Posted by
Andrew Roman on Friday, October 03, 2008 12:37:37 AM
Thursday’s Vice Presidential debate was a winner for the Republican ticket. Depending on your barometer, Governor Sarah Palin may or may not have hit a home run tonight – I say she smacked a two-run triple into the gap – but she unquestionably came up huge, foiling (and probably disappointing) her tongue-watering critics, standing her ground admirably, going toe-to-toe with the time-worn, grizzled sigh-master, Senator Joe Biden. It wasn’t a performance for the ages in the classic sense, but it was one of the most personable and likeable performances I have ever seen in a debate – and it will be paramount in injecting some new life into the recently floundering McCain campaign.
In short, Palin was terrific.
Like John McCain’s debate with Barack Obama last week, I thought that it was a substantive victory for the GOP … and like that first Presidential debate, I found myself waiting for the Republican candidate to shoot back after being fired upon with annoying pellets of intellectually dishonest accusations from the Democratic side – particularly on the government bailout (or rescue package, if you’re so inclined) of the American financial system. When Biden followed Barack’s lead by squarely placing blame on Republicans for the crisis, I hoped – nay, prayed – that Palin would fire her canons swiftly and decisively, backed up with enough ammunition to fill three more Vice-Presidential debates.
Like McCain, she didn’t.
Big opportunities were missed to bury Biden. Sadly, all I heard coming from Palin were limp crackles about predatory lenders. Nothing about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – government sponsored entities – being the institutions most in need of stronger regulation and limitations, something Democrats were against. It was nice that she acknowledged McCain’s call for greater government oversight three years ago for these GSEs, but she didn’t do nearly enough there. I let out a Joe Biden-like sigh when that train left the station unboarded.
And if I never hear the phrase “Joe Six-Pack” again, it will be far too soon … but please make Biden stop with all of those “kitchen table” references. Please!
Yet, through it all, Sarah Palin proved she is a star with her performance last evening.
She was remarkably strong when attacking Biden on his vote to authorize the war in Iraq and his subsequent reactive anti-war stance. The way she chuckled at him – in no way meant to be disrespectful - was priceless and a highlight of the night. It’s a shame she was not quite up to snuff on some of the finer details in the foreign policy arena – like Biden’s bizarre assertion that George W. Bush let Hezbollah into Lebanon and all that wacky NATO stuff he was trying to peddle – but for those who know anything about the realities and actualities of world events, Palin wasn’t needed to expose the frolicking nonsense of Clueless Joe.
Biden – to quote a phrase – was busy being Biden. He was seasoned, fairly cardboard, a master of the lefty lingo, touching upon the key phrases when necessary, always ready to spring back at Palin with (his version of) the facts, detached, often hard-hitting and nothing particularly memorable.
Palin, on the other hand, was so very un-debate-like, without ever being too cartoonishly colloquial or overly Frank Capra-esque, that it resonated tremendously with people like me – your average Joe Lunch Pail (better?). Even a focus group on the Fox News Channel immediately after the debate, mediated by Frank Luntz and comprised of an equal amount of Republicans and Democrats from the 2004 election who claim to be currently undecided, overwhelmingly gave the debate to Sarah Palin.
Substance is one thing – and I think Palin's positions are the right ones.
But make no mistake … this debate was about personality. This debate was about Sarah. And Sarah won.
Andrew Roman, Brooklyn, NY