Sarah Palin delivered. Delivered as in RFD, as in Mayberry, as in shuckins ma I got a cast iron stomach. The Republican Panic is over and the GOP is feeling way better today in the lee of the debate than when we did upwind of it. No implosion. Just Palin.
My overall take is that anybody who has paid attention to the issues learned very little from the debate. There was nothing to suggest a reframing of the issues. Red is still red and blue is still blue and I think we're all getting used to that. Nevertheless I have a number of observations and take-aways from last night's imperfect storm, as well as my radio show this morning.
The Elephant In The Room
Palin's biggest unchallenged assertion was that Obama-Biden wants to increase the federal budget by 1 Trillion dollars. I expected they would increase spending but I had no idea it was that much. That's an expansion of 30%. HUGE!. There was no counter whatsoever by Biden on that point.
Speaking to the People
It is my observation that Joe Biden never once turned to the people of America and asked them to do anything but vote for him. And I suppose the biggest point I can make about the difference between the two campaigns could be organized around this matter, but I'll leave it to the context of the debate. Palin, as I mentioned on the Barbershop this morning, talked to the working class of America and asked them to pledge that they would never again be duped by deceptive financial practices, that they would not drink the poison koolaid of Wall Street. When McCain was asked why Palin hadn't made more interviews he responded that given a choice between spending a day with American votes in their hometowns or spending an hour with some reporter on TV, he'd choose the former. Palin did in fact dismiss at least one of Ifill's questions to speak beyond her to working class American people.
Holding Back the Tears
Biden had his emotional moment and really came clean out of his deliberate, enumerative debating style to talk about his understanding of being a single parent. It was genuine and made his Home Depot and Joey at the Gas Station stories rather weak by comparison. But we get it. He's a human being.
Pointing to the Past
I think Palin did an admirable job framing the debate in such a way that Biden was at a loss to rejigger his debate tactics. Although it wasn't working for me, I could see where his categorization of 20 McCain votes against this or 94 McCain votes for that could sound definitive. Of course I know that there are any number of provisions in legislation that nullify the significance of votes, which is why Critters flip by definition. McCain votes against troop supply because there's a rider for a published timetable for withdrawal. Well of course that makes sense - and there has been no published timetable for withdrawal and the troops have been resupplied. So it's a dumb nullification of the debate point. Nobody agrees that the Congress has been doing a good job anyway - Pelosi's approval rating is below that of Bush. So it was smart of Palin to say later for those details. Again - even when it's clearly in favor of McCain who authored legislation (a distinction that almost nobody made either for McCain or against Obama - authorship, sponsorship and support of a bill are three significantly different levels of committment ) reigning in Fannie Mae, Palin passed on the scorekeeping. I read that positively - although I know many wonks hate her for those same reasons. I say a leader knows when to abstract and when to dive deep. She showed that.
McClellan vs McKiernan
The name of the commander in Afghanistan seemed to make a huge bit of difference to certain pundits. I'm merely going to say this. If memorizing names means X, then shaking hands in person means 3X squared. You know how many times Obama went to Afghanistan and Iraq to meet with military commanders as compared to McCain.
God Forbid
There are plenty of reasons to worry about what happens if the President of the US dies in office, and succession is one of them. I can't imagine which would be worse between Palin Pelosi or Biden Pelosi. Nothing ends well with Pelosi. But Palin did give us an idea what she would focus on as VP and I was quite satisfied with her three point program of pushing for energy independence, checking government and Wall Street corruption and attending to special needs children. It's not Cheneyesque and I'm confident she could handle such a charge.
Maverick Maverick Maverick
I have to laugh at Bill Handel this morning on his Right radio show, who is a huge skeptic about Palin - he's a sharp and cantankerous attorney - noticed how she did several Ronald Reaganesque 'there you go again' kind of remarks. We're the mavericks was pounded home without saying what exactly that meant. So when Biden quizzed her on differences between a McCain and the Bush Administrations, she gave up no details. Which means that Palin was not handed any iron-jawed scripts carrying the supporting messages of the campaign that she could drill into Biden's ample forehead. But she's a maverick who is all about reform and looking forward to the future.
The Most Important Election
I knew I could count on Biden to rehash that old shibboleth, but you know I really think it's not the most important election. I know that when McCain wins (wink) that he's going to get the best people from both sides of the stupid aisle to sign legislation, hopefully with no earmarks, that is going to move the country as well as it can be moved. One of the things that Biden wouldn't dare have you know is that in all 8 years of Bush's term in office he used the veto only 10 times. That is a 200 year record. The Congress has had its way, period. With all the talk about an executive branch out of control, there is nothing the Bush Administration has done running afoul of the legislative agenda. All of the experts, the best Congress we Americans could elect, have made mistakes. This election, is less important than the last election, and GWBush has done what we elected him to do in 2K4, which is bring us closer to victory in Iraq instead of cutting and running.
As a theme in this seasons bloviation, the conduct of the wars still remains important, and the differences between the parties is clear. But much of the wiggle room to second-guess Petraeus & Crocker has been squeezed out. An Obama Administration would have to lay serious misdirections to circumvent the judgment of the US military. Then again, we know the 'Betray-us' extremes.
Next
I think the debate was cordial because we all know who is in the driver's seat. It's the candidates for President. Biden's on the record criticisms of Obama don't matter that much - he has to play follow the leader no matter how much he condescends to 'be there at every meeting' with a President Obama. What matters is that Obama and McCain can't stand each other, and it shows. And I hope it shows more in the next debate. It's time to put away the side shows and let the big dogs slug it out. There's the beef.
Recent Comments