10/03/2008 01:13:10 PM EST

The VP Debate...Who Won??

posted by yturks

         By Jayar Jackson

As Seen at www.jayarjackson.com

After the first and last Vice Presidential debate between Senator Joe Biden and Governor Sarah Palin wrapped up late Thursday night, the country looked to find out who won the debate.  The answer to that question can never be given to anyone, as analysts determine the victor based on anything from the facts to their looks.  Debates are sometimes determined by which candidate exhibits knowledge and a firm grasp on ways to solve the country's problems.  Conversely, debates are also sometimes judged based on who wore the sharper outfit, the shape of their faces and how attractive their smiles were, and which candidate more seamlessly pulled of being a politician to seem more connected to the people watching at home.  

Let me tell you how Thursday night went down.  

Email Print
Google Technorati del.icio.us digg reddit Facebook
Thursday night was a tale of two extremely different running mates.  One illustrated an airtight handle on the facts and issues that face our nation by reactively answering the moderator's questions.  The other read her essay, simply hitting the points that were prepared for her, and ignored the entire debating process of answering the questions!  

While Biden spoke of details behind the Iraq War and why it has been a disastrous expedition from the beginning, Palin stumbled into the slogan, "You just want to wave the white flag of surrender."  While Palin tried to skirt the causes of global warming and simply say we need to fix it, Biden pointed out the elementary mindset that "we need to know the causes in order to fix it."  If Palin were a car mechanic faced with a grounded car, leaking fluids and not running, she'd rather tell her customer she'll fix it without looking under the hood for the source of the problem. She doesn't want to point fingers at that old radiator and oil leak, she just wants to start with the trunk.  As Senator Biden backed up every single point he made with hard facts and numbers, Governor Palin winked to the camera, piled on folksy rhetoric, delivered empty and false charges of tax hikes, and proposed nonsensical solutions void of any facts.  

In the end, since Palin disappointed many Democrats that were hoping for a "moose in headlights" moment from her on live television, this was immediately seen as a win for her.  After her disastrous interviews with Charlie Gibson and Katie Couric where she showed she has no idea what the Bush Doctrine is and that she can't name Supreme Court decisions she disagrees with, the bar for Palin was set at world record lows.  For those that paid close attention to her vacant answers, she only managed to not obviously show that she has no idea what she's talking about.  

If we have gotten to the point in this country that a winning moment for a candidate for Vice President is simply participating in a debate where she doesn't make a fool of herself, then we've turned into a country of losers.  This is like saying "sure Usain Bolt won the 100m and 200m at the Olympics in record times, but dammit I really like the way Darvis Patton didn't fall on his face in the middle, he's the true Olympic champion in my book!"  

--JJJ

< Palin - Biden Debate Thread | Americans Don't Need "One Of Us" In The White House. >
 Display:
The VP Debate...Who Won?? | 4 comments (4 topical, 0 hidden)
100% right, 0% wrong (none / 0)

Jayar, I thought this was a good blog from you.  I bet you are even better on sports, but I know as much about sports as Sarah knows about governing a nation.

The bar would never have been set so low for a man.  It is embarrassing that this woman even has the slightest chance of getting in the White House when you think of Hillary and how hard she worked and how smart she is (and I'm not even a huge fan).  My feeling is that our ambitious little Princess Nowhere Sarah would be easy pickings as a puppet for the same slimy people that are now in power--Rove and his ilk.  I fear that scenario.  We MUST get Obama in the White House. God, it is so obvious that Sarah is in the pocket of Big Oil.  The latest trick is to tax them a pittance to pay off the populace so that they buy in to burning more fossil fuels.  It hardly punishes Big Oil, as Sarah likes to imply.  It just ensures decades of job security for them and their Republican cronies.  It makes me so angry.

P.S.  I have to disagree with your verdict on Usain Bolt in the 100-m though--I think it was funny and entertaining that he high-stepped in the end.  lol.

by desertpear on 10/03/2008 10:46:36 PM EST

The VP Debate (none / 0)
I can't wait to see SNLs Tina Fey do Palin in the debate.....her standing there with a chip in her ear being fed every line the MacAsses want her to say....only thing is.... she even f'ed that up...she is an insult to women thinking that we'll  just vote for McAss just cause, and his mistake thinking we'd fall for her.

by tania on 10/04/2008 01:47:27 AM EST

Not Fit To Lead (none / 0)
Some times in life you get an oportunity to get all the information you need before you make a decision. Or maybe you get just a little but still enough to decide what to do. In the case of McCain Palin I got just a little but still way more than enough to know that they are not fit to lead and and definitely not the people we want at the head of our govt. You got a taste of their style just the other night during the VP debate. Palin (as instructed) absolutely did not abide by the customary rules of debating and instead of answering the questions asked she spoke about things she was instructed by her handlers to pitch. This is an indication of how they will respond to or fail to respond to the american public's concerns and expectations. And not too long ago an interviewer asked McCain when was he going to start doing what the MAJORITY of the american public wants. His answer was a clear indication of his beliefs and of his aproach to leadership. He said in no uncertain terms that he didn't agree with what the majority of the american public wants. My fellow citizens; I hope that you are educated and informed enough to know that there is a hierarchy in our relationship with our govt. At the top is WE THE PEOPLE then comes our constitution that delineates the structure of our govt. and how it is supposed to function. The will of the people is the overriding authority;not the other way around. So, my question is this; if this is how you percieve the office of the president (as non responsive or unaccountable to the will of WE THE PEOPLE) then how can you claim to be so patriotic and how do you purport or intend to be our leader? We the people are the only ones that can get this ship back on the course we want. We cannot and must not let our govt. be hijacked by a few for a few ideology. It may be a little scary to vote for change at first but the american public has and always should be tough and courageous. And we should always stay that way. WE THE PEOPLE are the boss and you are FIRED!!

by playfyte on 10/06/2008 11:28:47 AM EST

car analogy (none / 0)
Jayar, I think your car repair analogy is apt. Palin's non-participation notwithstanding, her answer to the environmental issue really underscores why this wasn't a real debate, but like all of these events a farcical exercise in non-debating. Of course this one was especially lame because the republicans negotiated silly ground-rules to protect Palin. I didn't think she would blow it, but I think the overhyping of her performance after the debate was largely exaggerated.

Regarding the environment, Biden responded to her policy prescriptions (which included a call to curtail emmissions) by saying we have to understand the causes. In a more open format he would have had the opportunity to point out that her call to curb emissions was contradictory to her assertion that global warming was not man-made. He could have further made the point that this behavior fits the pattern of republican denial and double-speak that has made the current president so unpopular. Alas, we will never see a real debate in this country unless something dramatic happens to democratize the MSM.

One more thing. I like your analysis and I wish more people commented here (as of this writing there's only 3responses). You might raise your profile if you responded once or twice to commenters on your blogs. People crave interaction, that's why they post comments.

by hazmat on 10/15/2008 03:55:57 PM EST

The VP Debate...Who Won?? | 4 comments (4 topical, 0 hidden)
 Display: