The closely watched, vice presidential debate on October 2, 2008, between Sarah Palin and Joe Biden, is now history.
Although my reporting focus has been on Data - the Statistics of this historic race, for this event, I wanted to take an opinion survey of individual reactions from a sample of American women – as a historical record of this event. My intent was to cut through the usual major media punditry, to get to some ground truth. There is much at stake in this election, and these personal opinions inform us on the "unfiltered" thinking of women voters. Future generations will judge our collective wisdom.
I contacted about two dozen family members and friends - all women. Approximately one-third responded with written feedback. Those not responding fell into two distinct categories: first, those who had not watched the debate – tended to be the younger women (less than 30 years old); and second, those who did not want to have their comments published – this group also tended to support the Republican brand.
My contributors come from a cross-section of women in my circle of friends and family. While certainly not a statistical valid sample, the anecdotal insights are still valuable, none the less. This panel of eight, are listed here:
<> Linda, 54, nurse practitioner - Pennsylvania
<> Jill, 54, sales executive -Virginia
<> Kris , 17, student – Virginia
<> Jean, 40's, lab technician – Pennsylvania
<> Kristen, 26, engineer – Pennsylvania
<> Sarah, 87, retired homemaker – Arizona
<> Martha, 47 – Virginia
<> Michele, 55 – Pennsylvania
Overview
The post-debate statistical polling indicated that some "undecided" minds were changed. But the base, on both sides, only continued to solidify. In this panel, personal filters, based on obvious political preferences, were strong and evident.
About Palin - Sarah's Big Adventure
Linda: Palin performed much better than I anticipated (I wish she would have been more like she was in the Katie Couric interview -- I'd hoped for more comedy hour fodder). Yet she didn't answer questions presented to her much of the time. One in particular, I recall, had to deal with personal position changes that came with time and experience. Her response was to say she'd allow bills to pass for the greater good (despite her disagreement with portions of the bill). She said she would "compromise"...this was not the question at all.
The other part of her presentation I dislike is, her "package". I prefer a representative of the USA, to be polished when in public. It's much more dignified than the "gosh darn good ol' gal". Being polished is accepted much more in the world political picture. The USA isn't the Wild West anymore. I know many women/men like her, as the "down home" person she is. I think it's a detriment to our country.
Jill: I have so little respect for Sarah Palin, and all that she represents, supports and promotes, especially -- but not exclusively by any means -- concerning women's issues, that I refused to watch the debate.
Kris: I loved Palin’s Freudian slip. After listing off all sorts of bills McCain opted not to pass for moral and other reasons, and repeatedly saying "fight" ... she said, "...he is the man we need to leave.. I mean lead". Can't wait to see what SNL does with that little audio clip.
Jean: I thought she performed as well as someone in her position could perform - she basically did what they told her to do. I thought her down-home-country-type accent was annoying, distracting and superficial and obviously intended to recruit rural conservatives. I thought her repetitive winking at the camera was entirely inappropriate! This is a vice-presidential debate, not a bar! Just imagine a male candidate doing this!
Her constant mispronunciation of nuclear - she said "nuke-you-lar" instead of "nuke-lee-ar", it was reminiscent of George W. Bush, and not in a good way! Is she so uneducated, or does she think people are so stupid, that they won't notice?
I did not like how Palin avoided addressing the issue of McCain and deregulation of the financial industry! This is the most critical topic right now. Then, she said she might not answer the questions the way Gwen asked them... If "being a maverick" means avoiding the most critical, tough issues we don't need one!! I did not like how she repeated the "maverick" phrase. After about the fifth time.... we heard it, okay?! We heard it BEFORE the debate....
Palin only wanted to talk about energy. Is that the only topic she's comfortable with? It's only one topic of many. Plus I disagree, she said, "Energy is the key to the future" -- no! Solving the huge financial crisis is the key to the future! Also, she said other countries should be ready to "Back yup" (more annoying accent) when talking about foreign conflicts. The Republicans went to war in spite of the whole world - George Bush didn't care if anyone backed him up!!
Kristen: Palin handled herself with grace considering the scrutiny she has faced over the last few weeks. Though she sometimes stumbles over her words on occasion, that does not make her any less qualified to be the VP of this nation. Her answers were genuine, and I feel confident that I can trust her and McCain. She did a great job explaining the differences between their ticket and the Obama-Biden ticket, as well as noting the comments Biden has made indicating his lack of faith in Obama as the President and differing views with Obama.
I was pleased to see the Palin and Biden "agree to agree" on certain issues. I thought they gave much more straightforward responses than Obama and McCain did in the last debate.
Sarah: When Sarah Palin first started up she sounded like she had memorized it all, but as she went along she improved. She seemed to make John McCain a very special man, and he has it all (qualifications). Arizonians know McCain, and we don't think he is that special.
Martha: ... I'm not thrilled with Sarah Palin... , I think McCain went out and picked her so he could be more appealing to the general public with all the Hillary hysteria. I acknowledge her accomplishments, but do not feel as if she is a good VP pick. She did handle herself well, cracked some jokes and I like the "down home" talk, it shows me she is a real person, not a manufactured Washington product.
Michele: Palin was much better prepared for this debate than in her recent abysmal interviews. She had plenty of notes which she looked at often. She took the advice seriously to get back to being "folksy" which no doubt appeals to her conservative base. She said," You're darn right" and "dog-gonnit" and "you betcha" many times, which seemed overly predictable and maybe overly pandered to her supposed appeal. She clearly doesn't want to do interviews anymore! She likes her Cliff Notes and didn't really want to stray. "I might not answer the question."
She also returned to her attack mode, as she did at the convention. Frankly, she reminded me of all the mean girls in high school both at the convention and tonight. She gets credit for some good zingers and lots of quick attacks. One wonders what she might say to a Head of State. She had little in specifics but her appeal is her "mainstreet folksy persona and her biting attacks." I think she overplayed her experience as Governor and Mayor just by mentioning it in terms of how that experience has prepared her. For my taste she was over the top on folksy. I can't wait for Tina Fey!
About Biden - Joe Knows ... Politics
Linda: Biden performed as I expected. He answered the questions posed to him. I'm happy he responded to Palin's insinuation that she and her family were the only people to know what "tough times" meant personally. He made himself more human in my eyes, when he presented his own personal experiences of family concerns. He also is the antithesis of her giddy-up style. He appears well-mannered and yet approachable.
Jean: He performed very well. I thought he could have been a little more forceful and direct with his answers. They said he had to "walk a tightrope" for the debate - I think he was quite the gentleman, perhaps too much so. I thought he should have smiled at the camera. He smiled at Palin once or twice - that great smile should have been directed at either Gwen Ifill or the camera, not his opponent.
Also, I think he should have taken the specific word "change" when Palin said it and claimed it - as it does belong - to Obama. I'm glad he contradicted Palin over her repeated misstatements of the truth and omissions of important facts. He could have been more pointed and forceful, in speaking, just to drive home his very valid points.
Joe Biden's answer about health care was effective because this is something that WILL affect all of us and once again he had to bring up missing facts from Palin's answer. McCain's tax on health care is no small topic. I'm glad he mentioned that the money goes to the Insurance companies (they are part of the problem!) He didn't mention (and should have) that under McCain's plan, the people who can get a better "health care deal" in another state (as she mentioned) are going to be the young, healthy people -- consequently, the older people or less healthy, will be left to handle even larger health care bills. In other words, the McCain bill is basically each person "looking out for number one," still leaving a bunch of sick folks without care.
Joe said that McCain [a noted off-the-cuff campaign gaffe] wouldn't even talk to the leader of Spain! Incredible! I didn't know this before. It was good that he contradicted Palin on the surge strategy in Afghanistan. I had forgotten that McCain had voted against the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Crazy!
Sarah: Biden did OK, but he needed to correct some of her statements. At least there were remarks by Sarah, that I think needed attention (challenged).
Martha: As for the Democratic ticket, I don't like Joe Biden, I think he is a showman, selling snake oil. With that said, he talks out of both sides of his mouth, as most politicians do, but to claim to agree so readily with Obama on everything, is a joke. Then towards the end he says, "well I'm a maverick also and don't have any problem telling folks that". BS.
Michele: I think Biden was very specific and knowledgeable and left his potential for nastiness at home. He didn't attack her and even when he smiled it didn't have any sense of condescension. He focused on McCain and Bush which was a good idea. It goes without saying that he has more experience. He may have been a little above the heads of many Americans, at times, with talk about "theocracy" in Iran, for example. His best moments may have been when he spoke about his middle class background and his being a single parent and his grief over the death of his child and wife and his son in Iraq. Palin implied throughout this election cycle that somehow she was the "example" of middle class. Biden doesn't wear his personal experience on his sleeve because he is also a statesman and a great legislator. Palin seems to offer the "folksy lady who is one of us." Biden made it clear that he is also one of us and that he has been working very long to make sure that all Americans get the same opportunities as those in Washington have.
About the Debate Process – Media "Filters"
Linda: I didn't think Gwen Ifill had much of a job. Both participants were extremely civil and I appreciated that. The question I would have liked to hear answered was one addressing the issue of abortion rights.
All in all, I think this debate was more informative and reasonable than the previous presidential debate! I had to turn that one off -- McCain's smirk aggravated me to no end.
Jean: Gwen Ifill did fairly well. She did move the debate along and kept control for the most part. She should have brought Palin back to the original question about the financial crisis and McCain's constant consistent policy of deregulation, which precipitated the whole thing!
Kristen: Though I had my doubts of how objective of a moderator Gwen Ifill would be, considering her new book, I thought she did a great job showing no favoritism or bias toward any one candidate. This is a stark contrast to the recent interviews conducted by Katie Couric, who almost seemed to show no respect for Sarah Palin.
Sarah: Gwen did well, and didn't seem to be biased.
Martha: I thought the debate was handled great by Gwen Ifill, she always does a good job and did an excellent job of keeping the two candidates on task. At first, it seems neither were answering the questions and, as we got more in to it, then they answered things fairly well, in my opinion. It still seemed a little like, "my dad can beat us your dad" to me, with each of them referencing their top dogs.
Michele: I didn't like the format. It was a bit dull, and didn't allow for any real exchange. I think it would have been a much better debate, had there been an exchange between the candidates.
In conclusion...
This group of women already know who they are voting for and why. No "undecideds" here. Strong women - strong opinions. This group favored Joe Biden 6 to 2. No statistical conclusion should be drawn from this very non-random sample.
For those favoring Biden, they are notably underwhelmed by Palin. She clearly does not replace Hillary Clinton for these women. The Palin nomination does not appear to attract "moderate" women, only the base-to-far right Republicans appear to be energized by her run.
UPDATE #2 -- 7:12pm,10/6
NOTE FOR FURTHER READING: I am becoming increasingly convinced that "political orientation" is largely a psychological/biological process.
Born Democrats? Born Republicans?
See What Makes People Vote Republican?