So tonight was a rather interesting debate. We all knew Palin would do well. Of course, any of us would have done at least 10 times better because we actually KNOW what we're talking about rather than reading off of flash cards. But all of that aside, she didn't throw up on the teleprompter or make any major gaffes (unfortunate, I know).
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We can attribute a lot of this to the fact that since day 1 of being chosen to be the VP pick, she's been cramming like a college student at finals. We also know that she was being coached by none other than George W. Bush's guys and gals.
I always thought that this was kind of like being the new kid at school and having the kids from detention being in charge of your tutoring. Why on earth would anyone really want to be taught by the same people that have failed at every aspect of governing in the past 8 years?! I can't make any sense of it but apparently Republicans believe that if they were able to fool the American public 2 years in a row then the same "strategery" would work again (I know the past 2 elections were stolen but if more American's hadn't actually voted for W then it wouldnt have been close enough to steal in the first place).
So here's the proof that they're using the same lines because the same people are still in charge
But on the up side it doesn't look like we're falling for it again. We've already had some pundit roundup but I wanted to add a few other notes on it.
The Huffington Post has some great interviews with former McCain and Bush operatives that are pretty hard hitting:
Torie Clarke, who worked with McCain back in Arizona and with the Bush Administration's Department of Defense, had the following remarks on ABC:
"I'm so surprised at what we are talking about before and after the debate. Before the debate the speculation was all on Sarah Palin, how well can she do, can she answer the tough questions? Nobody was paying attention to Joe Biden. I think Joe Biden had his best night tonight. He came with one mission, and that was to go after John McCain, and he did it, backed up by facts. I think he did a better job tonight of tying McCain to the Bush administration than Obama did last week.
Matthew Dowd followed up in agreement by saying that
... I think Sarah Palin did reasonably well. The death spiral she has been on for the last week, she survived. She's lived another day. She did well. But I think, when the polls come out in the next two, three days, Joe Biden won this debate.
E.J. Dionne Jr.
called out Palin for what she did
Early in last night's vice-presidential debate, Sarah Palin said that she might not answer the questions as moderator Gwen Ifill posed them. This was the Alaska governor's way of saying she was going to stick to the talking points she had stuffed into her head, no matter what the subject.
He went on to add that
Palin has also brought out the very worst in McCain, forcing him to -- and I do not use this word lightly -- lie about her. In an interview broadcast Wednesday, National Public Radio's Steve Inskeep asked McCain if there would be "an occasion where you could imagine turning to Governor Palin for advice in a foreign policy crisis?"
The New York Times noted that
We cannot recall when there were lower expectations for a candidate than the ones that preceded Sarah Palin’s appearance in Thursday night’s vice-presidential debate with Joseph Biden.
....Ms. Palin never really got beyond her talking points in 90 minutes, mostly repeating clichés and tired attack lines and energetically refusing to answer far too many questions.
Ms. Palin’s primary tactic was simply to repeat the same thing over and over: John McCain is a maverick. So is she. To stay on that course, she had to indulge in some wildly circular logic: America does not want another Washington insider. They want Mr. McCain (who has been in Congress for nearly 26 years). Ms. Palin condemned Wall Street greed and said she and Mr. McCain would "demand" strict oversight. In virtually the next breath, she said government should "get out of the way" of American business.
They finished up with a wonderful overall description of McCain's pathetic campaign strategy
In the end, the debate did not change the essential truth of Ms. Palin’s candidacy: Mr. McCain made a wildly irresponsible choice that shattered the image he created for himself as the honest, seasoned, experienced man of principle and judgment. It was either an act of incredible cynicism or appallingly bad judgment.