No Grey’s? No Office?! Yes, tonight instead of our usual Thursday night comedies and dramas, those of us who are used to relaxing in front of our TVs had the opportunity to see Senator Joe Biden and Governor Sarah Palin go head to head in a good old-fashioned debate.
There are plenty of people out there who probably don’t want to admit that they’re not totally up on what’s going on in the world. When it comes to issues like the cost of gas, mortgage problems and high taxes, we’re all directly affected, so it’s much easier to have an opinion one way or another. But when it comes to major world issues happening on the other side of the planet, it’s likely that many of us aren’t as educated on these things as we’d like to be, especially when it comes to debates like the one we saw tonight. For those of us who aren’t keeping up with who said what when and which person voted for which bill ten years ago, the debate became less about which person was stating things accurately and more about which one made their point more clearly and convincely.
One thing remains evident here. Biden is a much more seasoned politician. That’s stating the obvious I know, but if I had to award points for aggression (albeit the polite kind), I’d give it to Biden. Points for humor and wit go to Palin. She definitely held her own there, though there were times when she got a bit wishy-washy on some things. Her answer on the question about benefits for same-sex couples wasn’t as direct as it could have been, for example. Both she and Biden agreed that they don’t support gay marriage and Palin seemed like she might support benefits for same-sex couples but when the issue was done being discussed, it wasn’t totally clear where she and McCain stood on that. On the things she was willing to address directly, she made herself fully clear and succeeded in explaining things in more conversational terms. For example, her thoughts on the economy and specifically, the corruption on Wall Street and the problems Americans are facing with predatory lenders was laid out nicely and in a way that we-the-people could easily grasp. This was one of her biggest strengths.
The same could not be said for Biden, who seemed to be more on the attack than on getting across exactly what he and Obama can offer the people with regards to the economy, the mortgage problems and the gas crisis. He came equipped with information on past votes, tax cuts and figures on how future tax proposals could affect us but there were times when he could have broken things down a bit better. Biden did share a story about a friend who couldn’t estimate how much it would cost to fill up his gas tank because it’d been so long since he’d been able to do that. A simple anecdote like that goes a long way in making a point.
Issues of the economy, the war and taxes were addressed and both sides relied heavily on facts and figures to support their arguments, though there were some contradictory things said that lead me to wonder which (if either) side was correct. One thing that came through was Palin’s intentness on not dwelling on the past every time Biden brought up McCain’s politics over the last decade or two. While Palin had a point there, in stressing change and moving forward, Biden also made a good point in stating that the past is prologue.
While many already know where these candidates stand and I’m not sure that tonight’s debate will really change people’s minds in terms of which way they’re leaning, tonight was more about getting a better read on the two Vice President hopefuls. Biden held himself well and with the exception of a few smiles and snickers, he kept his end of the debate clean and professional. And despite all of the jokes made at Palin’s expense over the past month or so, she held it together pretty well tonight. Being the underdog, in terms of political experience not to mention in the media, (though I have to say, I adore Tina Fey’s impression of her on SNL) she did well in stating her side and supporting McCain.
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