Liveblog? God, no.
October 2, 2008
Live Twitter is so much more fun. Follow me over there.
UPDATE: So, um, Palin could only have made that win less subtle if she’d actually walked across the stage and kicked Biden in the balls with her Ferragamos. Yet again, the media tees her up for a big win by making certain that expectations were incredibly low. Here’s hoping they’re very slow learners, because she wasted Biden tonight. I was waffling there for a second, but I’m back in this girl’s camp.
As an email subject line in my inbox says, “Sarah Palin field dressed Biden like a botoxed moose.”
Amen.
UPDATE II: Peggy Noonan (not Sarah’s biggest fan by far), the Luntz focus group and the Twitter search function appear to be giving the debate to Palin. Andrea Mitchell is, too, clearly, as she is totally losing her sh*t on national television right now on NBC. In the end, I don’t know if Sarah won the debate in the way that you’d traditionally expect someone to win a debate. She exceeded all expectations — particularly those of the media — she managed not to make a fool of herself, she managed not to repeat the Couric interview, and she appeared to be the crowd’s favorite. Biden looked like — pardon the French — a total douche, which, despite the clear intent of that image, does not play well with most gun-toting, bitter Americans.
Posted in Uncategorized
October 2nd, 2008 at 7:33 pm
In other news, Nick Reynolds of the Kingston Trio died.
I’m not sure which is worse, the prospect of getting another one of EstrogenBoy’s maudlin eulogies about how the world is now a little darker, and how it seems to Thad that Nick lived his life like a candle in the wind, and about how hearing “Tom Dooley” changed his life…or the prospect that ol’ E.B. will write anything else, instead. Really a no-win situation if there ever was one.
October 2nd, 2008 at 10:07 pm
Nice work liveblogging, EM.
What was the deal with Biden’s creepy grinning? It looked rather condescending. One of my friends said it looked like he was a sex offender. At any rate, he was pretty much underwhelming for a career politician used to this sort of thing.
October 3rd, 2008 at 6:31 am
I thought both did a great job. Palin outshined Biden, but both did much better than either McCain or Obama.
October 3rd, 2008 at 6:49 am
The same thing happened when Lieberman debated Cheney. They both came off as better than the candidates at the top of the ticket.
regards,
October 3rd, 2008 at 6:52 am
[...] She did okay! Pretty much everyone thinks so, except for those people who are determined to hate her. Fine with me. [...]
October 3rd, 2008 at 7:23 am
I liked that format, Richard. As I remember it, it was very informal.
October 3rd, 2008 at 11:06 am
[...] E.M. Zanotti has the react of the night from her inbox - “Sarah Palin field dressed Biden like a botoxed moose.†Something tells me that’s going to be in the next MRQ over at Real Debate Wisconsin. [...]
October 3rd, 2008 at 3:07 pm
Well, I have to say she did much better than I thought she would. I think she came in first on debating style. She seems fairly comfortable in that format, and if she had command of the issues, she could blow anyone away. However, her performance continued to reinforce the notion that she doesn’t know very much about very much. I’m going to steal a line from Roger Ebert: “she was being asked to defend her doctoral thesis without having written it.”
Biden came across as someone capable of running the country if need be. He didn’t necessarily win this debate, though apparently many polls said he did, but he certainly didn’t blow it — as many Dems thought he might. The “Joe Six Packs” and “You Betcha’s” are cute and endearing during times of peace and prosperity. But with our country in two wars and an economy facing the second Great Depression I think most people are looking for basic competence and knowledge.
Someday, as she gains knowledge at the national level, she will be a great candidate. For now… give me Margaret Thatcher, Hillary Clinton, Condoleezza Rice, Segolene Royal or Angela Merkel, but definitely NOT Sarah Palin. To quote a famous American hero: “Country First”.