LiveBlog: The Vice-Presidential Deba(cle)te
11:10 – Closing up shop here, guys. Thanks so much for reading and contributing here. I'm always perplexed but flattered that anybody wants to follow these things with me. So, sincerely, thanks!
But, please, do keep up the conversation in comments as long as you like.
11:02 – From the comments: "Sorry guys, it looks like Palin did it. I knew Biden was a bad choice, he will get crucified by the Press once his bad memories about voting records he forgot then argued about will come back to haunt him.
"You heard it here first McCain 53% Obama 47%." – Joe S
Well, that certainly is an opinion. Remember, guys, we heard it here first.
10:57 – From the comments: "Bosniac is technically ok, as the people of bosnia call them selves many things, seriously, it is correct." – amanda
Okay, so I'm an idiac.
10:51 – "Biden didn't put the boot in; he didn't come off as sexist; he didn't make any obvious gaffes. Palin didn't collapse and pushed through the debate with enough speed not to wobble. But it felt as if she needed the speed in order not to wobble. Her inexperience showed; her tone worked best at first and then began to grate. I don't think this debate changed the direction of this election campaign, and I think Palin's performance will buck up base Republicans but actually unnerve some independents." – Andrew Sullivan
10:49 – From the comments: "I think she nailed it in terms of poise and presentation, but she came across forced, rote, and empty to me. Joe stammered, made grammatical errors, but he felt more real, honest, and open to me." – copax
10:45 – By the way, did Biden have one real Biden moment? He must have, but I can't remember one.
10:44 – From the comments: "If she cannot follow the rules of a National Debate. Do Ya Think, she'll follow thr rules if she got into the WH." – Jose6pacs
10:42 – Oh, and he parroted Palin's "filter" line, and thinks it's a great idea to keep her away from the media's "filter."
10:41 – Pat Buchanan thinks Palin did great! Also, the sky is blue.
10:37 – So, Palin did waaaaaay better than a lot of people thought she would. I, personally, assumed that she'd do about this good. But that's just because Rachel Maddow thinks that, and Rachel Maddow is dreamy.
How did she match up to your expectations?
10:35 – Joe Biden is rubbing Sarah Palin's arm in a really creepy way.
10:33 – There's some gross dude back behind them taking pictures of them! Get that guy out of there!
10:32 – Biden's final statement was Biden's final statement. That's all I have to say about that.
10:31 – McCain is the only candidate who has really fought for us.
Did you know that he was a POW?
10:29 – "I like being able to answer these tough questions without the filter of the mainstream media."
Yeah, that fucking MSM totally screwed up her fantastic Supreme Court dissertation.
10:28 – Infastructure?
10:26 – Don't say a "dangerous thing," Joe! Obama must be shitting himself right now.
10:25 – Darcy says the "maverick" count is only up to five for Palin. I find that hard to believe.
Oh, and only one "betcha." Again, I'm shocked.
10:23 – They are really burning up the word "maverick" like the clutch on my old Ford Escort. And that's not a good thing, because then you crash into a mailbox. And let's face it – you're probably drunk.
10:22 – Is anybody counting all these "maverick"s?
10:21 – She said "Maverick" again. Somebody's getting drunk.
Oh, wait. That's me.
10:20 – Please, Biden! Don't actually answer the question about your biggest fault! Please!
10:19 – Equal rice?
10:18 – Palin's not even coming close to answering the question again. She's answering some other question asked of her. Possibly by Jesus.
10:17 – So, fumblemouth Palin is admitting to agreeing with Dick Cheney?
10:15 – Well, Biden's answer to "What does a vice president do?" is a lot more complete than Palins.
But he wasn't nearly as sweet in explaining it.
10:13 – So, that "What does a vice president do" thing was a lame joke?
Well, it was lame.
10:12 – "Say it ain't so, Joe!" "There you go again!" "Doggonit!" What 1930's movie did she walk out of?
10:10 – "Palin just winked at me! What a cutie pie!" – DS
10:09 – Darcy's cousin points out that Biden's non-answer was the longest non-answer ever.
10:06 – I'll tell you, Palin isn't saying much. But she's not saying it really well.
10:05 – From the comments: "Straight Talk!!!! who is she to talk about that!!! she has not answered 1 question tonight." – Qbee37
10:03 – "Oh, man, it's so obvious that I'm a Washington outsider." Zing! That lady's got Moxie, by George!
10:02 – Bosniac?
10:00 – Did Joe Biden just sigh in annoyance like my father?
9:57 – She's not answering the "when can we nuke people" question at all. She's talking all over the place about whatever. And now she's talking about Afghanistan.
Essentially, her answer to when the U.S. can nuke people? was Iran shouldn't be allowed to get nucular weapons.
9:56 – From the comments: "Biden's smirking at Palin just makes him look bad. He needed to review Bush #1's attitude towards Ferrara during their VP debate in order to avoid appearing patronizing." – Doreen
9:54 – Wow, I haven't seen anybody go after the Jews this hard since the last time I logged onto J Date.
9:52 – "No one is a better friend to Israel than Joe Biden." Uh oh. Joe Biden is talking about himself in the third-person now. He's about to snap.
9:50 – Obama didn't say he'd sit down with Ahmadinejad? That's news to me.
9:49 – These evil dictators hate us for our freedoms! And our respect for women's rights! Kind of like Palin.
9:47 - She doesn't know who the head of al Qaeda is? Did she just call him "That al Qaeda leader guy?" Or am I hallucinating?
9:46 – From the comments: "Who is Talibani? I want to smack her with a moosehead!" – Danielle
9:44 – "Let me say that again."
9:43 – She's fumbling on an Iraq plan. For a moment there, she was caught up in Couricville.
9:42 – And smack right back! John McCain voted the same as Barack Obama on that "not funding the troops" nonsense.
9:40 – Whoa! She is a much better debater than she is an interviewee. Nice move on saying she respects Biden's calling out Obama on "not funding the troops."
9:39 – Joe Biden and Barack Obama have the same opinion as Sarah Palin about gay marriage. That sucks!
9:38 – So, she's tolerant of gay people. Just just wouldn't tolerate the definition of the word "marriage" being altered slightly.
9:37 – From the Gaffe Track: "Palin – Senator O'Biden."
9:34 – "Um, the quote is 'Drill, Baby, Drill!'" That's it, Sarah! Call that bastard out on the big issues.
9:33 – She doesn't want to care about the causes but she does want to reduce emissions? Why would she reduce emissions if she doesn't know what the causes are? – MK
9:32 – She was the first governor to form a climate change sub-cabinet? I find that highly unlikely. Anyone out there able to confirm or deny this?
9:30 – Sarah Palin said she might not give the answers the Gwen is looking for. She's going to talk to straight to the people. That seems to have been a fancy way of saying "I'm not going to answer questions, and instead just say whatever I want."
Sarah. That's called a SPEECH. This is a DEBATE. – MK
9:29 – "It's a toxic mess on Main St. that's effecting Wall St." God damn those greedy middle class people stealing caviar out of corporate CEOs' mouths!
9:26 – "Not just darn she's said Heck. That is some potty mouth." – my coworker Darcy Savit who makes me do thing I'm supposed to do but usually forget
9:24 – "How long have I been here? Like, five weeks. So, there haven't been a whole lot that I've promised."
Finally! She says something truthful.
9:23 – The comments seems to disagree with me on Joe's "Bridge to Nowhere" line.
9:21 – "I call that the ultimate Bridge to Nowhere." Booooo!
Even the orange and green lines agree with me.
9:20 – Look at the orange line. Women love Handsome Joe!
9:19 – "Unless you're pleased with the way the federal government is running anything these days…" Good line.
9:17 – From the comments: "Check out the woman the flag pin is wearing." – Cube
9:14 – Biden just called out Palin for not answering the deregulation question. Then she was given a chance to answer it and she immediately skirted it again. Then time ran out! WTF?
9:12 – She sure says darn a lot. Not very Christian. – MK
9:11 – If you're watching CNN, did you happen to notice the dip in viewer approval the second Biden started talking. Now he's winning over women more then men, but they're both kind of rising again.
9:09 – "Neither of you really answered that question." Nice work, Gwen!
9:07 – Oh my God! She's actually parroting the bullshit "fundementals of economy" being American workers line. Has that not been completely outed as the biggest joke ever?
9:05 – Palin — in her first real sentence of the debate — brought up a kid's soccer game. Apparently, she's still running for Vice Hockey Mom.
9:04 – Wow, so they've never even met one another. I don't know why that surprises me, but it does.
9:03 – Here they come.
"Hey, can I call you Joe?" She's already charming and adorable.
8:39 – Two notes before we dive into the LiveBlog tonight. First of all, if you haven't already, sign up to follow our Twitter account where tonight we will be cataloging all the foot-in-mouth moments with our running Gaffe Track throughout the debate.
Also, in case you haven't heard, thedailyshow.com launched a new Forum area this week. Indecision 2008 has its own section over there where you can discuss the debate with the community in real time. We'll be starting in just 21 minutes, so come on back and enjoy the one and only VP debate! – MK
——–
Tonight, two of the greatest political speakers/thinkers of our time will face of against one another in a historic battle of wits. Probably. Somewhere.
Oh, and, also, the two VP candidates will be embarrassing themselves and speaking in tongues on live national television.
It's this old man…
vs. this hockey mom…
And I'll tell you what. I have a feeling that — regardless of which candidate outperforms the other — the real winner of tonight's debate is gonna be Comedy.
Check back here — at this very post — tonight at 9 pm to watch the destruction of everything we hold dear with us.
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"Talibani" is a correct term also. She probably got it from one her short meetings at the UN the other day. It's like saying "Pakistani" or "Afghani." An adjective, I think they call those.
Ms. Palin did meet the "better than expected" standard. But when she stated that she would essentially refuse to ask the moderator's questions, and then lived up to her word, any curiousity or open-minded attitude I had toward her was effectively quenched. She was coached very well, and I admire her ability to cram. I do not find her substantive or qualified for leadership of the United States.
Sen. Joe Biden won with experience. And why does the Govt. have to bail out the rich? Common sense is to bail out the working and non working families. And stop giving tax credits to the rich. End the war and use diplomacy to obtain what all human beings in this world we all live in need; our basic needs covered and met; such as health care, food, and education for all who can contribute in our worlds society. Common sense to start at home with our financial problems and then we can be able to help our international neighbors.
Basically, fear is what they; wether our enemies or allies want us as a nation to endure in order to succumb as whole. And I say no more. I support Obama/Biden for new energy independence; away from the tyrants who control oil. God Bless America and the World.
JOSEPH FIGUEROA
FLORIDA
DEMOCRAT AND HAPPY WHEN CLINTON WAS OUR CHIEF.
CHANGE WITH BARACK OBAMA AND JOSEPH BIDEN IS NEEDED;
NO MORE RUINS;LIKE MCCAIN AND PALIN.
palin is the queen of low expectations; biden was more informed and knowledged. why didn't the moderator bring up abortion rights or women's issues???
Biden actually has a record in Washington to examine. He's been through enough in decades of personal and political triumph and tragedy, that we know he will not fold, but will fight for whatever he thinks is right. Palin has to rely on McCain's record in Washington because she doesn't have one. Isn't this 'experience' issue the very thing many were criticizing Obama for? Now that most of us are wrapped up in the drama, we're ignoring points like that and giving her credit where it isn't due. McCain and camp has complained about her not being treated with respect. But consider this – given that Hillary was impaled with sexist attacks and Obama was put down for not having experience, Sarah is now treated with kid gloves in both these respects. Everyone is afraid to criticize her. John Mc will govern no differently from W., despite his antics. But undoubtedly he is the more crafty political strategist. His success at getting Palin to where she is, walking on a red carpet, is proof. It is this very problem – successful crafting and imagery – that Obama must take on, if he expects to win.
Anyone else happy that Biden finally shot down the "McCain is a maverick" arguement? I haven't heard anyone do that from the summer on.
Overall, I think Biden won the debate itself; unless the media stops with the "Palin didn't completely f___ it" gushing, she'll win the airtime.
This was one of the funniest comedies I've seen in a while! My husband had to leave the room because he couldn't listen to Sarah speak. It was like nails on a chalkboard. I thought it was more like watching a car crash, in that I couldn't take my eyes away from it. I actually felt embarrassed for her. She brought out the folksyness, a few winks, and gave more of a campaign speech rather than answers. Her answers were memorized, and when she couldn't finish an answer or couldn't think of an answer, she'd change the subject. She actually said "Oh man, it's so obvious I'm a Washington outsider."
Her best line was "McCain should leave … lead …"
I didn't watch the debate. I went to see a play "The Seafarer" by Conor McPherson. It's a play about 5 guys who play a card game on Christmas Eve in Dublin; one guy is the Devil (so a stand-in for McCain) and one guy is blind & fairly whiny (stand-in for Palin). The hero was obviously Obama. I don't think Biden came for the game; there was too much drinking. So there you have it. Seriously, if McCain/Palin win, I'm moving to Canada, even if I have to live in northern Saskatchewan (help me, did I spell it correctly? I could taken the easy road & picked Manitoba, everyone can spell that). VOTE DEMOCRAT OR DON'T VOTE AT ALL BECAUSE YOU DON'T DESERVE TO VOTE.
Having a President that's friendly, that you might want to invite to a BBQ hasn't worked out too well. So, why would be want a VP that speaks like she's hanging out at Mickey D's? Oh, and the shout out to third graders, please!