Posted on 10/03/2008 11:57:40 AM PDT by crazyhorse691
O n Thursday night in a Midwestern city, a gray-haired senator from the East Coast squared off against the folksy, rookie governor of a remote Western state. It was an occasion to give curious Americans a chance to get to know them better. In Joe Biden's case, this was a good thing.
The longtime senator displayed a calm authority and breadth of knowledge that helped explain why he plays such a key role in the Senate, not to mention the Democratic caucus. And his brief moment of anguish as he recalled the tragedy that killed his wife and daughter and severely injured his two sons was the most powerful and genuine moment of the night. Of the campaign, in fact.
But in terms of substance, Biden was especially effective on foreign policy questions, ranging from the power of Iranian clerics to the intervention in Bosnia.
"I haven't heard," he said, forcefully and repeatedly, "how John McCain's policies are different from George Bush's."
Sarah Palin, though, didn't want to talk about George Bush. "Say it ain't so, Joe," she said. "There ya go again, lookin' backward."
Because most Americans hadn't heard of Sarah Palin before John McCain chose her as his running mate, Thursday's debate, fairly or not, was touted as a test of her ability to display leadership and authority. Unfortunately, it didn't answer the questions Americans have about her, because the format of the debate didn't allow for it. For both candidates, but especially for her, the debate was really a set of scripted mini-speeches.
Neither Palin nor Biden committed the sort of game-changing error that could have damaged their tickets. And both gave their supporters reasons to cheer at the house and pub parties around the country.
It was a night in which Sarah Palin could have reinforced the increasing chorus of doubters, skeptics and mockers who consider her too uninformed to be vice president, much less president. It is that very trend that helped set the bar so low for her debate performance Thursday night. Not surprisingly, she cleared it.
Yet the bar was low, too, for Biden. Obama's running mate, while experienced and respected in the Senate, easily falls in love with his own voice, even after running out of meaningful things to say. Members of Barack Obama's team couldn't exhale Thursday until he left the stage without committing a goofy blunder. He, too, cleared the bar. By a lot.
The debate Thursday is being evaluated as a piece of theater, hence the "She was a deer in the headlights" or "He couldn't shut up" sorts of criticism from the television pundits. But Americans must take the choices of Palin and Biden more seriously, partly because each represents the judgment of the men at the top of the tickets, but even more because one of them may need to replace one of those men.
The millions of Americans who tuned in Thursday saw two candidates running as agents of change. If they saw beneath the scripted moments, they saw just one, Biden, who can help deliver it.
Oh yes, Biden the change-maker. LOL. Can these ppl hear themselves?
What’s happending is that The Democrat President nominee is running against The Republican Vice President nominee .
They are afraid of 12 yrs of Sarah Palin!!!
These “Biden Won” presstitutes are so laughable. These are the same people who stridently insisted Obama won last week’s debate even though he said “John is right about (fill in the blank)” constantly and just sort of flailed around while McCain looked composed and Presidential.
Truly, these people are nothing more than propagandists.
Adn so, the MSM mantra of inevitability continues. No matter what McCain does or how well Sarah Palin performs, it is useless because this election is over.
The Bosniacs are a really nice people. ;-)
Biden didn’t display a “breadth of knowledge” - he displayed a willingness to recite incorrect statements with a straight face. This is what Washington teaches these people - to lie or make horrible factual errors with an air of certainty. If this is what concerns the editors of this paper, I’m sure Palin will learn to baffle them with BS soon also.
This is a joke, right?
“They are afraid of 12 yrs of Sarah Palin!!!”
What do you mean 12? 16!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The moonbats are terrified of Sarah.
Note to media, remove your lips from Bidens Bunghole!
The bOregonian likely wrote this weeks ago. Hey Joe, ever gut a Moose?
Pray for W, Palin/McCain and Our Troops
The only thing the newsrooms in the West really care about is the faggot issues...
Hey, there's a theater in my town called that, too. What a coincidence!
(And the writer of this article is fulla cr@p.)
It was about connecting with the American people!!! I wonder if anyone, ANYONE, has any doubt about what path that took.
Oregon - haven for the lunatic left, so rather expected.
That said, Mr. Stickel of the Oregonian allowed Obsession to be distributed with his paper in the name of free speech. Frankly I was surprised and impressed, and he’s taken quite a bit of PC flak for it.
Those in Oregon might want to thank the guy.
And to think that when I was 10 years old (50 years ago) I started on my first million by selling and delivering that rag. Had I only known....;>)
Old Joe used the propaganda technique out of the Army's PSYOPs manual. It's the "Addtional information required to be recognized" technique, page 1 of the Operations Field Manual no. 33-1. "The audience or analyst must have additional information...". In other words, he is a liar.
I'm an optimist! I would prefer only 4 yrs of McAmnesty.
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