i had the distinct pleasure of watching this particular debate with a bunch of dumbasses who saw fit to bash palin everytime she stuttered and make dumbass remarks about the issues that were being discussed. thats why its taken me so long to post this review. i had to go back and watch the debate by myself, so i could actually get a real handle on what was being said.
insofar as what the world expected from sarah palin and joe biden, they both exceded expectations, which i suppose is not a bad thing at all. but i was left partially unsatisfied [suprised?] by both candidates.
lets go ahead and get this out of the way. joe biden won the debate. let there be no doubt about it. joe biden, in terms of debate points, just smashed palin. as for the aestetics, palins victory was in the fact that she made it seem that she hadnt completely lost.
this debate was a little different than the first presidential one. the moderator, ive already forgotten her name, actually asked some of the questions i wanted to hear the answers to! the debate started with economic issues, as one would expect, and both had little to quibble about in terms of the recent senate bill [ill talk about where that went to shit in the next blog]. unlike the petty debate on earmarks mccain and obama had, this debate turned into one on taxes. palin tried to bludgeon the point across, bringing it up after the debate had already started turning in the next direction. but if youre gonna fight about something petty, taxes is the least petty of them all.
the economic rounds were, of course, the source of my dissatisfaction.
the next rounds of debate focused on a couple of issues that i thought were actually handled very well by both candidates: foreign policy and energy policy. joe biden showed a pretty firm grasp on the situations America finds itself lodged in and adeptly detailed the the sdvice of our commanders on the ground. palin, apporpriately pointed out the successes of the surge and the advice of some military higher ups on afghanistan. both overstated a little. biden attached mccains name to the bush-cheney administration. palin got all coloquial and annoying. it happens. im used to it. on the energy crisis, biden may actually have lost points, fumbling through what hes said about clean coal and going for the jugular on offshore. palin came off as very competent on the issue. and actually came out in opposition to mccain, saying shes going to work on changing his mind in regards to drilling in anwr.
then came the social issues. palin claimed her stance was the same as senator bidens on gay relationships, extending them the full rights under the law but not redefining the institution of marriage to include a same sex couple. that was a little surprising. the rest not so much.
they finished with the question we all wanted to know the answer to: if your principle dies and you have to take office, how will your administration differ. biden pointed out that he and obama were on the same page on nearly every issue. palin said she was her own person and might differ in some areas implying energy policy more than likely.
overall, i was much more impressed with this debate than the original presidential one. biden won. palin didnt necessarily lose. i pretty much knew that would be the outcome. im pretty content nonetheless. they both seemed competent, something i couldnt say for either before.
oh and biden got all choked up and almost cried when he started talking about his kids and the car accident. one of the most touching moments ive ever seen from any politician. but it didnt fit the response he was supposed to be giving, so... yeah. im not sure what to make of that.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
i connected to biden in that moment more than i have to palin...well, i never connected with her.
...palin is good at camouflaging her stupidity in front of gullible people, not those who know their stuff damn well [or decently enough...like me]...she has shown no real substance so far.
then again, i have an inexplicable hatred for her. at least i respect john mccain as a good man...just not a good president. i feel like palin is a conniving, ignorant woman. she scares me.
she has pretty accurately detailed her plan for getting america to energy independence, has endorsed the 5000 dollar credit paired with deregulation on health care, believes we need to listen to the advice of the commanders on the ground before determining an exit date in iraq, wants a broad-based tax cut in an effort to boost the small and large businesses to help turn around this years' high unemployment, believes roe v. wade should be left to states and that gay couples are guaranteed certain rights but not the title of "marriage," and has no real foreign policy experience to speak of.
i could say no more of obama.
is she a good candidate? no. but i wouldnt dare say she hasnt given substance. that just plays into the hands of the buzzword media.
oh wait. that made it sound like i dont agree with you. i do think shes a dumb bitch. i just think obama, biden, and mccain are all just as worthless.
biden wanted to split iraq into three states (shia, sunni, and kurd). he takes pride in his involvement in much of the interventionism of the nineties. thats what really set the precedent for this war in the first place. he may be chair of the foreign relations committee, but i dont trust his judgment.
obama, despite what he has said, could not afford to fund all of his ambitious little projects. and he refuses to put them off even in the face of a tanking economy for fear of losing political points.
john mccain has a pretty tight grip on the textbook definitions of foreign policies and deserves credit for calling the surge, but has no real sense for anything domestic and cant put his knowledge into practical use in a globalized world.
depressing? not compared to 2004. though i do like john edwards.
then it must be my sheer hatred for that woman.
Post a Comment