VP Debate Reactions

The "Beers for Biden, Pies for Palin" vice-presidential debate party was a resounding success. Six of my policy cohorts came over and nearly two full apple pies were consumed along with two dozen bottles of beer... fantastic. I myself enjoyed three slices of pie - well I say enjoyed until the last three bites of the third when it became mildly painful to finish (my marginal utility for each successive bite was falling close to zero).

In terms of the debate, I thought the night was quite revealing. Neither candidate is an exceptional debater but they stuck to their strengths and it turned out to be a rather instructional for me as a voter. Firmly an Obama/Biden supporter, it reaffirmed many reasons why. For any number of reasons (Iraq, Afghanistan, health care, education, energy, etc.) the Obama/Biden ticket resonates with me and it was reassuring to see first hand Joe Biden's mastery of the area, foreign policy, where Obama strikes me as the weakest. Previously relatively unknown to me, Biden made a strong impression as a knowledgeable and capable politician. Not flawless however, as he has made gaffes and has been forced to change or compromise some of his positions as part of the Democratic ticket.

On the other side, Sarah Palin did well for herself and the Republican party. She did not have any disastrous moments of 'Deer-in-Headlights Syndrome' and answered the questions in a way that really should help solidify the Republican base of voters. However, I hope it was as painfully obvious others who saw the debate as it was to me that she is painfully underqualified and illequipped to be the vice-president of the United States. She had three talking points that reocurred over and over again regardless whether the question was about education, foreign policy, health care or whaterver: she and John McCain are Mavericks (whatever that means exactly), she's an outsider from an energy producing state, and doesn't like taxes. It was amazing how many times she mentioned these things and how little substance there was to them. Not that it was terribly unexpected, but she dodged every other question and reverted back the talking points that the McCain handlers scripted for her.

In the end, I would say Biden won the debate by a good amount. He dictated the pace of the debate and answered questions directly and with good information. His knowledge of foreign policy is impressive. Palin on the other hand held her own and did fine. The talking points came through strongly but there was little, if any, substance to her rhetoric.