Obviously Biden won it. Everyone knew he would. The excitement was wondering whether Palin would be so awful as to make it good entertainment. After all, The Office was pre-empted for this. If Palin turned out to be half-decent then it would just be a normal VP debate and those are hardly worth watching.
I’m glad to see that Palin leaped over the minimal bar. She was mostly composed, many of her answer made sense, she was able to argue well on the few things she knows about. So she beat expectations. On the other hand the expectations were so low that doesn’t mean much. If you step back and ask yourself which one of these two would be a better vice-president the answer is obvious. On many questions she had no idea what to say and would revert back to an irrelevant rant. Twice she was asked about McCain’s regulation record. The first time she ducked it and talked about taxes. The second time she was called out and she explicitly said she wouldn’t answer it, she would talk about whatever she wanted, she was taking her case straight to the American people. Hey Palin, taking your case directly to the American people is called a commercial. This is a debate, you have to answer the question. Her tactics flowchart went something like this:
1) Is the question I actually know something about (this happened a couple times)? Get comfortable, I can answer this one.
2) Do I have a scripted answer (most of the questions)? Recite the script. Repeat as necessary, do not engage any rebuttal points.
3) Do I have no idea at all (far too many questions)? Ignore the question, pull out a script that hasn’t been used yet and revert to #2.
How about Biden? Fundamentally, the difference between and Biden and Palin is fundamentally about change. Obama and McCain fundamentally differ on this issue. If there is one difference that fundamentally separates us, it is this fundamental point which is different than my last answer which fundamentally established the fundamental differences. Now I will give that weird politician smile every time that Palin refers to me.
That’s about it for negatives. He knew answers to everything. He was surprisingly honest about what they would have to give up due to the bailout and about his change in evaluating judicial nominees. He had facts at his command, and they were relevant ones. Mostly, he has an aura of competence. Not only is he confident, but he is so confident that he demeanor suggests you are an idiot if you think otherwise. The last person to give off that feel was Dick Cheney. Love or hate him, he is impossible to debate or question because his whole attitude enforces a feeling that anyone who feels different is ignorant. It’s a powerful tool.
I thought the moderation by Ifil was good. They were good questions that covered a lot of ground. She had questions that were attacking either side, it felt balanced. However, she failed to follow up. When Palin overtly says she won’t answer the point about regulation you shouldn’t just move on to the next question. It’s moral hazard! But in general the debate had a nice tone to it. McCain can’t even look at Obama, but these two seemed genuinely happy to be there. I’m sure Biden was.
Update: Here’s a better flowchart.
That is kind of funny. On the other hand, one of them will be moving towards the White House, so they won’t have to be next to each other again!
Isn’t politics fun? McCain and Biden have been colleagues for 22 years, and it seems that they are genuinely friends. Imagine the guy who works down the hall from you who you have known for years and have a friendly relationship with, then try to imagine going on national television and attacking him for 90 minutes, and then going back to work in a few days and sitting next to him again as if nothing had happened. In what other profession could you do that? God Bless America!