Tonight is a make or break for Sarah Palin.
A strong debate performance from the Governor of Alaska is the answer to muting the pile on criticism screaming from the left and center-right. Without it, she’ll be fodder for the media for the next 30+ days. Neither she, nor her running mate, will succeed in shielding her candidacy from the rapid fire ‘unprepared for office’ declarations that will ensue.
A strong debate performance will not be marked by simply smooth-sailing through a the almost inevitable Joe Biden gaffe (though that will help). Governor Palin must show command of issues she knows well, like energy, but also demonstrate understanding of the current economic crisis, and what she would do now if she were already Vice-President. She must articulate her world view and how it complements that of Senator McCain, and she must say it in her plain spoken, mom-next-door disposition in order to win over everyday Americans.
If she can do this, plus work in a well placed zinger– playfully remind us that sometimes candidates on the campaign trail get the facts confused, “Joe knows what I mean…” with a wink– then she wins.
October 2, 2008 at 9:52 pm
I just wanted to put my 2 cents in for questions I want answered at the debate.
1) Do you, Governor Palin, support the 2005 version of the Violence Against Women Act sponsored by Senator Biden which would include the provision of rape exams free of cost, even if it included the distribution of the morning after pill?
2)In 2007 Amnesty International in Maze of Injustice reports
Native American and Alaska Native women are more than 2.5 times more likely to be raped or sexually assaulted than other women in the United States in general. A complex maze of tribal, state and federal jurisdictions allows perpetrators to rape with impunity and in some cases even encourages assaults.
What have you done as the Governor of Alaska/Us Senator to address the problem of Domestic and Sexual Violence against Alaska Native Women and Native American Women?
I’d also like to see Biden to take a few minutes to talk about the Senate Passing his Bill to Protect Children from Internet Predators last Thursday. I’m really disappointed that O’Rielly hasn’t taken the time to discuss that. It might make a good topic for the Culture warrior segment.
As Oprah said, our childrens safety is to important to play partisan politics with. Any time we can get important legislation like this in the news, we really need to. It’s that important.
October 3, 2008 at 4:08 pm
Biden is supposedly a foreign policy expert, well versed in the issues and facts. During the debate he claimed:
“When we kicked — along with France, we kicked Hezbollah out of Lebanon, I said and Barack said, ‘Move NATO forces in there. Fill the vacuum, because if you don’t know — if you don’t, Hezbollah will control it.’
Now what’s happened? Hezbollah is a legitimate part of the government in the country immediately to the north of Israel.”
Apparently this occurred in the same alternate universe in which in 1929 President FDR went on TV to address the American People.
Still, Biden exceeded expectations. He didn’t tell Gwen Ifill to stand up.
October 3, 2008 at 6:02 pm
I think Palin did speak knowledgeably on issues she knows well. She did display that with her rhetoric on energy. She did express her view on the current economic crisis and show some expertise on foreign policy and I felt she did well.
It’s widely accepted that stricter regulation by government of Wall Street could have avoided this current economic crisis. I did notice when Biden called her on why McCain supports deregulation in the markets that she averted this question and wanted to talk about something else. To her discredit, my feeling is she did this for lack of wanting to agree with Biden that more regulation is necessary or that she simply didn’t know enough about it to comment on it.
To me Palin carries with her a lot of zest, charisma and freshness that I like to see in a VP candidate but I was equally impressed with Biden’s performance despite him being a veteran to the Senate. Not knowing much about Biden other than his long tenure as a senator, the phrase he used frequently that summed up for me his vantage point and what the Democratic objective is through their policies is simply to promote “fairness” and that is not disheartening motivation to me.
October 4, 2008 at 12:58 pm
I like Sarah Palin and I think the media has been pretty tough on her, but she didn’t answer any of the questions, and just seemed to recite talking points all night. I know all politicians BS alot, but it seems like they programmed her with a set of answers to stick by all night, and she just looked like she was reading from a teleprompter most of the time.
I am suprised at how much the republican pundits are saying she did great Thursday night, were we watching the same debate? To be successful in national politics, you have to connect with the voters and be keen on the issues. She connects with the voters, but she is a lightweight when it comes to the issues, and she lucked out with the lame format. If Gwen Ifill was able to have consistent followup questions to each candidates, then we would have seen the real Sarah Palin.