tagged w/ Wasilly Putty
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At least three times last night, Sarah Palin, the adorable, preposterous vice-presidential candidate, winked at the audience. Had a male candidate with a similar reputation for attractive vapidity made such a brazen attempt to flirt his way into the good graces of the voting public, it would have universally noted, discussed and mocked. Palin, however, has single-handedly so lowered the standards both for female candidates and American political discourse that, with her newfound ability to speak in more-or-less full sentences, she is now deemed to have performed acceptably last night.
By any normal standard, including the ones applied to male presidential candidates of either party, she did not. Early on, she made the astonishing announcement that she had no intentions of actually answering the queries put to her. "I may not answer the questions that either the moderator or you want to hear, but I'm going to talk straight to the American people and let them know my track record also," she said.
And so she preceded, with an almost surreal disregard for the subjects she was supposed to be discussing, to unleash fusillades of scripted attack lines, platitudes, lies, gibberish and grating references to her own pseudo-folksy authenticity.
It was an appalling display. The only reason it was not widely described as such is that too many American pundits don't even try to judge the truth, wisdom or reasonableness of the political rhetoric they are paid to pronounce upon. Instead, they imagine themselves as interpreters of a mythical mass of "average Americans" who they both venerate and despise.At least three times last night, Sarah Palin, the adorable, preposterous... more
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BuddyP
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3 years ago
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Link to this video Michael Tomasky reviews the performances of Sarah Palin and Joe Biden in the US vice-presidential debate
Link to this video Michael Tomasky reviews the performances of Sarah Palin and Joe... more
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Did Palin come through for McCain? In other words, was her folksy speaking style and “straight talk” answers enough to win over voters for her running mate? If the people in Luntz’s focus group are indicative of American voters, than Sarah may have hit a stand-up triple.Did Palin come through for McCain? In other words, was her folksy speaking style and... more
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Jim Lehrer moderates the first presidential debate between Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain.Jim Lehrer moderates the first presidential debate between Sens. Barack Obama and John... more
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Nothing like second guessing the top of the ticket and thinking she's more popular with voters than he is.Nothing like second guessing the top of the ticket and thinking she's more... more
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For the first and only time the Vice Presidential Candidates Sarah Palin and Joe Biden squared off in a much-anticipated debate. Hopefully you participated with us during the debate, if not don't miss the next one. Click over to www.current.com/debate and start tweeting away.For the first and only time the Vice Presidential Candidates Sarah Palin and Joe Biden... more
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Highlights:
Fifty-one percent of debate watchers say Biden did best job, CNN poll says
Eighty-four percent of debate watchers said Palin did better than expected
Biden more likely to bring change, according to 53 percent of debate watchers
Highlights:
Fifty-one percent of debate watchers say Biden did best job, CNN poll... more
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Story Highlights
On mortgage crisis, Palin says, "Darn right, it was the predator lenders"
She advises people ask parents at a soccer game if they want feel for economy
Former opponent: "She clearly has a very canny ability to connect with people"
Story Highlights
On mortgage crisis, Palin says, "Darn right, it was the... more
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Palin, the first female governor of Alaska, referred to "average, middle-class families like mine," and in her first answer she suggested that the proper place to take the temperature of Americans' concerns about the economy would be at a Saturday-morning soccer game.
"Now, thankfully, John McCain has been one representing reform," Palin said. "People in the Senate, his colleagues" -- she turned to the senator from Delaware -- "didn't want to listen to him and wouldn't go towards that reform that was needed."
Biden trained his fire on McCain, noting that the senator from Arizona "two Mondays ago" claimed that the "fundamentals of the economy were strong."
He added: "That doesn't make John McCain a bad guy, but it does point out he's out of touch."
The debate, with its emphasis on quick answers and numerous topics, became a barrage of numbers and competing and conflicting visions of Obama and McCain.
Likely to be more lasting for viewers was the lack of obvious mistakes on either side, and an image of Palin that was more like the confident, smiling politician who burst onto the scene with a fiery speech at the Republican National Convention, and less like the stumbling candidate who has seemed ill prepared in a series of interviews broadcast recently with CBS News anchor Katie Couric.
She was respectful and cordial to Biden -- "Hey, can I call you Joe?" she asked when she greeted him onstage -- but quick to try to put him on the defensive about his past differences with Obama. "I watched all those debates," she said, referring to the Democratic primaries in which the two were rivals.
But the essence of the night -- and one of the major arguments of the campaign -- may have been illustrated by a long exchange after Biden said policies of the Bush administration have been an "abject failure."
"There's a time, too, when Americans are going to say, 'Enough is enough with your ticket,' on constantly looking backwards, and pointing fingers and doing the blame game," Palin said. "There have been huge blunders in the war. There have been huge blunders throughout this administration, as there are with every administration. But for a ticket that wants to talk about change and looking into the future, there's just too much finger-pointing backwards to ever make us believe that that's where you're going."
Tell us why this is interestingPalin, the first female governor of Alaska, referred to "average, middle-class... more
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That will buy quite a few six packs. The Palins own their lakefront house plus two vacation homes - yeah, she's a regular joe.That will buy quite a few six packs. The Palins own their lakefront house plus two... more
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Story Highlights
51 percent say Democratic Sen. Joe Biden wins vice presidential debate
Republican Gov. Sarah Palin exceeds expectations, 84 percent say
Palin beats Biden on likability, 54-36
87 percent say Biden is qualified for job, 42 percent say Palin is
Next Article in Politics »
(CNN) -- A national poll of people who watched the vice presidential debate Thursday night suggests that Democratic Sen. Joe Biden won, but also says Republican Gov. Sarah Palin exceeded expectations.
Poll respondents give Sen. Joe Biden the edge over Gov. Sarah Palin in ability to express views.
The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. said 51 percent of those polled thought Biden did the best job, while 36 percent thought Palin did the best job.
But respondents said the folksy Palin was more likable, scoring 54 percent to Biden's 36 percent. Seventy percent said Biden was more of a typical politician.
Both candidates exceeded expectations -- 84 percent of the people polled said Palin did a better job than they expected, while 64 percent said Biden also exceeded expectations.
How Palin would perform had been a major issue for the Alaska governor, who had some well-publicized fumbles during interviews with CBS' Katie Couric leading up to the debate.
Respondents thought Biden was better at expressing his views, giving him 52 percent to Palin's 36 percent.
On the question of the candidates' qualifications to assume the presidency, 87 percent of those polled said Biden is qualified and 42 percent said Palin is qualified.
Story Highlights
51 percent say Democratic Sen. Joe Biden wins vice presidential... more
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Unbelievable. Sarah Palin finished her closing remarks by quoting Ronald Reagan:
It was Ronald Reagan who said that freedom is always just one generation away from extinction. We don’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream; we have to fight for it and protect it, and then hand it to them so that they shall do the same, or we’re going to find ourselves spending our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children about a time in America, back in the day, when men and women were free.
When did he say this? - Read The Rest at the Link...Unbelievable. Sarah Palin finished her closing remarks by quoting Ronald Reagan:
It... more
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ANP: At St. Louis VP debate, McCain campaign rented out a stadium to re-energize the conservative base.
American News Project: At the vice presidential debate in St. Louis, the McCain campaign rented out a stadium to re-energize the conservative base in light of Sarah Palin's recent gaffes. Despite the revival feel, zeal for Palin isn't translating in the polls. While some would argue Palin exceeded expectations, unregistered voters seem unimpressed. ANP: At St. Louis VP debate, McCain campaign rented out a stadium to re-energize the... more
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While Palin has seemingly been successful with her constant self-aggrandizing as a champion of her home state and Americans everywhere, many supportive Alaskans are having trouble with the Governor's reliance on the same one-liners that made her so appealing for that first week. While Palin has seemingly been successful with her constant self-aggrandizing as a... more
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