Ding ding ding!
CLICK HERE to watch a LIVE webcast of the vice presidential debate.
In one corner, we have Democrat Joe Biden. Sixty-five years-old. Senator from Delaware. Hair plugs.
In the other, we have Republican Sarah Palin. Forty-four -years-old. Governor of Alaska. A tendency to put her foot in her mouth.
The moderator: Gwen Ifill of PBS-TV.
Opponents: keep the fight clean.
Go!
51 Comments
So far she is holding up okay. The disaster is coming don’t you worry!!
Could stop trying to be a hockey mom and act like a politician? She is brutal!!
I HATE her!!! She has that same smug look on her like W has shown us for the last EIGHT years!!! GAG
I actually like her.
God she just sucks. No specifics about anything. Just her folksy talk.
There is no “winning” in Iraq.
She’s doing well with no Katie Couric present.
Biden is more intelligent and much better informed.
Obama ‘08
So far Palin is clearly winning this debate. Love her!
Well, she isn’t a complete disaster but she isn’t mention any real issues. Everything she says is vague and story-telling. But her voice and accent are very annoying.
she is soooo annoying.
Palin seems way more relatable. All Biden does is talk like a typical politician. Empty promise after empty promise. And Palin seems to know what’s important. She’s got my vote.
how many times did she say “maverick”?
palin said nothing of substance. and as a woman, you should educate yourself on her stance on women’s issues, as well as her record in her home state re: women’s violence (2.5x higher average per capita: rape).
Palin is trying very hard to seem relatable. it seems very fake and showy!
so irritating.
SHE’S THE POLITICAL VERSION OF BRITNEY SPEARS CIRCA KOOKY DAYS!
Yeah, she doesn’t answer anything directly and all she does is give stock answers. She’s not a total idiot but she’s no smarter than your local manager of Denny’s. If you want this woman to run our country, I feel so sorry for you.
2. “Could stop trying to be a hockey mom and act like a politician?”—Raley
Act more like a politician?! So you’d rather her speak out of both sides of her mouth about every issue like Barack Obama? Take more contribution cash from Fannie Mae than any other politician except Democrat Chris Dodd like Obama? No thanks.
3. “I HATE her”.–Sarah
Ah, yes. More rational sentiment from the party of “tolerance”.
5.ajelwk, I don’t know what debate you’re watching. Palin just won this debate hands down.
6.”There is no ‘winning’ in Iraq”.
That’s ridiculous. Of course there is. You sound like Democrat Harry Reid when he said the surge had failed before it even began. Even most dems admit the surge worked. Your type of self-defeating attitude is why wars are lost.
9.”…she isn’t mention any real issues. Everything she says is vague and story-telling. But her voice and accent are very annoying.”
It’s unfortunate you don’t consider energy policy, the middle east, and lower taxes “real issues”. As for her voice and accent “annoying” you, perhaps you should consider that not everyone talks and thinks like you do. Are you equally annoyed with Obama’s preacher like tone and inflection he picked up from his good friend, racist reverend jeremiah wright—the same guy that taught him “black liberation theology” for 20 years at his church?
Who was she winking at all night? Hard to know what was more annoying about her: the winks, her inability to say nuclear, her repeating the word marverick or how she just repeated stock answers! GAG
Bea, in order to understand Rev. Wright and his preaching you have to understand the black church in a historic context. From slavery through the 1960s, the church was the only place where blacks were allowed to speak their minds. Rev. Wright, and probably numerous other elder black ministers, are still in that mindset. It is unfortunate, but it happens. They are part of the same generation of white ministers who preached in favor of segregation. Perhaps you should read up on slavery and Jim Crow before you criticize. But, that might be expecting too much from a Republican.
look at bea there getting defensive. typical republican response. this is america. we all still have rights to our opinions, even though bush tried to change that these last 8 years.
19., You can make all the excuses you want for Jeremiah Wright. The fact is, his sermons are full of hate and racism, and Barack Obama sat in the pew and listened to him and embraced his “Black Liberation Theology” for 20 years until the vast majority of Americans (with the exception of you, Sarah) spoke out in disgust of Wright and it was no longer politically expedient of Obama to support him. Curiously, when Bill Clinton was asked what the difference was between Wright and David Duke, he couldn’t come up with an answer. BTW, personal insults and gross stereotyping are no substitute for an effective argument. Then again, your last post began with the words “I HATE”, so I’m not surprised you would choose to respond in the manner you have. Hopefully you’ll learn to become more tolerant in the future.
bea is a straight up racist so what’s new. a stupid racist and a Repugnican. oops, that’s an oxyMORON.
Ant, with all due respect, it’s clearly you who are “getting defensive” with your false argument that someone is denying you a right to your opinion. Of course you have a right to your opinion. We all do. Clearly, no one came to arrest Obama supporters when they called Palin a “turncoat bitch, a “whore”, “disabled” or suggested that she would be “gang raped by blacks if she came to Manhattan”. Everyone is allowed to express their opnions no matter how vile they may be. But rather than dismiss my response as “typically republican”, Ant, why don’t you challenge me on a specific point?
Ho’s Against Palin, can you substantiate your baseless charges, or are you only capable of hateful name calling? Go ahead. Amuse me. Explain how anything I’ve said makes me a racist. We’ll find out who the real bigot here is.
She’s an “aw shucks” kind of V.P. nominee and it’s deplorable. She just talks about how wonderful McCain is instead of answering the questions put to her.
I started out liking Obama when the campaign first started, but now he just acts like a typical politician. I’m going McCain/Palin now. She rocks!!!! Also, my dad owns a small landscaping business and Obama will raise his taxes even though we’re not even close to being rich.
^You realize that a hike in taxes would affect people making 250K or more? This applies to businesses, and as Biden pointed out… to only– what? 1.7 or so % (small that actually make more than 250K)? Biden had substance, and specifics.
.
Palin was great at looking at the camera and keeping eye contact. She was even better at generalities, stock answers, and scripted phrases.
^^^^ Your father’s little construction business makes more than $250,000 a year!!! You are rich so shut up and get your facts straight. She Rocks??? Really?? Sad!
just stick it to me!!!!!!!!
Bea, I watched the YouTube Vids. Did you also see the list of Republican blunders to pilfer through too? Although they gave a Republicans perspective on the mortgage crisis, they didn’t show the other Republicans who disagreed. They also didn’t show the Democrats who disagreed. Anyone can make a one sided video to support their point. The Dems do it. The Republican do it. Al-Qaeda does it too if you weren’t aware of that.
Why don’t you ever address the screw-ups of Republicans? They are not perfect either but you like to think they are and try to find anything to justify that. The truth is I can find the exact same material to back up my claims.
The reason why I am not on McCain’s boat yet is because he hasn’t said anything that really is different (as Biden pointed out.) Maybe McCain should win so we can see if any of his promises materialize.
Joe Biden is so far out of her league it hurts. So yeah, she can regurgitate talking points. She’s like a student who crammed for a final. Ask her about those things tomorrow and see how much she retained. Pulease. the bar was set so low for her she had no way of not reaching it. All of her answers were vague and there were so many questions that she just flat out didn’t answer. Gwen Ifil was muted and subdued to avoid being accused of favoritism towards Biden. She is still not smart enough to be VP and definitely not president. No more simpletons in the White House please.
28. It appears it is you who needs to get your facts. Perhaps you should take your own advice and “shut up and get your facts straight”. 26. said her father owns a landscaping business, not a construction business. But your larger mistake in your reply is your clear lack of understanding of how small businesses work. $250 K isn’t net profit. That’s gross revenue, before he pays for business expenses including overhead, wages, insurance, etc. He could easily be left with a net profit anywhere between $0 and $50K. Hardly rich, is it?Obama likes to say he’ll lower taxes on 95% of households. Of course, he’s being dishonest because over 40% of Americans don’t even pay taxes to begin with.
doodaa, I do agree with you that there are democrats and republicans culpible in this financial crisis. However, it is also clear that democrats bare far more responsibility for this calamity—from an Obama supported socialist crusade to lower lending standards and increase subprime loans to “under served” i.e. poor credit borrowers, to their resistance to republican attempts to regulate Fannie Mae/ Freddie Mac to campaign contributions overwhelmingly in favor of democrats including Obama by corrupt Fannie Mae CEOs like Franklin Raines. This may surprise you, but I don’t particularly like McCain and I’m not even a Republican. This is truly a case of choosing the lesser of two evils. Both these guys suck. The reason I find myself so often defending republicans here is because the commenters tend to be so overwhelmingly hateful and insulting toward republicans like Palin, Bush and McCain and so often misrepresent their positions and perceived failings. I completely agree that Republicans and Democrats both screw up and far too often, which is why I favor less government. All too often my disdain for political hacks and their inevitable screw ups put me at odds with Democrats who believe to a greater degree that gov’t should have a larger role and even more opportunities to screw up in more facets of our lives. I mean, look how bad they govern the public education system. And we want them in charge of healthcare too?! No thanks. I also find offensive the identity politics of class-warfare, gender-based, and race-based so commonly employed by dems. It’s divisive and counterproductive. The truth is neither one of these candidates is going to be able to follow through on their many promises. It’s a tough road ahead regardless of who gets elected.
Bea, it is incredible that you have laid the failures of this administration at the feet of the Democrats when Republicans have been in the White House for eight years and the Congress has been Republican controlled for 10 of the last 12 years. Your facts simply do not add up. And as to your ridiculous assertion about socialism and other nonsense, you sound like a typical Republican hack who comes out every four years and labels the Democratic party as Socialist. Yet, do you know that under Republican administrations are responsible for the largest amount of growth in the federal government going back to Eisenhower. And you talk about identity politics when I only see Republicans bringing up race every chance they get as if to remind people that Obama isn’t white. We know. Yet, at every criticism of Palin, McCain’s surrogates have been on television accusing everyone of being a sexist. Find me one remark by Obama where he has called someone a racist. Now back to the debate, Palin did not substantively answer one question. She came across as fake and folksy and with the constant winks, I thought she had a problem with an eyelash. She was insulting and sarcastic and she had not one clue what she was talking about. What is up with the notes that she kept reading when Biden gave his answers? Finally, the moment of the debate that said all we need to know about both candidates is when Biden teared up when talking about his first wife and daughter who were killed in a car accident. It was the emotional highlight of the evening and Palin’s lack of response is so unnatural and so unkind. She would have won points with some of her detractors had she acknowledged Sen. Biden’s loss but she was so focused on repeating her talking points that she missed an opportunity to be human. On some of her answers, she sounded like a beauty contestant and I was waiting for the obligatory “world peace” reference but then I forgot she is a Republican and world peace is the last thing on their minds.
Sarah Palin was clearly outclassed at every turn by Joe Biden. Wow, I have so much respect for that man after watching this debate. I almost feel like we should be looking at a Biden/Obama ticket, although I still stand firmly behind Obama. Who does she think she is fooling with her folksy bullshit, her leaving the g’s off the end of her words, her hockey and soccer mom nonsense, her shout out to a class of third graders, her “say it ain’t so joe”, her annoying Fargo accent, that stupid winking, her changing the subject when she couldn’t answer questions, her constant use of the word Maverick, stealing Obama’s change slogan,….I could go on all night. She is a joke. She shows no emotion at all to that baby either. Very strange, but I won’t go there with my true thoughts on that one. My favorite part of the debate was this by Biden at the end:
“Can I respond to that? Look, let’s talk about the maverick John McCain is. And again I love him, he’s been a maverick on some issues but he’s been no maverick on things that a matter people’s lives. He voted four out of five times for George Bush’s budget which put us half a trillion in debt this year and over three trillion in debt since he got there. He has not been a maverick in providing health care for people. He voted against including another 3.6 million children in coverage of an existing health care plan in the United States Senate. He’s not been a maverick when it comes to education. He has not supported tax cuts and significant changes for people being able to send their kids to college, he’s not been a maverick on the war, not been a maverick on virtually anything that generally affects the things people really talk about around the kitchen table. Can we get mom’s MRI? Can we send Mary back to school next semester? We can’t make it. How will we heat the house this winter? He even voted against what they call LIHEAP, for assistance for people with oil prices going through the roof in the winter. So a maverick he is not, on the important critical issues that affect people at the kitchen table.”
TRUER WORDS WERE NEVER SPOKEN!
OBAMA/BIDEN ‘08
ARASTO, PLEASE CONSIDER DOING SOMETHING ABOUT NOT BEING ABLE TO ADD BREAKS BETWEEN PARAGRAPHS. IT AUTOMATICALLY LOOKS LIKE REPUBLICAN TROLLING WHEN SOMEONE RIGHTS ANYTHING OF SUBSTANTIAL LENGTH AND I’M SURE MAKES MOST PEOPLE SKIP RIGHT OVER IT. I JUST REALIZED THAT’S HOW MY POST LOOKS AND IF I DIDN’T WRITE IT MYSELF I PROBABLY WOULD HAVE ASSUMED IT WAS ONE OF THOSE OBAMA IS A MUSLIM/NOT AN AMERICAN CITIZEN/WHAT ABOUT REV. WRIGHT POSTS AND WOULD HAVE SKIPPED RIGHT OVER IT.
They both did very well, and I am suprised about that.
She clearly won though, all of the polls have stated it.
I like it that she talks like a regular person instead of a politician…that alone is a ^5.
Also, she talked to AMERICA……He did not. He was more into talking to the moderator.
She has always talked to America in all of her debates, and speaches.
WHO WON THE VICE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE?…
BIDEN
29% 90,876
PALIN
70% 221,816
NEITHER
2% 5,420
Total Votes: 318,112
Hey you Prune Pickers aka: Californians….
Whats up with this:
SCHWARZENEGGER: CALIFORNIA MAY NEED EMERGENCY LOAN ?
Friday, October 3, 2008
FBI raids Obama friend’s home
OMG! - -lol
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/oct/03/fbi-raids-obama-friends-home/print/
Still, even with that media padding, and rapturous leg quivering, the media has had to concede a few things about Obama. Voters know that he spent 20 years attending weekly sermons from a man who loathes America; they know that he spent a significant chunk of his career as a community organizer, a “profession” most Americans would find impossible either to define or to justify; they know that he was a law professor who never managed to publish anything; they know that he didn’t sponsor any significant legislation during his tenure in the Illinois Senate; they know that he didn’t sponsor any significant legislation during his tenure in the United States Senate; and they know that he’s spent virtually all of his undistinguished time in the United States Senate campaigning to become president. In other words, no matter how the media tries to protect Obama from his own past, the facts that have leaked out reveal a man of little experience and no accomplishments.
In my world, accomplishments matter. If I’m giving someone the highest executive office in the land, I’d kind of like that person to have a positive track record. That’s why I liked Romney. Everything he touched turned to gold, not just gold lining his own pockets, but gold for everyone else connected to the project. That’s also why I like McCain. He may not be a Romney-esque money machine, but he has a record of accomplishment. Whether or not one likes what he ended up doing, he at least got things done. Not so Obama. Even the least informed Americans must know that he’s done nothing in his career but talk.
Faced with what appears to me to be a conundrum — why the majority of voting Americans would prefer for president a man whose resume is a big fat zero - I asked a friend for his opinion. He said (and I think he’s right), that most people don’t care about Obama’s past record of accomplishments. Instead, he says, they simply like what they hear. He’s promising them a lot of things — such as a crystalline, pre-industrial environment, without any economic downsides; peace and harmony with the baddest of bad guys; universal health care; and wealth for all — and they believe those promises, despite the fact that Obama’s ineffective resume shouldn’t give them reason to believe that he can follow through on any of his promises.
And just like that, I suddenly got it. I got why Americans are flocking to Obama: They are precisely like the woman who wants to marry a romantic bad boy.
Sure, he’s been running around on her, and he can get pretty verbally abusive. Still he always tells her he loves her and he promises her that things will get better. With those promises echoing in her head, she’s absolutely certain that, if she can just get him to the altar, he’ll improve. The act of marriage will magically transform him from an abusive boyfriend who makes pretty speeches into the man of her dreams — one who is precisely as good as he promises to be. The fact that her friends keep pointing out his myriad failings and that they remind her that the leopard can’t change his spots is irrelevant. He says he loves her and if, she can just force that marriage, he’ll suddenly realize that he has to change.
I bet all of you, man and woman, have seen this scenario play out in the life of at least one woman you know. (And yes, that’s sexist, but I don’t know any men who go through this bizarre “she treats me horribly now, but she’ll magically improve later” game.) And I ask you, those of you who have seen this or lived this: Does the man ever change, either because of the ceremony or because the woman wants him to?
I’ve never seen it happen. I have seen some men change, but that’s come from within, and usually goes along with hitting rock bottom and then finding God. The wedding ring had nothing to do with it.
Right now, voters are thrilling to the feeling of dating the political bad boy, the cool guy who talks a good line, but who has a trail of personal and professional failures in his wake (and some pretty unsavory friends too). Everybody wants to date the bad boy once and a while. But the thing is, you don’t marry the bad boy. Just as marriage to the bad boy won’t magically make him better, a presidential inauguration won’t transform the anti-American, unaccomplished Barack Obama into an effective statesman imbued with a true love for his country.
So, if you voters think there is more to this Barack Obama than just pretty words, I suggest that you do with him exactly what I’d suggest if you were a young woman infatuated with the bad boy: Wait a while (four years? eight years? twelve years?) and see whether, with time, he either grows up and grows out of it, or if he follows that downward trajectory, validating your decision to reject him in the first place.
This is not a popularity contest. If it were, Sarah Palin probably would have won, based on her performance last night, but you need to keep in mind, Senator Biden was subdued in an effort to be respectful to Governor Palin. If he wanted to, Biden could have really gone after Palin’s inability to explain how her running mate’s plans would differ from the Bush administration’s, her lack of understanding the complexity of the economic crisis and how to go about solving it, her own party’s position on things such as equal rights for gay and lesbian couples and the crux of the Roe v. Wade decision, which is the right to privacy, etc. Going back to the point, this is not a popularity contest. Palin is running for VP. Anyone who is looking for substantive answers and a clear plan on any major issues can tell that Sarah Palin clearly did not win this debate. Personally, I do not feel she is an any position to counsel the President, and let’s be honest, folks. Do we REALLY think Senator McCain would listen to any advice Sarah Palin has to offer? The thought of that is absurd, to say the least. BTW, winking is not appropriate for a Presidential or Vice Presidential candidate. Let’s think about how other world leaders perceive her. Not well, I’m sure. And, can we retire the word “maverick” from this campaign? I’m pretty sure Biden obliterated any rational person’s idea that John McCain has actually been one.
decided to take a shot every time crazy lady said maverick….got pretty drunk last night…
26. Shut the fuck up. Your family is making for than most in this country. You may not be RICH but you sure as hell are not poor. Is that all your basing your vote on-What your dad probably told you? Do you some research of your own.
C.H.A.N.G.E. — Come Help A (N-word) Get Elected
JOE BIDEN’S 14 LIES TOLD AT THE DEBATE WITH PALIN:
1. TAX VOTE: Biden said McCain voted “the exact same way†as Obama to increase taxes on Americans earning just $42,000, but McCain DID NOT VOTE THAT WAY.
2. AHMEDINIJAD MEETING: Joe Biden lied when he said that Barack Obama never said that he would sit down unconditionally with Mahmoud Ahmedinijad of Iran. Barack Obama did say specifically, and Joe Biden attacked him for it.
3. OFFSHORE OIL DRILLING: Biden said, “Drill we must.†But Biden has opposed offshore drilling and even compared offshore drilling to “raping†the Outer Continental Shelf.â€
4. TROOP FUNDING: Joe Biden lied when he indicated that John McCain and Barack Obama voted the same way against funding the troops in the field. John McCain opposed a bill that included a timeline, that the President of the United States had already said he would veto regardless of it’s passage.
5. OPPOSING CLEAN COAL: Biden says he’s always been for clean coal, but he just told a voter that he is against clean coal and any new coal plants in America and has a record of voting against clean coal and coal in the U.S. Senate.
6. ALERNATIVE ENERGY VOTES: According to FactCheck.org, Biden is exaggerating and overstating John McCain’s record voting for alternative energy when he says he voted against it 23 times.
7. HEALTH INSURANCE: Biden falsely said McCain will raise taxes on people’s health insurance coverage — they get a tax credit to offset any tax hike. Independent fact checkers have confirmed this attack is false
8. OIL TAXES: Biden falsely said Palin supported a windfall profits tax in Alaska — she reformed the state tax and revenue system, it’s not a windfall profits tax.
9. AFGHANISTAN / GEN. MCKIERNAN COMMENTS: Biden said that top military commander in Iraq said the principles of the surge could not be applied to Afghanistan, but the commander of NATO’s International Security Assistance Force Gen. David D. McKiernan said that there were principles of the surge strategy, including working with tribes, that could be applied in Afghanistan.
10. REGULATION: Biden falsely said McCain weakened regulation — he actually called for more regulation on Fannie and Freddie.
11. IRAQ: When Joe Biden lied when he said that John McCain was “dead wrong on Iraqâ€, because Joe Biden shared the same vote to authorize the war and differed on the surge strategy where they John McCain has been proven right.
12. TAX INCREASES: Biden said Americans earning less than $250,000 wouldn’t see higher taxes, but the Obama-Biden tax plan would raise taxes on individuals making $200,000 or more.
13. BAILOUT: Biden said the economic rescue legislation matches the four principles that Obama laid out, but in reality it doesn’t meet two of the four principles that Obama outlined on Sept. 19, which were that it include an emergency economic stimulus package, and that it be part of “part of a globally coordinated effort with our partners in the G-20.â€
14. REAGAN TAX RATES: Biden is wrong in saying that under Obama, Americans won’t pay any more in taxes then they did under Reagan.
GOVERNOR PALIN is ‘real’, and Americans could feel it and connect with it. Palin is running for V.P … but, let’s take a look at the qualifications, judgement, and experience of Obama, who is running for President. Obama had 25 years to fulfill the potential he displayed as a rising start at Harvard Law School … and, how did he live up to that potential? He chose to align himself with anti-American racist, Jeremiah Wright for TWENTY YEARS … along with Ferrahkan, Rezko, Ayers, and others. As a community organizer, he registered thousands of voters in Chicago … then, when he ran for the state legislature, he took away their votes, by disqualifying his opponent (a black woman) on a technicality. As a U.S. Senator, he voted present 160 times … he never called a meeting on the Afghanistan committee he chaired (although he NOW says we must shift all our military from Iraq to Afghanistan). He claimed Foreign Policy experience from a 9 day whirlwind photo op to 6 countries. And, he spent almost half of his tenure neglecting his responsibilities as a U.S. Senator, so he could run for President. Senator McCain served America honorably for 22 years in the military. He proved his love for America, as well as his honor, integrity and character, by refusing early release as a P.O.W., even while being tortured. He served America as a ‘contributing’ U.S. Senator, working across the aisle, for 20 years. Governor Palin will learn the details of the current national and international issues … but, what Obama never learned is Character. He can’t be trusted … ask Jeremiah Wright, Rezko and Ayers. The American people can recognize ‘real’ character and integrity in McCain and Palin, and that’s why she won the debate by 87% on the FOX text messaging poll.
McCain and Palin do not embody integrity. Both of them have shamelessly lied, distorted and diverted from the truth throughout this campain. Examples: Bridge to Nowhere, Obama’s stance on sex education and they’ve repeated lied about Obama not saying that the surge has worked. Please, people. Let’s be honest.
SARAH PALIN IS THE DEVIL ! ! !
They all SUCK! This has got to be the worst election ever in the history of Amercia. EITHER WAY WERE SCREWED!!!!!