That is some expensive shit
This was pretty much my impression, too. Instead of a debate they should have called it “Talking Points” or something. You could almost make a drinking game out of how often Palin ignored the actual question. Try this: take the transcript of her answers and give a multiple choice quiz about what question she was supposed to be answering. Take a drink if you’re wrong. You’ll be hammered before long.
Woah! I apologized a few posts back, but the transcript shows that you’re wrong.
So, my original statement stands stronger than ever. Biden answered clearly and forcefully; Palin turned it into a discussion about how she’s against same-sex marriage. The two do not agree on the issue.
Google image search for Frank Luntz
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=frank%20luntz&gbv=2
Is that the guy, Really Not All That Bright? He’s a political strategist whose thing is linguistics. He specializes in finding just the right buzz words or phraseology to sell an idea. According to wiki, he’s been reprimanded for dodgy poll-taking procedure by the American Association for Public Opinion Research and the National Council on Public Polls (and what a swinging bunch those two groups must be …)
Sam Stein at HuffPo pointed out that although Luntz’s group unanimously thought she did great, only three people said they were more inclined to vote McCain-Palin.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the whole thing was scripted but I didn’t see it myself though.
Gotta agree. That folksy stuff plays really well in my area - people like to be comforted, and she’s comforting (to them). She’s not as much of a charmer as some of our politicians here, but she does O.K. for someone who Ain’t From Here.
I come from a country that has produced some of the most pathetic politicians in the planet. I am used to mediocre, but by Og I have never seen anyone as bad as Palin. That was painful to watch. Jay-sus! :smack:
After all the noise about Gwen Ifill’s book, I sure didn’t see any hint of bias. She was practically invisible in this debate. I haven’t heard any of the TV pundits mention her once. Not even on Fox. I guess that means she did her job. I think it’s pretty remarkable that she managed to be so fair and professional that everyone seems to have forgotten there was even an issue about it.
Listening to Sarah Palin reminds me of what H.L. Mencken said about listening to Warren G Harding:
The ultimate irony was when she waxed eloquent about the importance of education:
Her high school english teacher must be break dancing in her grave. Some reward.
Wow. Sarah Palin does a great imitation of Tina Fey doing Sarah Palin.
This pissed me of the most. Go back to Alaska, posted from north Texas.
Although I thought she did an excellent job overall, she seemed to let Biden talk more at first.
Her jacket was delicious. I love that color.
I sorta did a double take when she referred to AK as “the heartland”.
What really got me after all the scripted decency was this, a small thing, but wow telling: when Palin went to greet Ifill post debate, she said, to Ms Ifill: “Bless Your Heart…” Um, that’s a really loaded “compliment” here in the South. Maybe it means something else in Alaska, but I was stunned by the immediate floor feed of her initial greeting, a bit garbled inthe post debate mish mash. Anyone else catch that?
Well, this was my first lengthy exposure to both Biden and Palin, and frankly, one debate for this crew was more than enough.
I’ll admit favoring the Obama ticket, but even though I really want to be even-handed here, I can’t avoid saying it: Palin came off as spectacularly, ludicrously unqualified for her position. Except for perhaps a few responses on energy policy, she gave little impression that she any actual awareness of the world outside her little Alaskan fiefdom. Regardless of that, or the horribly mannered folksiness that made want to slap her silly, she gave off a whiff of megalomania that put me right off. She’ll just ignore direct questions and rattle on about whatever subject she pleases? Following eight years of Cheney, she wants an expanded role in the legislature for the VP? She wants to just be able to talk, without the ‘filter’ of the mainstream media? Well, fuck you too.
I will agree that this wasn’ t the freak show that many seemed to expect, and that nothing much of substance said, and that in this sort of forum Palin makes a fairly arresting personal presentation, but I utterly fail to see how anyone could claim that she ‘won’ this so-called ‘debate’, unless the sole criterium was number of platitudes per minute.
That’s the guy. Well, kind of. I’m pretty sure the third image is Eddie Izzard (who, for the record, I would happily endorse as a Vice Presidential candidate *or *pollster :))
Everyone knows the heart is located in the right shoulder.
That would be the cold shoulder?
Biden clearly won, but Palin did not disgrace herself.
No doubt Biden is a better candidate, and he showed it. But those saying that Palin lost big are wrong. She *almost *held her own, and did better than I expected.
Fortunately for the McCain camp, they only have to deal with the fall out for this debate for the next week. Because on Oct 10, the results of the Troopergate probe will be released! Everybody will be so distracted, I’d wager, that they won’t even remember the debate happened.
Hmm … I missed the debates because I had to go to class tonght (last semester of classes! Woo hoo!) Here’s coincidence for you – it was a rhetoric class. And no, that’s not irony, just a coincidence.
Anyway, one of my classmates suggested we retire to the department office to watch the debate as an exercise in “practical rhetoric”, whatever the hell that is. The prof smilled. “No, that’s not rhetoric.” We stayed and studied Augustine instead.
I know, it adds nothing to this thread but, damnit, I only get to post once a week and I want to pretend I’m still relevant!