I thought it was a good debate. Who's with me?

[lawgator1]

Palin did very well. She was calm and confident. True she didn't get as specific as Biden, but she was right when she said she'd only been at it for five weeks and so maybe she shouldn't have that same depth of knowledge.

Biden avoided any gaffes. He stayed on message, which was to harp on relief for the middle class and to do it at the expense of the wealthiest. Class warfare? Yup.

Substantively to me it was a dead heat. Neither cost their ticket the election. Neither won it. If I had to pick a winner, I'd say Palin won largely because expectations for her were so low. But I doubt that this debate is going to make much of a diffference in the end, and that's probably the way it should be.

I thought you got a pretty clear idea of what each candidate's strengths and weaknesses are. Biden is part of the machine, but knows what he's doing. Palin is optimistic and believes in what she's doing. You can make a good case for either.

[GAVol]

It scares me when you post things that I agree with point by point.

[volinbham]

did your opinion of her change?

[BigPapaVol]

Originally Posted by volinbham

did your opinion of her change?

which is the point being missed in much of this after the fact analysis.
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[GAVol]

Originally Posted by BigPapaVol

which is the point being missed in much of this after the fact analysis.
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Exactly . . . Looking competent and getting a draw is a huge win for Palin.

[emainvol]

Originally Posted by GAVol

Exactly . . . Looking competent and getting a draw is a huge win for Palin.

A win for Palin may not necessarily mean a win for the campaign in this case.

[lawgator1]

Originally Posted by volinbham

did your opinion of her change?

Somewhat, yes.

I believe we are in a time where we need technicians. We need policy wonks. We need people who know how to get things done and to make the trains run on time. We have had the opposite of that in Bush for 8 years and his overlysimplistic view of the world and the country has I think been very costly.

To me, McCain, Obama, and Biden are way in front of Palin on this measure. Palin is still a bit thin on her knowledge base for my tastes, a bit too general and idealistic in her rhetoric.

But, tonight she was confident and didn't try to make it look like she knew more than she did. She didn't try to cover for her deficiencies when it comes to specifics. I think that, unlike Bush, if she had to run things she would seek out alternative advice, not just assume she was right.

Like I say, I would prefer specifics right now in the WH. Its why I preferred Hillary over Obama. But I was impressed with Palin's honesty.

If McCain wins and she has to take over at some point, I hope its in about three years, after she has learned some of the ins and outs of things in D.C. If that were the case, seems to me she'd probably be okay.

[BigPapaVol]

Originally Posted by emainvol

A win for Palin may not necessarily mean a win for the campaign in this case.

overcoming this economic issue is stout. Obama needed it badly and McCain needed to avoid it. Unfortunately, it likely means we're going to have the most liberal president of our lives with a somewhat sympathetic congress. Although the dem population has been built on some pretty conservative folks.
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[jcwvolfan]

It was more interesting than the presidential debate.

[volinbham]

Originally Posted by lawgator1

Somewhat, yes.

I believe we are in a time where we need technicians. We need policy wonks. We need people who know how to get things done and to make the trains run on time. We have had the opposite of that in Bush for 8 years and his overlysimplistic view of the world and the country has I think been very costly.

To me, McCain, Obama, and Biden are way in front of Palin on this measure. Palin is still a bit thin on her knowledge base for my tastes, a bit too general and idealistic in her rhetoric.

But, tonight she was confident and didn't try to make it look like she knew more than she did. She didn't try to cover for her deficiencies when it comes to specifics. I think that, unlike Bush, if she had to run things she would seek out alternative advice, not just assume she was right.

Like I say, I would prefer specifics right now in the WH. Its why I preferred Hillary over Obama. But I was impressed with Palin's honesty.

If McCain wins and she has to take over at some point, I hope its in about three years, after she has learned some of the ins and outs of things in D.C. If that were the case, seems to me she'd probably be okay.

I agree with most of this

[BigPapaVol]

Originally Posted by volinbham

I agree with most of this

struggle with the implication that this admin isn't littered with policy wonks.
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[lawgator1]

Originally Posted by volinbham

I agree with most of this

My guess is that similarly Biden made you feel a little bit more at ease with him, too.

That may be the bottom line here: Everybody leaves the debate feeling like things would be okay if either of them had to take over.

[lawgator1]

Originally Posted by BigPapaVol

struggle with the implication that this admin isn't littered with policy wonks.
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Maybe so. But I think right now the guy at the top has to be one, too.

[BigPapaVol]

Biden's eyelift looked absurd. His right eye was borderline Japanese looking.
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[jcwvolfan]

Originally Posted by lawgator1

We need people who know how to get things done and to make the trains run on time.

Galt '08
Taggart