How can Biden truly win this thing? If this debate is even considered a tie, Hilary Clinton is replacing him on that ticket in about as much time as it takes for Barack to find her speed dial extension on his cell phone.
This debate is a lose/lose for the country, but for the entertainment seeking viewer it's a win/win. If Palin goes out there and kicks Biden's ass, that's like the Cubs winning the World Series. You'll be telling your grandkids about it!
If Barack Obama was really as smart as his die hard supporters say he is, he’d have his wife go out there and thrash Palin so Biden didn’t have to be the bad guy, because I’d bet almost all of my life savings that she could do it without the hours and hours of preparation that Palin is going through right now as she desperately crams for this sideshow.
Go ahead, call me sexist. Tell me that I don’t understand small town values and pluck. I know I'm going to hell for finding so much glee in this. I know that this should be an important serious affair, but then again I didn't make the most cynical Vice Presidential selection in the history of American Politics. Couldn't they have gotten a blood relative of Aaron Burr or Spiro Agnew instead?
Look, you’re going to be watching that debate for the same reason that I am. You're not? You also watch NASCAR for the excellent skill of the drivers and the thrill of competition at its finest, right?
I’m looking for the ghastly wreck, and I strongly suspect I’m not alone.
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Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Silas Kain
I'm dying to see this debate because I think America has underestimated Sarah Palin. She may seem to gaffe it all up but in the end how different is she from mainstream America? She's raising a family. She has an opinion on abortion (albeit a position that remains unpopular), she certainly recognizes that Alaska sits atop a great reserve of energy that this country needs now. The pundits can repeat that she's not ready for prime time. But is that necessarily such a bad thing? Joe Biden has been around for a lot of years in the Senate. What positive change has he facilitated in making Congress responsive to the needs of the people? John McCain has been around for about as long. He's tried to effect change to no avail. Barack Obama hasn't been in the Senate long enough to be completely changed by the Washington mentality. Hmm.... maybe it's time for an Obama/Palin ticket.
2 - Joanne Huspek
I don't know. I might take a couple of Benadryl and a shot of Nyquil and hope for a pleasant dream.
3 - Jordan Richardson
I love the spin on this from the pundits. Now that Sarah Palin has been running around making an idiot of herself, she's the "real American." She was the "pitbull with lipstick," the designated GOP attack dog set to pounce on anyone with a Blue Streak. But now that she's really proving her mettle and her lack of capability to do the job she's up for, the spin is that she represents "mainstream America."
Is that how little you people think of mainstream America? That most of mainstream America is underqualified to do the job they do, that most of mainstream America thinks their proximity to another country and their ability to "see" it gives them "foreign policy experience," that they don't know a single magazine they read and merely read what's "put in front of them?"
Seriously, this is ridiculous on an epic scale. Sarah Palin is in over her head and I actually feel sorry for her, much in the same way I used to feel sorry for Britney Spears. Palin's not a leader, she can't be "a heartbeat away from the presidency" when she has to "get back to ya" to answer basic questions. Christ, when she was asked about Senate positions she disagreed with besides Roe V. Wade she named Roe V. Wade.
She is not mainstream America. And so what if she is? If mainstream America is as stupid as Sarah Palin, mainstream America then has NO business in political office.
4 - Ruvy
I've also heard Sarah Palin speak, and like Silas, I think she has been under-estimated. She'll have a hard time remembering a horde of facts dealing with foreign affairs - but that is usually the case with candidates who haven't had any experience at all overseas, or sleeping through hearings like Biden has.
From what I was able to see, she reads the internet, like most of us do, and who remembers the myriad sources by name? So Katie Couric was able to appear to trip her up.
But if she pretends she is talking to a congregation in church, she will do well, so long as she remembers not to break into too much church lingo.
In the final anlalysis, her audience is the American people, not the dipshit reporter/moderator sent to carve her into bits.
I may actually get to watch this. The debate is on at 04:00, our time, and we are visiting folks in J-lem for the Sabbath and the only bus leaving the village for J-lem is at 06:00 - so we'll be up before the birdies are....
5 - Lisa Solod Warren
Oh Lord, Silas. Mainstream America, huh? And that is who we want negotiating with Iran and Russia? Someone who doesn't read newspapers and can't put an English sentence together? Who has never traveled outside the country (except to inspect "her" troops last year) and who talks about trade with Russia yet never even attended trade conferences she was invited to as a governor? Whose talents seem to run to singing Christian songs and playing, rather badly, the flute? And raising a family (which I admit is something but doesn't make you fit for the Vice Presidency).
Silas, you are not an unintelligent man. She is probably a perfectly decent woman to have as a friend, if one likes the type. But this woman has a one in six chance of being President, statistically.
And she is of average, if that, intelligence, average, if that, curiosity. She is not a thinker, she is not particularly interesting or articulate or nuanced. She seems, well, very very average.
And the problems and issues facing our nation are not very very average. They are quite complex.
The problem is that our government has been very simplistic (witness the past two weeks) in trying to solve some of those problems.
Just yesterday we had to rethink our Afghanistan policy. Things are heating up again.
This monetary crisis has just begun.
And we want Sarah Palin in the mix? Ms. Middle America?
Silas. Please. Get. Real.
Our leaders should, at the very least, be more informed than the average citizen. And not because their empty heads got crammed full of shit by spinmeisters in preparation for a debate in front of the public. At the very least.
As my fifteen year old would say in horror: OMG.
6 - Jordan Richardson
From what I was able to see, she reads the internet, like most of us do, and who remembers the myriad sources by name? So Katie Couric was able to appear to trip her up.
Ruvy, Palin was asked what newspapers and magazines she read to provide her worldview. It was a simple question, not a trap. If she, "like most of us," reads the internet, she could have said so. Instead, she said she reads all of them! Couric didn't trip Palin up; Palin tripped herself on her Pantsuit of Absurdity.
In the final anlalysis, her audience is the American people, not the dipshit reporter/moderator sent to carve her into bits.
And how is she presented to the American people? That's right, via the "dipshit reporter/moderator." Palin has a responsibility to be able to handle the press if she intends to be VP of the country. She does not get to play fast and loose with her own stupidity.
7 - Mooja
Sara Palin has more qualifications for Vice President than Barak Obama has for President. This is a man who cites his undergrad degree in his resume for Office of President. In this day and age Palin is a true rare representative of the people. The more the elite turn up their noses at her the more the flyover states will be drawn to her. I hope for the sake of the Republican party that she hangs in there.
8 - Clavos
Is that how little you people think of mainstream America? That most of mainstream America is underqualified to do the job they do, that most of mainstream America thinks their proximity to another country and their ability to "see" it gives them "foreign policy experience," that they don't know a single magazine they read and merely read what's "put in front of them?"
Actually, yes. That about sums 'em up...But only the ones that actually know how to read--most don't--not with real comprehension.
9 - Lisa Solod Warren
No, mainstream American can do the jobs they do. They just can't all be Vice President.
I think I remember reading a statistic that only 1/3 of Americans own a passport--someone correct me, please, if I am wrong, I gotta get my daughter at school-- and it's just now that foreign language instruction is taking off, sort of, in public schools. We aren't really good at geography or other cultures, many of us... and a good many of us are suspicious of other cultures and religions (trust me on this. I am the first and only Jew some people have ever met. They hae told me so. And look at all the fear and rumor surround Obama's supposed Muslimness--okay, that is not a word:).)
Palin actually said she had never met anyone who didn't agree with her on the subject of abortion...although it was hard tell if she meant that subject or the morning after pill.
Is THAT who we want as our veep?
Guys and gals.... Thanks but no thanks.
10 - Cindy D
PALIN WINS THE DEBATE!
I didn't know that John McCain had taken out an ad claiming he won the debate--before the debate!
Stephen Colbert includes this in one of his best shows I've ever seen The Word - Future Perfect
"Breaking News: It's official, Hillary Clinton's 2012 Presidency is responsible for destroying the economy four years ago." -Stephen Colbert
11 - Silas Kain
She is not mainstream America. And so what if she is? If mainstream America is as stupid as Sarah Palin, mainstream America then has NO business in political office.
Oh, but she IS so mainstream America - detached, insecure, ignorant of foreign policy, clueless on the economy. We've entrusted the pols in Washington for decades with our lives and where has that gotten us? For a society so filled with common sense, we continually cut off our collectives noses to spite ourselves.
12 - Lisa Solod Warren
And you seem to think this is a good idea.
The "We've always done it this way" policy....
Which is why I am going for the change candidate:)
13 - Jordan Richardson
There is no change candidate running in any of the Big Two.
America's corporate political parties are running on the same fumes they always have, only one has dredged up an articulate, charismatic speaker and the other has dredged up someone who likes their peas mashed.
Real change comes from the bottom up.
14 - Clavos
Which is why I am going for the change candidate:)
Good for you, lisa!
15 - Silas Kain
Real change comes from the bottom up.
And with that comes real work and commitment. That's something which is not in the cards for America. We're a fat, lazy bunch of apathetic morons who only have ourselves to blame. There's no such thing as patriotism or doing what's right for the country. We're too busy buying substandard merchandise at WalMart and allowing television to rear our children. We even blame the education system for failing to educate our spawn but the bottom line is parents bear the responsibility. This "blame it on the other guy" mentality is our biggest enemy. We don't have to worry about Iran, terrorists or other enemies both foreign and domestic. We're our own worst enemy. When the Second Civil War erupts it's going to make the first look like recess at Romper Room.
16 - Lisa Solod Warren
Oh, poop, Silas, and quit being condescending, Clav. McCain's base was tired old men voting dispiritedly for him, until Palin came along and juiced them up a little, while Barack HAS energized the bottom.... he has gotten people involved. Yes, change does come from the bottom up and I think you may well see more of it. I agree that a lot of Americans are lazy and apathetic but I am not one of those, nor are those with whom I 'hang.' Nor are those who are working for Obama, and if the young people who are energized by him really do stay involved things could well start to change. I remain, hopeful, but then, Clav, that is the fundamental difference between you and me. And it shall ever be. We have already figured that out.
17 - Silas Kain
I hope with every fiber of my being that you prove me wrong, Lisa. I remain unconvinced. Americans are a reactionary bunch, we don't know how to be proactive. The Obama Mammas are reacting to the phenomenon that is Barack Obama. I see nothing of substance coming from him or McCain. It's the same old tired speeches, issues and concerns every four years.
Now for lack of being politically correct I submit that what makes Obama attractive most certainly has to do with race. We're so weary of old white men and their antics that a person "of color" has captured our attention. But compare his speeches to those of Presidential candidates gone by. The words are pretty much the same. Lisa, unfortunately for us not all Americans are as astute and involved as you. We need more like you on both sides of the aisle who are willing to listen, debate and create an atmosphere of change. You believe that Barack Obama will deliver. Unless he gets Congress to do his bidding he's just another impotent President who will fail.
18 - Clavos
Barack HAS energized the bottom.... he has gotten people involved. Yes, change does come from the bottom up and I think you may well see more of it...if the young people who are energized by him really do stay involved things could well start to change. I remain, hopeful....
Well said, Pollyanna!
19 - Silas Kain
In my world energized bottoms can sometimes present problems.
20 - Lisa Solod Warren
Silas, that sounds...dirty.
Love, Pollyanna.
21 - Cindy D
Could be that...or could be time for some metamucil.
22 - Baronius
I'm wondering if any of you have heard Biden speak. He's arrogant and obnoxious. He's politically radical, and prone to making crazy statements. He has the potential of messing up more royally than Palin. Actually, with Ifill mediating, Palin could screw up and still look like the third biggest fool on the stage.
23 - Lisa Solod Warren
Yup, heard Biden a lot. He can be arrogant but he's smart. I prefer smart and arrogant, to really dumb and dumbfounded and almost unable to put an English sentence together and..... well,you know what I think of Palin.
24 - Silas Kain
Well, 25 minutes in to this debate and NEITHER of them deserve to be Vice President. That being said, after 30 minutes the point goes to Palin.
25 - Cindy D
What the fuck happened with gay rights?
Biden makes a great start and then Biden flips from supporting gay rights to agreeing that gays shouldn't have marriage rights.
I guess there was a political line that has determined that most of us are basically anti-gay.
Silas? Can I be on whatever side of the country that isn't with "most" people? That is when you divide it up. I am looking forward to that division of the country Silas. Don't disappoint me!