Friday, October 03, 2008

The Vice Presidential Debate

Uniquely, last night's Vice Presidential Debate actually got more attention than the previous Presidential Debate. Apparently, America is far more interested in seeing Sarah Palin battle it out with Joe Biden than McCain and Obama bat back and forth.

Most people were expecting a bloodbath. After her appalling interview with Katie Couric, many had dismissed Sarah Palin as the fluffy little Hockey Mom - and she was going toe-to-toe with Washington veteran Joe Biden - a man who first entered the senate when Palin was just six years old.

In the end, she surprised everybody. Right from the moment she shook Biden's hand - and asked him sweetly "CanI call you Joe?" - she took control and the following debate showed her handling herself admirably.

Now the dust has settled, the media has reached a consensus that Joe Biden 'won' the debate. He did do very well - He reined in that big mouth of his, delivered concise, carefully worded responses and treated Palin like a true gentleman - anxious not to appear to be bullying her.

That being said, I think Republicans will be very happy with the way 'their girl' did. She injected folksy humor and cheery anecdotes into her fluent answers - and delivered them all with a confidence and charm that the audience appreciated. She even winked at the camera at one point.

Personally, I think she laid the 'small town Mom' shtick on a bit too thick - but certainly exceeded my expectations.

Say what you want, but this lipstick wearing pit bull is not to be underestimated.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't see her persona as being a schtick. That is her background and that is how she's related to those in her life. You live on the East Coast and are from England so I don't know how much traveling you've been able to do within the states. She's from Alaska but she is very midwest in relatability. I'm an Army brat so I've lived in many places within the United States. Things are very different on the East and West coasts from the rest of America. More so than any of the candidates, she has a handle on the everyday average American.

The Media's view of how things went cannot be trusted... whether that be CNN, Fox, or others. We will know on November 4th. All polling is skewed. On Fox last night they showed that 88% of the people that called in with their vote for who won picked Palin. That is not an accurate representation because of who the viewers of Fox tend to be. I am assuming polls from other channels run into the same thing. There just happens to be a greater number of liberal media out there.

The Chemist said...

Lower the standard, and of course people will be impressed.