2008 Presidential Debates Catch-All

Since The Office isn't on tonight I'm hoping for a comparably hilariously uncomfortable performance from Palin.

Brewers Phillies at 6 eastern and Dodgers Cubs at 9:30!

I honestly cant watch the Palin interviews anymore. Some might find it comedy but even the SNL skit to me was a trainwreck of my brain exploding trying to decipher what was being said. If I ever opened my mouth and such gibberish came out I really hope someone would just slap me.

I was watching CNN last night and they were really towing the line that Palin can debate so Biden should watch out showing a brief clip of her skills in a Alaskan debate. What wasn't clear was she actually good at debating or just flabbergasting her opponent that he was being outwitted by her. The pundits traded what they thought each VP needed to do and the one for Biden was interesting. Attack McCain and attack him hard. Avoid Palin entirely and just go after McCain's policies which the pundit (the Dem who was always on Crossfire) made the key point of making that Biden probably knows more about McCain and his policies then Palin does so he has that advantage.

KaterinLHC wrote:

VP debate tonight. Thoughts?

My thought is, preseason hockey is more important.

I might tape it though.

In preparation to watch the tonight's debates, I've bought this:

IMAGE(http://images-cdn01.associatedcontent.com/image/A7765/77653/300_77653.jpg)

Gorilla.800.lbs wrote:

In preparation to watch the tonight's debates, I've bought this:

IMAGE(http://images-cdn01.associatedcontent.com/image/A7765/77653/300_77653.jpg)

That's... actually not a bad idea.

Well, we're watching Survivor first. So I'm kinda hoping after the debate Palin gets voted off the campaign.

Eh..we'll see. BBC interviewed one of Palin's opponents from when she ran for Governor, and apparently she tore him and her other opponents apart in debates, even when she didn't necessarily know the topics too well, turning everything into a folksy sort of thing that the people ate up like candy. Not sure if that will fare well with a wider audience, but it's worth keeping in mind.

Gorilla.800.lbs wrote:

IMAGE(http://images-cdn01.associatedcontent.com/image/A7765/77653/300_77653.jpg)

No matter how much Smart Pop you eat, it won't make the candidates any smarter.

What are the possible results from the debate?

Palin Wins:
She just kept being so darn folksy and cute, plus she knew a thing or two.
Biden was just so mean to her and she showed him what a strong independent woman looks like by not backing down.

Draw:
Biden won't shut the f*ck up and Palin doesn't know what the f*ck she's talking about.

Biden Wins:
At one point Palin just stares at the camera for 5 minutes with her mouth open and her eyes wide.
Biden picks apart all of Palin's responses like a gentleman. But not belittling.

Humerous but unlikely:
Palin reveals to all of us that Alaska really is a perfect microcosm of the USA.
Palin uses her vast knowledge from reading every newspaper/magazine ever printed and reveals herself to be the smartest person alive.
Biden makes Palin cry and the rest of America weeps with her.
Palin makes Biden cry and the rest of America laughs at him.

Peronthious wrote:

Eh..we'll see. BBC interviewed one of Palin's opponents from when she ran for Governor, and apparently she tore him and her other opponents apart in debates, even when she didn't necessarily know the topics too well, turning everything into a folksy sort of thing that the people ate up like candy. Not sure if that will fare well with a wider audience, but it's worth keeping in mind.

Rachel Maddow had some of her debate footage on last night. While she certainly got away with there, I don't think it's something can get away with in this context.

One clip had her answer a pretty dumb question, "What job would you hire your opponent for?"

She said she would have to hire him as the state statistician, which was her way of mocking him and all of his fancy facts and figures. I don't think that kind "proud to be stupid" ploy will work anymore.

I'm not sure I can watch it tonight.

All Palin's victories will feel like lemon juice poured into my eye. I'm not sure there is any way I can watch Biden knowing that he's going to be forced into some kind of ridiculous nice-guy paradigm to avoid turning Palin into a martyr. I'm just not sure what I can get out of it that will do anything other than make me despair over the political process.


EDIT: Wrong Thread.

Palin-Biden debate drinking game begins NOW!

LIGHTNING BONUS ROUND:

The following situations call for One (1) Shot of Liquor:

* PALIN doesn’t know what FDIC or SEC stand for.
* BIDEN admits to plagiarizing the Constitution.
* PALIN admits to dealing meth.
* BIDEN references Palin’s stump speech insult — where she claims she’s been hearing about Biden’s Senate speeches since she was in second grade — by saying there’s no evidence Sarah Palin ever made it to second grade.
* GWEN IFILL asks Sarah Palin about incestuous rape.
* PALIN insults Biden for having hair plugs.
* BIDEN calls her “another tanning booth whore, and I’ve known a few.”
* PALIN says “lipstick” in any context.

Finally: Three shots and throw the glass at the teevee if:

* BIDEN calls her a “hockey pig.”
* PALIN pulls off her pantsuit to reveal a confederate-flag one-piece bathing suit, and she looks fat, and the audience boos.

Pure gold!

I have my beer! Let's roll

right out of the bat I see Palin going the republican fear route. She's kinda scary staring directly at the camera but I understand why she's doing it. Biden isn't looking at the camera....

Biden needs to drill her right now (pardon the pun). She's talking about cutting taxes in Alaska...

Hmmm Palin is doing pretty well. I give her 40 minutes before she runs out of the talking points that have been drilled into her head.

Hooray, baseball playoffs!

JC wrote:

Hmmm Palin is doing pretty well. I give her 40 minutes before she runs out of the talking points that have been drilled into her head.

Yes she is well prepared. So far anyway, but not bad at all.

ARGHHHH How is her expertise energy?

I wouldn't say Palin is doing well, much of what she's saying is party line talking point regurgitation. But she's not stumbling as much as she did during the interviews.

EDIT: Oops, scratch that. She just totally avoided the question (what promises can't be kept).

The way she's been talking, you'd think John McCain was running the senate.

JC wrote:

ARGHHHH How is her expertise energy?

I believe scientists are hard at work on developing car engines and power plants that run completely on bullsh*t.

Biden is doing ok keeping things succinct, but he's spouting too many numbers with some of his comments.

Ah there's the drill on US soil party line.

WOOHOO. Now we hit global warming! It's not our fault it's cyclical... and people rode dinosaurs too! (I added that last part)

She's a lot more coherent than in the interviews...

Oh god. She just said "reared that head". *groan*

Um. Anyway... Yeah, she's a lot more coherent. She's also dodging the questions pretty continuously. Sadly, dodging issues is something people don't tend to get upset about. :l

Biden's solid, but he's also sticking to the talking points really hard. I'm not sure that's in his favor here.

One nice thing I've noticed is that Biden talks a lot in terms of "Obama and I". I've noticed Palin dodge at least once via "Well, I've only been involved in this for a few weeks" so she hasn't had time to make any promises (when asked about promises the McCain/Palin administration might have to go back on.)

Added: "What I do want to talk about is... how are we going to get there to positively effect the impacts." WTF?

HAHAHA Biden just called Palin and McCain morons in a round about fashion. "If you don't understand the problem you can't fix it"

Oh geez, "Drill baby drill" now... The people chanting that don't realize that it would be a drop in the ocean in 15 years time.

I like this Moderator. She cuts them off when they go over or when they drift off topic. Much better then the first debate.