Biden is lying through his teeth but Palin is talking too quickly trying to hit a thousand tiny points (and always on the defensive). She should be hitting a couple big punchy points and moving on. Whoever prepped her for this debate did a lousy job.
(9:22pm) : Bidens economic populism trumps McCain's economic illiteracy. It shouldn't, but it does.Sarah, SLOW DOWN. Take a breath after commas and periods. As a small grace Biden seems to have quickened his cadence to match hers.
(9:22pm) : either side wins, we lose.
(9:22pm) : *sigh*
(9:33pm) : she has adopted McCain's line on climate change, energy independence, greedy markets, etc. This is a fight to the left.9:40pm They've both slowed down. Or maybe I've just gotten used to the pace.
(9:33pm) : arrrgggh
(9:34pm) : which is dumb because that's a fight Republicans can't win. I don't think she has called Obama left wing once (she did say he voted with the dems 95% of the time, but that ain't the same thing).
9:43pm She's good on the war. Perhaps because this is one of the few issues where she actually believes the same thing as McCain.
9:49pm Wait, did she just go after Obama? About time. Unfortunately it is on the technical negotiate-with-dictators point which causes everyone but policy wonks to roll their eyes and change the channel.
9:51pm Israel/Palestine. cut-n-paste from the Obama/McCain debate. I'm not sure what the point of debating this is because as Milton Himmelfarb joked “Jews earn like Episcopalians and vote like Puerto Ricans.” No votes to be won or lost here.
9:56pm Biden "How different are McCain's foreign policies going to be from George Bushes?" Hey Joe, how different are Obama's going to be from Jimmy Carter's?
Note: this format stinks. The question is asked and then each veep recites a canned speech and then they move on. There is no reason they have to been in the same room for this.
10:05pm Biden says McCain was wrong wrong wrong on the war. This might be good for his base but the public likes winning, and we're winning. So if McCain was wrong, let's have more of that.
10:07pm Question: "what would happen if you were elevated to president?" Both answers were hyperbolic and dodged the question. Biden "This is the most important election since 1932" Really? Palin "This is about electing a team of two Mavericks [then she winked]." I've only had two beers but I feel a bit ill.
10:10pm Biden tries to be more working-class-than-thou. Bad move, Palin wins on this one bigtime.
Note: FNC has had a phone-in "Who won the debate?" ticket at the bottom of the screen for the entire debate. Shouldn't they wait until it's over?
10:16pm FNC is now doing more split-screens. Bidens choppers and facial expressions are enough to give small children nightmares.
10:23pm The wrapup question, I think? Palin gives a canned pro-McCain speech and rushes through it. She's bad at the canned bits.
10:25pm Something about bipartisanship. Both sides talk in platitudes of different flavors.
Final thoughts: Palin failed utterly to label Obama as left wing. Biden did an OK job of tying McCain to Bush. Palin was likable and confident but in a patchy way. Biden was Biden, not likable but not dislikable either and he dodged his windbag reputation.
(10:34pm) : crap, I missed the end.
(10:35pm) : no, no you didn't.