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Biden won the debate on points. Which of course means we lost.
In the (liberal) blogs I read, I see a lot of back-patting about the debate last night, and I really don't understand why. The polls were on the upswing, and with the way underdog politics works, it was Biden's to lose. And, granted, he didn't.
That means that all Palin had to do to win it was not accidentally fall off the stage (while simultaneously trying to explain she was not, in fact, falling off the stage). She was starting to drag the ticket down, but since she is able to put on the perky appearance of competence, that's now going to blunt Obama's upswing in the polls. And if the race stays close enough up to election, the vote fixing will be easy to hide in the chaos of small sample sizes.
My wife and I came out of watching the debate pretty depressed. I'm surprised more people aren't.
Comments (4)
Wow... that's some serious cynicism.
The truth is, the bar was set so low for Gov. Palin that anyone could have cleared it, and frankly, clearing that bar isn't something to brag about.
The VP debates offered the chance for each candidate to do harm to their own ticket, and they managed to avoid that. Palin made a few mistakes, Biden made fewer, but neither harmed their own ticket.
The debate also offered the opportunity for each ticket to hammer the other-- and on that score, Biden did very well against the McCain camp, and Palin didn't really score too many hits on Obama. The "white flag" comment, for instance, largely fell flat with the independent groups.
All in all, I think it's a slight boost for the Obama campaign.
October 3, 2008 12:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh I completely agree, the fact that she managed to exceed very low expectations should not be something to celebrate. Yet, it will be celebrated.
The shine was coming off her, and that was giving me hope. If you like Sarah Palin, it's just on gut feeling and faith. Her interviews were starting to break that faith. But now this debate will restore it.
I think Biden did great. But that's because reason appeals to me.
October 3, 2008 2:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's because most of the posters here are hard core kool-aide drinkers, they decided Biden won before the debate started. Realistically, it was a non eventful tie, no one scored a knock out. However, since Palin was portrayed as incompetant and Biden the seasoned veteran, a tie is a huge win for her. She showed herself to be his equal, that destroys the whole campaign that she is not qualified and removes her as a negative. That means she goes back to being a positive for McCain.
October 3, 2008 12:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
I agree she's removed as a (major) negative unless she embarrasses herself publicly again. I don't think she's much of a positive either, though. She helps mobilize the Christian right, but that's already included in the current polls.
October 3, 2008 1:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
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