Thursday, October 2, 2008

Thoughts on the VP Debate

1. Joe Biden hit a home run. He is a consummate gentleman. Someone (maybe his debate partner, MI Gov. Jennifer Granholm) said to him, "Joe, shut up and smile," which he did perfectly. He was always on point, with loads of facts at his fingertips. Furthermore, he was never condescending toward Palin. And, most importantly, he did not make a single gaffe.

2. Gwen Ifill should have dropped out of moderating the debate. As soon it became known that Ifill had a book coming out next year with Obama's name in the title, she should have stepped aside. The fact that she did not meant that Ifill was on eggshells the entire debate, unwilling to press Palin when she dodged a question (which happened almost every question). Another moderator should have repeated questions that either Palin or Biden would not answer.

3. Sarah Palin may not know who Achilles was, since she did nothing to convince me otherwise by making no effort to answer a question about what her Achilles Heel is.

4. And finally, the real loser of this debate was John McCain. Joe Biden made point after point about how McCain has voted on the wrong side of an issue, and Palin made almost no effort to refute them. If this were a high school debate, Palin would have lost in a landslide, since, at the end of the day, it is the unrefuted arguments that count.

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