t blame her for not wanting to talk about it, because I’m thinking the issue (mortgage principal getting knocked out by bankruptcy judges) will be addressed better after the bailout passes.
The bankruptcy bill dodge was entirely tactical and deliberate. Ace (of Ace of Spades) makes a good case that the McCain campaign is running silent on the mortgage/FannieMae/FreddieMac issues until after the bailout passes so as not to gunk it up. Watch it get brandished early and often afterwards.
http://ace.mu.nu/archives/274764.php
With the expectations bar was set so low, especially after the Couric interview debacle, all Palin had to do was not completely screw up to be declared a success. She managed that.
I’m no fan of hers at all, but I’m glad she did well enough that now (perhaps) people can return their attention to something significantly more important than winks and dropped gs…which candidate’s vision do I most believe in.
All this hoo ha about accents, lipstick on pigs and comparative levels of celebrity distracts us from thinking about which of these tickets will help make our nation even better. Just tell me what you believe and what you plan to do and let me decide if I like it or not. I don’t want to have a beer with you. I want you to make/keep my nation strong.
On that front, I don’t think either candidate really swayed anyone other than those who supported them prior to last night. I hope McCain and Obama do a better job in their upcoming debates.
Steve . . . I have to agree with ya about the debate. She did a good job. Not great, but a good job. If McCain’s going to have a chance, Palin needed to not do poorly here. She pulled her end off.