the vice presidential debate

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.