Posted on 10/02/2008 9:29:50 PM PDT by buccaneer81
Palin holds her own in debate, steering answers to topics she knows well Neither the Republican nor Democrat Biden commit major gaffes Thursday, October 2, 2008 11:29 PM By Jack Torry and Joe Hallett THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH WASHINGTON -- Technically, there were two contestants in tonight's vice-presidential debate. But in reality, the debate was all about Republican Sarah Palin.
At a time when even some conservatives questioned whether she had the knowledge and experience to handle the vice presidency, the Alaska governor appeared to hold her own against Democrat Joe Biden, a six-term senator from Delaware and a seasoned debater.
Biden, as expected, displayed his customary grasp of weighty international and domestic issues, and appeared to win the debate on points. But Palin, except for getting the name wrong of the U.S. commanding general in Afghanistan, at least showed that she is a reasonably quick study.
She avoided major gaffes, often dodging direct answers to questions and adroitly steering the topic to areas she was more comfortable with: her record as governor of Alaska, taxes and increasing oil exploration.
Palin even went so far as to warn Biden and moderator Gwen Ifill of the Public Broadcasting Service that she would blaze her own trail: "I may not answer the questions that either the moderator or you want to hear, but I'm going to talk straight to the American people and let them know my track record also."
She displayed considerable charm, at one point winking at the audience. When she walked out on stage to shake hands with Biden, she asked: "Hey, can I call you Joe?''
Her folksiness, sometimes a bumbling liability in interviews, clicked during the debate. She also won the sound-bite battle with such refrains as "The chant is drill, baby, drill,'' when she talked about increasing oil exploration. She called Obama's plan on Iraq "a white flag of surrender.''
And, mixing a metaphor from the 1919 Black Sox baseball scandal with a Ronald Reagan one-liner from his 1980 debate against President Jimmy Carter, she said: "Say it ain't so, Joe. There you go again.''
As the debate went on, Palin also delivered a couple of zingers against Biden. At one point, she noted that in 2002 he voted to authorize President Bush to use force against Iraq, saying, "Oh, yeah, it's obvious I'm not a Washington outsider. And someone just not used to the way you guys operate. Because here you voted for the war, and now you oppose the war.''
But Biden showed a superior command of the facts and far-greater knowledge of issues than Palin, and he was especially effective in rebutting her constant portrayals of McCain as a maverick.
"He's not been a maverick on the (Iraq) war," Biden said. "He's not been a maverick on virtually anything that genuinely affects the things that people really talk about around their kitchen table."
Biden also showed that despite his 36 years in the Senate, he understood the trials and tribulations ordinary Americans face when he touchingly talked about the auto accident that killed his first wife and severely injured his two sons.
For Palin, the debate was a high-stakes appearance. After she fumbled her way through interviews with ABC's Charlie Gibson and CBS' Katie Couric, public opinion polls showed that a sizable number of Americans doubted whether she had the ability to serve as Republican John McCain's vice president if they win in November.
The debate took place as a spate of national polls show Democrat Barack Obama opening a lead of five to seven percentage points over McCain. Earlier in the day, McCain's campaign ended its television advertising in the key state of Michigan, an acknowledgement that Obama will win there.
James A. Schnell, professor of communications studies at Ohio Dominican University, said Palin gained the most ground in the debate by showing "she can competently and spontaneously discuss a variety of complex issues, and presented a contrast to those gaffes she committed" in last week's television interviews.
John Green, a political scientist at the University of Akron, said both candidates helped their running mates in the debate, even though they presented opposite images in almost every way.
"My feeling is (Palin) didn't seem diminished on the stage," Green said. "She just seemed different. I think more than anything, she sold her personality."
On the other hand, Green said, "If anybody had any questions about Joe Biden's understanding of the issues and problems facing America, they won't anymore."
As usual, the candidates took liberties with the facts:
Palin said that Obama has voted to increase taxes or not support a tax reduction 94 times. An analysis by factcheck.org found that assertion to be vastly overstated.
Biden complained about "economic policies of the last eight years" that led to "excessive deregulation." In fact, Biden voted for 1999 deregulation that liberal groups are blaming for part of the financial crisis today.
jtorry@dispatch.com
jhallett@dispatch.com
“Hold her own”????
It was more like Shock and Awe.
Yeah, overwhelming FR consensus is she kicked butt. I’ll just register a little dissent here and say I thought she seemed nervous, missed too many opportunities to attack Biden/Obama, and failed too many times to rebut Biden’s extremely tough attacks on McCain. I found myself wishing Dick Cheney could step in and straighten things out. Nevertheless she didn’t blow it and got a couple of pretty good lines in. It’s funny how a conventional wisdom — in the general media and the pundits — crystallizes within just a couple hours after these debates, and in this case it seems to be that Biden won on points but that Palin surpassed expectations and came across as more appealing. I think this is a pretty reasonable take on it.
Killer post!
I'm about fed up with him using his dead wife as an excuse for a pity party.
Oh, woe Joe is me!
WELL DONE
SARAH PALIN!!!!!!
Sarah beat the crap out of Biden. This left wing hack saying she held her own is liberal speak for Biden lost big time.
excellent!
so all of the msm’s are putting up fake results in order to hopefully sway people.
I thought her best line was when she said, to paraphrase,
“You attempted a lame joke, but it didn’t work, because nobody laughed.”
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