Then Brokaw says, "People are saying nobody has a tougher job than Joe Biden, going up against a woman....does it make it more difficult to go up against her than say Mitt Romney?" A process question. To Joe's credit, he said he's had formidable female opponents before and has had to debate female Senators before. He also stressed that he knows Romney's positions, but not Palin's, thus reinforcing Palin's being sequestered. I thought his answer was strong enough. Again, fine.
Then Brokaw showed some of the female supporters who came out for Palin and mentioned how they are referring to her as "Sarah." He then asked if that's a problem because there had been a dust up between Hillary and Barack supporters. Again, I thought Joe made the correct argument that just because Palin shares female voters' gender does not mean she holds positions that drew women to Hillary in particular and Democrats in general.
But then the silly questions started to come.
Brokaw showed an article from the New York Post - Rupert Murdoch's preeminent dead-tree Republican propaganda tool - concerning the fact that Oprah would not have Palin on until after the election. First, when Oprah made the decision to support Barack, she made clear she would have no politicians on her show because her bias for one candidate was now apparent. The whole "Oprah won't have Palin on her show" controversy was manufactured by the right wing blog and media. Brokaw falsely suggested that Oprah had had Obama on this election season (in fact, she had him on before her endorsement). But then he asked a really dumbass question: "Do you think some people will see that as an elitist position? That in someway Democrats will be afraid of her?" Huh? First of all, why are Republicans demanding that Palin get interviewed on a soft-format like a daytime talk show? Why should Palin be segregated to a show that caters mostly to women? Republicans know she could get interviewed on as many news programs that she would like to get on. Why single out Oprah, who has made clear she supports Obama? But finally: why ask this to Joe Biden? What relevance does this have to his interviewing to be Vice President? Truly bizarre.
To Biden's credit, he reiterated that he and Barack want to stay away from discussing family matters but then tried to reshift the interview back to the discussion of issues like healthcare, the war, etc. Brokaw wouldn't have it. Instead he said, "Let's talk about polls." He then showed the Gallup daily tracking poll which showed Barack-Biden opening a lead after their convention and that same leading closing as the Republican convention progressed. What did they take away from this? That is what happens when you have conventions. Duh. A horserace question. How does this help the American people make an informed decision?
Then Broaw asks if they're going to send Hillary Clinton into working class neighborhoods in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Again, a process question. Brokaw's follow up question: "Side-by-side with Barack Obama or just with you?" C'mon. Is he for real? Are these the kind of issues people will be basing their decisions on?
Then Brokaw told a straight out lie. He said that Barack had said early on in the campaign that he would agree to town hall meetings with John McCain "two, three times a week." Can anyone tell me when Obama said he would commit to such a thing? He said he would be open to it and even was in negotiations with McCain's campaign to add more debates in the summer. But because he didn't agree to McCain's exact framework of a town hall each week during the summer, the McCain campaign would not agree to Obama's campaign compromises. Nevertheless, Brokaw asked if Biden thought it would be a good idea to have these town hall meetings more often. Once again, a process question. Biden rightfully answered that these discussions between the two camps came about before he came onto the ticket. But again, where are the issues an Obama-Biden team would govern?
Now, I give Brokaw credit for finally saying he's going to get to the issues and this second half of the interview was first rate - mostly because Biden is first rate in his knowledge. He starts out by talking about Iraq and the surge. Here is where one can see why Obama chose Biden. Biden absolutely came to life during this section of the interview. Anyone could see he loved to speak about this stuff and knew his shit. He is so fluid in his answers concerning this matter, often pointing out to Brokaw that the surge was merely assisting in what was actually happening among the Shia and Sunni. The question comes down to: why did Brokaw waste so much time on the bullshit preceding these important matters? He had a limited time to ask Biden stuff and instead he was asking him questions about why he couldn't ask him and Palin more questions. And finally, isn't this a contrast with how Palin would probably answer these questions? Well, we don't know because Palin won't submit to this kind of interrogation. (Though the Wingnuts need to create an artificial controversy about not getting to sit on Oprah's couch.)
Brokaw's question about the possible government take over Fannie and Freddie Mac was a good and important question. And Biden, once again, knew what he was talking about. It was reassuring to see he knew all the intricacies involved in this matter. And again, would Palin have any idea what was going on with this matter?
Brokaw's final line of questioning was again good and important:
- Biden's relationship to the banking industry and lobbyists
- Biden's position on abortion as a practicing Catholic.
I took some comfort from his defense of his vote concerning banks, though I still wish he had not voted for the bankruptcy bill. And I thought he gave one of the best defenses I have ever heard from a Catholic politician for his pro-choice position a pluralistic society.
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Again, I want reiterate that I thought the second half of the interview was fabulous. Brokaw asked important questions and Biden really made me proud as a Democrat. But the first half of the interview was a waste of a good politician's time and a waste for us voters who really want answers.
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