VP Debate
I found the VP debate streaming live at CNN.com last night, and so was able to watch it. It was actually a rather amusing experience, because while I was watching it, I was also MST3King via text message with a friend of mine. Crooks&Liars live-blogged the debate, and here’s the transcript.
I’m not going to do some in depth review of the debate. Plenty of folks are doing that, and better than I can. I would like to point out that Sarah Palin consistently failed to actually answer the questions she was asked, instead turning to folksy-sounding, soccer-mom style burbling canned answers. You know. The kind of things beauty queens are trained to say in quick sound bites to win in front of the judges.
I mean, come on. “Doggone it?” Really? Is anyone buying this?
Meanwhile, Joe Biden stayed on point, answered his questions, and managed to do so without getting too dry, dragged down in the details, or sticking his foot in his mouth. He also pinned this “McCain maverick” bullshit straight to the wall. I am not ashamed to admit that I cheered when he called her on that.
Maverick my ass. I mean, really. “Washington outsiders”. McCain’s been in the senate how long? And he’s an “outsider”? Reallly? And Palin’s not an “outsider”. She’s an “I-don’t-what-I’m-doing-er”.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. I don’t care how “folksy”, friendly, or likable a given candidate might be. I don’t care if they’re pretty or handsome. I don’t care if I think I could sit down and have a beer with them, or if they can dance on Ellen, or if Oprah likes them. What I do care about is whether they represent my opinions, and/or are willing to compromise with me where our opinions differ. I care if they’re qualified and able. And, at no point, should I ever get the feeling that I might be better informed on a relevant subject, or more capable, than the people I’m electing to do the job.
Bush has given us eight years of bullshit, lies, and misery. Nowhere in this debate did Palin manage to convince me that McCain differs any little bit from Bush. Hell, McCain hasn’t been able to convince me he’s going to be any different than Bush.
On a side note, reading some of the media’s reviews of the debate last night, I notice that most people seem pretty pleased with Palin, because she didn’t make a fool of herself. As in, “hey, good job, you didn’t come across like the fool you were with Couric!” Is that where the bar rests for the standards for VP these days? Really? She did a good job because she didn’t manage to make the same ass of herself she’s done in the press the last couple of weeks? That’s not “doing a good job”, that’s just barely managing to squeak by. Come on, people.
