Biden / Palin VP Debate, Oct 2nd @ 9PM EST

[CrackerBarrel]

Good debate.

I'm not a Palin fan, so I'm cheering for her to not hurt McCain, not to further her political future.

BUT

She held her own. Neither person answered any of the questions tonight really, but that's okay because Ifill was kind of annoying, she kept interjecting herself where she wasn't needed. No big gaffes on either side, except talking about same sex couples Biden accidentally said that they would work to protect the rights of those in gay marriages (he clearly meant relationships based on the context and misspoke, everyone I was watching with, all Democrats aside from me, heard it and cringed). That one will be in an ad probably, but aside from Joe describing Bosnians as "Bosniaks" (which is apparently right, but I've always heard them referred to as Bosnians in the US) that was the only "what!?!" moment I heard from either side. No home runs in this one either (probably somewhere close to a tie, Palin started far stronger, Biden finished strong), but that's fine because very few people are basing their votes on how the VPs convinced them. McCain may gain a little because Palin held her own and thus looks less incompetent than she has recently and may reassure some people. But my overall opinion is that that debate was probably pretty damn close to meaningless in the race.

[sigmadiva]

Originally Posted by CrackerBarrel

Good debate.

I'm not a Palin fan, so I'm cheering for her to...not to further her political future.

I agree.

BUT

She held her own. Neither person answered any of the questions tonight....

I disagree. I think there were times when Biden was throwing her a rope and she was just too clueless to pick up on it. She could have done much better but she did not.

[KSig RC]

Originally Posted by sigmadiva

I disagree. I think there were times when Biden was throwing her a rope and she was just too clueless to pick up on it. She could have done much better but she did not.

Like when?

[sigmadiva]

Originally Posted by KSig RC

Like when?

Through the whole thing. It seemed to me especially when she did not answer the question, Biden would go back to answer the question in a way that she could effectively offer her rebuttal, but she said, 'Hey, I'm going to go back and talk about what I know - ENERGY!!' And to me, she did not do that too well.

And her whole 'folksy' talk, that got real old quick. Once or twice, okay, I could stand it, but not all the way through!!!! The VP may not do much, but it is still an important position. She just did not come off too polished, imo.

[preciousjeni]

Originally Posted by CrackerBarrel

Good debate.

I'm not a Palin fan, so I'm cheering for her to not hurt McCain, not to further her political future.

BUT

She held her own. Neither person answered any of the questions tonight really, but that's okay because Ifill was kind of annoying, she kept interjecting herself where she wasn't needed. No big gaffes on either side, except talking about same sex couples Biden accidentally said that they would work to protect the rights of those in gay marriages (he clearly meant relationships based on the context and misspoke, everyone I was watching with, all Democrats aside from me, heard it and cringed). That one will be in an ad probably, but aside from Joe describing Bosnians as "Bosniaks" (which is apparently right, but I've always heard them referred to as Bosnians in the US) that was the only "what!?!" moment I heard from either side. No home runs in this one either (probably somewhere close to a tie, Palin started far stronger, Biden finished strong), but that's fine because very few people are basing their votes on how the VPs convinced them. McCain may gain a little because Palin held her own and thus looks less incompetent than she has recently and may reassure some people. But my overall opinion is that that debate was probably pretty damn close to meaningless in the race.

I actually agree. I also think that Palin was giving more of a pep talk than actually debating. Biden was making an effort to debate, but his energy and humor were noticeably lacking, presumably because he was trying not to say something stupid.