Thank God, it’s over. Before it started I was a nervous as a whore in church sitting on the front row. I was afraid that Sarah Palin would get that deer in the headlights look that we saw when questioned by Katie Couric. I was afraid that Joe Biden would feel the need to show his superior knowledge of the issues. Actually, as Gwen Ifill posed the first question, I covered my eyes and peeked through my fingers. By the time Palin started speaking I had removed my hands from in front of my face.
Who won? Who knows? None of us will really know until November when the votes are tallied. But, there are a few things I have to say. First of all, I was pleased to Sarah Palin appear confident and ready to answer. Of course, I think her best responses were those she avoided. We have to give Palin credit. She didn’t answer any questions she didn’t want to answer… to the point that during the debate my husband asked me twice if I had heard the same question he had. But, that was a good move for Palin. She didn’t get stumped.
As for Biden, he had the knowledge and the background that seemed to shine through without arrogance. In fact, I thought he had modified his usual style of responding to the point that I was a little nostalgic for the Democratic Primary debates. (I much preferred the exchanges between Biden and Clinton.) But, Joe did what he had to do. He didn’t squash Palin like a pesky bug. He was polite. And, by the second half of the debate I thought he had reached his stride.
Palin finally let some of her personality show. She seemed far more natural parsing out her soundbites than usual. I’m sure there are some across America that really appreciated her down home approach to the debate. I am not among them. Gosh darn it, Joe and those hockey mom references held little appeal for me. I guess I still like to see our officials and potential officials use more formal English. Of course, it is understood that Governor Palin is trying to appeal to down home middle America. I find it offensive to my ears. But, that’s just me. I was afraid that Biden would talk down to Palin. Instead, it almost seemed as if Palin was mocking the language of middle America. You betcha!
For me there was one telling question from Gwen Ifill. It came when she asked about Dick Cheney’s view of whether the VP office was an executive office or legislative. Palin was clearly at a loss as Biden pointed out Article I of the Constitution and drove his point home. For me that was the point of the debate.
So… ho! hum! You betcha!
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