Biden / Palin VP Candidate Debate AAR

[Guest Big Mike]

The vote is in.......Palin WON!

[Guest GUTTERbOY]

I'm not sure I can award a clear victory to either from this thing, though of course I lean towards Palin. But regardless of who won, this thing was a lot more informational than last week's, where we just saw Obama and McCain rehash their campaign themes for 90 minutes.

Early on, I thought that Palin was letting Biden set the tenor of the thing, but she recovered nicely from that and finished well.

I'll stick with the word "spicy".

[J Smith]

Biden keep his foot out of his mouth,Palin came out great.

[Guest dwrd]

Watching one of those dial turn things on Fox, the 50/50 split at the beginning of maybe 30 people, about 26 thought Palin won.

[Guest Boomhower]

Watching one of those dial turn things on Fox, the 50/50 split at the beginning of maybe 30 people, about 26 thought Palin won.

Yeah, I saw that too.....Then I immediately turned over to CNN and they had the same thing. Dial turns with undecided voters on panel. 90% of them were now leaning towards Obama (imagine that)....

Then I turned over to MSNBC and Keith Olberman was just wailing on Palin for not sticking to the questions. I guess he didn't think she was allowed to debate Biden's points or counter points. Of course they added to all of that little video clips to boost Biden in the debate. Gotta love liberal biased media!!

My 2 cents......Biden brought a lot more facts than Palin. I'll just be anxious to fact check them and see how much pork was added. Biden did exactly as I expected him to do. He painted himself, Obama & McCain as gooberment veterans, with never a mention of Palins experience. But all in all, I feel that Palin stood toe to toe with him and never backed down. When either one of them were backed into a corner, they seemed to pull out pretty fairly......and yes fury, she is still just plain HOT!!!

[clarky07]

i think we can all agree would would rather see Palin's picture in the news for the next four years than Biden or Obama.

On a serious note, Biden did his job in that he didn't do anything really stupid. Palin did her part in that she looked like she had a clue unlike in her interviews. I felt like Biden could only hurt his ticket and not really help it going in and he avoided that. Palin had the chance to stop her free fall and make herself credible which certainly helps the mccain ticket. I think she did that. I don't think it will change too much, but I think it stops the decline and maybe tightens the race back up a little bit.

[Guest Len]

Here's a synopsis of the fact checks from AP

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/debate_fact_check

Both sides played loose with the truth (now there's a shocker!!), but Palin clearly played more loosely. As did McCain in debate #1.

However, I really wish the Obama camp would get off the oil company tax break thing. The truth is the McCain plan would igve breaks to lots of companies, including big oil. Obama/Biden should say that, it does not weaken their argument AND its closer to the truth.

BIDEN: Said McCain supports tax breaks for oil companies, and "wants to give them another $4 billion tax cut." THE FACTS: Biden is repeating a favorite saw of the Obama campaign, and it's misleading. McCain supports a cut in income taxes for all corporations, and doesn't single out any one industry for that benefit.

"Truth" has never been a hallmark of presidential politics in this country, but now we have the technology to call the candidates out on it immediately. I hope everyone who watches these things actually then goes to the web and does the fact check. Then judge who "won."

Speaking of "winning," its pretty clear from a debate/rhetoric/oratory standpoint that Biden "won." However, that does not really matter. What matters is that Palin exceeded expectations we had of her and so in that sense, the McCain team can probably take a little more from last night than Obama can. Biden didn't hurt the Obama cause, and Palin didn't hurt McCain's. Over 70% of people surveyed thought Palin did better than they expected her to. That's probably the more telling stat than who "won" or did not.

Final analysis: I expect the downward slide of the McCain ticket to stop, at least until Tuesday due to Palin last night. However, shoring up your numbers when you are 6-8 points behind and losing in virtually every key battleground state is not enough. You've got to not only stop the bleeding, but turn it around. Now the pressure is on McCain to perform well in the final two debates. He MUST do so, as time is running out. Since he has conceded Michigan, he MUST win a large majority of the other battlegrounds. He can only do that by out-dueling Obama, then riding the momentum with ad buys and a good ground game in the battleground states. The clock is ticking. Early voting has already begun in Ohio, with several others coming soon.

[big mo]

I thought S.P. did well last night. I was like a lot of you guys in not saying much but very interested in how she would carry herself. Again she did well, although I can't say she hit a homerun. Johnny has his work cut out.

I must admit it's sometimes hard for me not to laugh at her, only because I can't help but see Tina Fey making fun of her. Tina has S.P. down pat. I even think S.P. watches her because I noticed she's trying not to use as many hand gestures. If you disagree, just watch SNL this Sat with an open mind. I don't care what side of the tracks you're on. It's funny as hell to me.

[Guest Gun Geek]

Unfortunately I Missed the debate so I am watching it now.

Here is the link if anyone else missed it and still wants to watch.

[Guest db99wj]

I thought S.P. did well last night. I was like a lot of you guys in not saying much but very interested in how she would carry herself. Again she did well, although I can't say she hit a homerun. Johnny has his work cut out.

I must admit it's sometimes hard for me not to laugh at her, only because I can't help but see Tina Fey making fun of her. Tina has S.P. down pat. I even think S.P. watches her because I noticed she's trying not to use as many hand gestures. If you disagree, just watch SNL this Sat with an open mind. I don't care what side of the tracks you're on. It's funny as hell to me.

Tina Fey is dead on in this, very funny stuff.

[Guest canynracer]

Tina Fey is dead on in this, very funny stuff.

http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/couric-palin-open/704042/