Let me preface this by saying that I am totally in the tank for Obama, and before last night, had no strong opinion of Joe Biden. I am strongly against the McCain/Palin ticket. I'm sure this colors what I took away from last nights VP debate.
Palin looked way out of her league. She could not touch on any subject with any depth at all, saying alot of words that ultimately meant nothing at all. She could not defend or even articulate John McCain's record or positions. I felt that she was just filling the air at times. That she is being praised for not being a total grease fire speaks volumes to her qualifications and readiness.
She seems unable to veer from a set of canned responses and often fell back onto comfortable positions. I found her dancing around (and sometimes ignoring) questions frustrating and her folksy attitude faked and insulting. I realize now that her goal was not to try to sway people like me, but I think the only things she accomplished were not spontaneously combusting on stage and preaching to her choir.
My opinion of Gov. Palin coming out of this debate is worse than it was going in.
I thought Senator Biden handily won this debate. He repeatedly and effectively rebuffed her attacks, defending Obama and effectively attacking McCain. I think he was smart to not go after Palin too hard, but to keep hammering on McCain. Attacking Palin could have been seen as bullying, and spun as sexism or misogyny. Staying on McCain minimized her and made her seem inconsequential and out of place. It keeps the conversation about the issues and offered a clear contrast of what an Obama/Biden administration would mean versus a McCain/Palin one.
I come away from this debate with a very positive opinion of Joe Biden, much better than going in.
There were 3 moments that really stood out to me in this debate:
First, of course, was Biden choking up when talking about his wife and daughter dying, and the contrast between that and the canned "John McCain is a maverick" statement that followed immediately from a widely smiling Palin. To me, this was really awkward and made her look very cold. It made Biden seem very human.
Second was when Biden went on the attack against the idea of John McCain as a maverick. Palin had been repeating this idea, over and over. It seemed like the perfect place to position it. His argument was filled with the right amount of passion without being over the top. Crediting McCain, but then ripping the idea that he's a maverick on any issue that really matters right now. I think it totally neutered the idea of McCain as a maverick, in this debate at least. I don't think she said the word again after Biden's tirade.
The last one was rather subtle and I don't hear much talk about it. I kind of wonder if it will linger at all, but I found it interesting. During the exchange on same-sex parnerships and marriage, I thought this was an interesting statement from Senator Biden:
The bottom line though is, and I'm glad to hear the governor, I take her at her word, obviously, that she thinks there should be no civil rights distinction, none whatsoever, between a committed gay couple and a committed heterosexual couple. If that's the case, we really don't have a difference.
I thought this was a brilliant way for him to throw her under the bus of the religious right that she is supposed to be shoring up.
