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EDITOR OF REDSTATE

Botoxed Joe Biden Gets Field Dressed Like A Moose

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  October 2nd, 2008 at 09:30 PM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

Sarah Palin just field dressed Joe Biden like a moose. She was awesome. She connected with the people. She had fun. She was relaxed. She was awesome.

Biden literally blew this debate — sighing heavily in the microphone. Rolling his eyes. Being condescending. Flagrantly lying about policies that Palin repeatedly called him on.

Ifill herself did wind up showing her bias. She rarely gave Palin the last word. By the end of the debate it was almost 3 to 1 with Biden getting the last word. She also tried to disrupt Palin’s relationship with evangelicals by framing gay marriage around Alaska, mischaracterizing it too. LIkewise with global warming.

The line of the night will be “Say it ain’t so, Joe.” Palin was willing to break with the GOP and show how Biden and Obama have not ever broken with the Democrats.

She was smiling, gregarious, and clearly enjoying the night.

I sat in a room with five guys who came in loathing the night. They don’t like McCain. They don’t care for Palin. They think she botched her interviews. To a man they came out thinking she cleaned Biden’s snide little clock.

Well done Sarah Palin. Those who were wavering should be standing up straight tomorrow cheering you on. And some of us never doubted.

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COMMENTS

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  • BuckeyesforMcCainPalin

    ever doubting this woman.

    This should at least stop the bleeding. Might even get a boost.

  • dbecraft

    She had Biden on the defensive the whole night. Wonderful presentation…

  • lapert

    Just goes to show that partisans see partisan results. Personally, and in a room of not particularly commited people, the consensus is that neither candidate was particularly better or worse, they both had their moments but in the end nothing to change anyone’s mind.

  • Ohioan

    Thanks for the tidbit on people changing their minds. I’m so ratcheted up that I have NO idea whatsoever how an Independent thinks. Glad to see there might be signs this was a great win.

    I think we all need to remember that debates are long events. We think too much in terms of the “out of the park” lines we see, forgetting that was but one part of 90 minute debates. I think she did well, but here’s hoping we win the post-debate spin and really solidify with some I’s tonight.

  • napresto

    I just watched, also with an impending sense of dread – not because I thought Palin would do poorly… but because I feared she would do poorly. Thank goodness my initial read on her still stand true – she rules!

    I should also say, by the way, that I really wish the principals in this race were Palin and Biden. Biden is a goober, sure, but I dunno… he seems like a well-meaning if frequently wrong-headed goober. I’d feel a lot safer with him as prez (assuming a loss), rather than Obama.

    And Palin just rocks.

  • PaRep

    .

  • mcc410x

    But probably not for the same reason you think.

  • Jaded

    nt

  • bk

    How about the line about how there’s been no greater friend to Israel than Joe Biden? I can’t wait to hear Lieberman knock that one out of the park. I bet he was PISSED about that one!

    Another nice whopper among the many were his saying that McCain wants to do a surge in Afghanistan and that McClelland said it won’t work … then two seconds later he claims that Obama has wanted more troops in Afghanistan. Uh, wait a second here….

    I also noticed how Biden seemed to get the last word in almost every case.

    Frank Luntz has a focus group where almost everyone loved Palin.

  • ToddH

    and I can say I never doubted. I’ve been an advocate of hers for VP since McCain wrapped up the primary battle. To prove my point to some friends I dug up an email of mine from back in February that stated I thought she would make the best VP pick. But I digress…

    One more point, I too noticed that Biden seemed to always get the last word, and I’m also curious, and it would be nice if someone could answer this, why did Biden get to lead off the debate and also have the final word. Seemed fishy to me.

  • napresto

    …But I wanted to add – I thought this debate was also way more fun and interesting than the McCain/Obama debate. Another reason I am perhaps feeling charitable towards Biden tonight.

    Also he lost, which helps.

  • dbecraft

    entranched people… Just wait though, you will see that the public not only accepted her, but loved her presentation! Not sure you will believe that though..heh.

  • awtherfrd

    Senator Biden why do you want to tax evil rich people and then to you Gov. Palin why do you support a horrible plan to strip insurance from 5 million poor people?

    Well at least that is how it sounded coming from Ifel.

  • PSDA

    Not even my wildest hopes did I expect that she’d do THIS well.

    The great thing is that no matter what happens in this election, we’ve given it a good fight and have somebody in Palin who is going to be on the national stage for a LONG time as an exciting Republican voice.

  • lapert

    I have no idea what that means

  • Stuckinmichigan

    I watched the Luntz and O’ Brien undecided discussion and noticed something. The people seemed to be scared to raise their hand when asked if they were voting for McCain. Maybe it was just a silly observation, but I wonder if it has wider significance. My guess is that people are scared to admit they are voting for McCain for fear of backlash. I know this type of thing has been mentioned before, but it was the first time I actually thought I saw it in action. The people looked around and sheepishly raised their hand, or raised it halfway and then put it back down. Did anyone else notice, and do you think it means what I think it does?

  • lapert

    I have no interest in mainstream media – its just noise. Neither one did enough more than the other to turn me or the other people I was with, take it for what its worth but I doubt this changes the trajectory of the election in any measurable way.

  • furious

    …she’s the Reason Compasses Point North.

  • IJB

    It comes as no surprise that those guys are furiously trying to spin it as, basically, a narrow Biden win.

    After flipping over to them tonight, I think CNN’s finally gotten off the dime – they’re in the tank for Obama every bit as deep as MSNBC is now.

    I wonder what they guys have planned for the next month. It’ll probably look like Soviet-era TV soon…

  • Swamp_Yankee

    If Sarah Palin is the story overthe next couple of days. Republicans will get a boost in the polls and in spirit.

    If the bailout consumes the news cycle, expect the same bad numbers and growing malaise.

    Republicans can do better message control. I hope Republicans smarten up and stop doing the Democrats dirty work by keeping McCain Palin on page three. Obama’s ahead. He can coast to victory. He doesnt need the spotlight.

    I hop this a game chnager. I glad she put energy independence back on the fornt burner.

  • Shaggy_Dog

    Let’s stay grounded in reality, she wasn’t quite the second coming of Cicero, but overall I was pleased with her performance.

    Now the key is for her to build on this momentum- they need to turn her loose bigtime.

  • Swamp_Yankee

    If Sarah Palin is the story overthe next couple of days. Republicans will get a boost in the polls and in spirit.

    If the bailout consumes the news cycle, expect the same bad numbers and growing malaise.

    Republicans can do better message control. I hope Republicans smarten up and stop doing the Democrats dirty work by keeping McCain Palin on page three. Obama’s ahead. He can coast to victory. He doesnt need the spotlight.

    I hop this a game chnager. I glad she put energy independence back on the fornt burner.

  • speciallist
  • Pomme

    They’re in MO!! Does the Truth Squad now have to arrest Joe Biden????

  • bk

    Claire McCaskill and other O-bots are saying “Sarah Palin is charming and speaks well and comes across well on camera, but where’s the substance?” Coming from people who support the all style/no substance candidate that’s pretty darn rich.

  • Wolfpack

    It’s been a few years since I’ve posted, and in that time, I’ve broken ranks with the GOP, but I can’t deny, Gov. Palin did an outstanding job tonight.

    In the first hour, she was crisp with the answers and she made a strong case for their ticket. At about 10 PM, I think she lapsed into repetitiveness, but most people won’t pick up on that. Throughout the night, she addressed the camera directly, and that presentation will overcome any repetition.

    I only have one quibble – “Say it ain’t so, Joe” was not one of her better moments of the night. She stumbled over it, it was delivered in a manner than seemed more coached than spontaneous, and even though everyone comes into the night with their zinger, the key is to not make it sound coached.

    She was strongest when her (for lack of a better term) “folksy”, was authentic.

    Her best moment in my mind, when she dropped her voice, cocked her a head a little, and corrected Biden about the chant, “Drill, Baby, Drill”. It was a correction that wasn’t particularly defensive, but showed solidarity with everyone that participated in that chant or believes it, and I think that’s a powerful rhetorical moment.

  • ggross56

    Biden opening by saying that deregulation caused Fannie/Freddie is a gigantic whopper.

    His saying that McCain didn’t support the troops because he didn’t vote for a bill that established a defeatist timeline is utterly bizarre.

  • SeanH90050

    51-36 Biden wins

    I wish they’d show the internals as they discussed in terms on Dem/GOP/Indy

  • eze

    Man, you wingnuts will say anything to make yourselves feel fine. Do you recall “Alaska is close to Russia”?

    Look, plucky might have worked in 2000, and maybe in 2004. But not now.

    And for the record, if I ever asked a job candidate a question, and she answered some other question, there wouldn’t be a follow-up. I’d show her the door. And you would too.

  • eze

    Which campaign said “this campaign is about personalities, not the issues”?

  • dbecraft

    islands of Alaska, you CAN see Russia? Probably not, but what the hey, nice of you to sound off… IDIOT!

  • PaRep

    .

  • 29Victor

    Or is it a muscle? Nerve?

    Whatever.

    After the last debate I came to realize that I am a partisan hack whose opinion can’t be trusted in matters such as these.

    The “undecideds” will decide this election, as they decide every election, and my brain (praise God) is unable to comprehend the way they think.

  • jdub19

    I can do without the stupid winks, and the constant grin on her face…the best thing about a zing is no one sees it coming…she grins like she can’t wait to tell a secret to someone..

    And, I know I’m going to get blasted here, but the way she is talking (Alaskan?)seems almost fake…”youbetcha”..?

    End of the day, she didn’t screw up…so I guess it was a plus

  • PaRep

    .

  • eze

    You are really clueless. I realize that you can see Alaska from Russia. But only the Repubs would say that was a foreign policy credential. Repeatedly.

  • Moe_Lane

    Blam.

  • BuckeyesforMcCainPalin

    nt

  • hones

    for the month figure has me rejuvenated.

    Predictions on the bounce?

  • PaRep

    So you could say get her off the Ticket she sucks & get Mitt on

  • dbecraft

    but what the hey, he probably can see Russia from Alaska. He just don’t know what to do about it…

  • PaRep

    & then they were talking over him

  • mbecker908

    .

  • dbecraft
  • jdub19

    you have no idea what I think or want, or how I feel about Palin.

    My comments were straight forward, and an honest call on how I saw her performance….

    I guess they serve kool aide on this side also….

  • PaRep

    .

  • jdub19

    like she was trying to talk a certain way?

    Because I don’t like the way she winked 4 times?..

    Here’s a news flash…to a great degree it’s all acting…it’s open to critique…even from supporters.

  • Leon_H_Wolf

    Petition the contact form for reinstatement.

  • bk

    Somebody should have asked that bald-faced liar Claire McCaskill that!

  • dbecraft

    left. Oh well, probably will not learn though since it is a badge of honor.

  • stang

    Anyone who is undecided at this point is:

    1) Lying

    2) Brain-dead

    3) Shouldn’t be voting

    4) All of the above

    That they are voting is one of the tragic flaws in our system of government.
    We ain’t got no standards no more.

  • Moe_Lane

    …among us. I personally thought that she wiped the floor with Biden, but there’s a range from “she was perfect” to “she was awful.”

  • Miami75

    She was an actress-memorized her lines-nothing deeper than that. You saw the real Sarah Palin in the Couric interviews. Don’t confuse the two people. If people love her so much,campaign to get her a talk show.

  • mbecker908

    If you love him so much, get him a church. Or a mosque. Or whatever.

    Or encourage him to run for President of Europe where he’ll do no damage.

  • dbecraft

    of normal people! Please, can we get all the professional politicians out of Washington!

  • bk

    Did Joe just spout all those taglines off the top of his head, or did he sound like a lawyer/politician who had all his talking points memorized so he could spout them out regardless of the question?

  • jdub19

    and I’m sorry if this ticks people off, but I don’t want to hear about Todd and the kids right now…or mom and dad…or frankly, what happened in your home town.

    I wanted her to come out and be tough, respectful, and to the point…we all know she can be cute, charming, and can win anyone over. After the last 2 weeks, our party doesn’t need cute…we need to get back on track…tonight didn’t do any harm, and that is a positive.

    Please…stop the winking

  • bk
  • lapert

    Maybe they are busy living their day to day lives that actually matter to them as opposed to listen to windbags (from all parties) give the same rehearsed, typically cotentless lines over and over (even in supposed debates that don’t requrie you to answer the actual questions asked).

    Blaming the undecided voters for being undecided is like blaming fans for not coming to the stadium or viewers for not watching sitcoms – sometimes it really is the fault of the people talking in circles against eachother. And if those same people feel a civic obligation to vote even if they can’t much stand either candidate so it takes them a bit to choose – well that seems like a fine standard to me.

  • bk

    Obama already has that demographic locked up.

  • Tbone

    fixed and the rug rats diapers changed.
    I short, I need a woman who thinks that is what women are for. Anyone have Kathleen Parker’s phone number?

    I already got me a Vice President!

  • bs

    It’s about time someone gave that idiot a smackdown. Bless you, Leon.

  • Erick
  • Neil_Stevens

    … but I got the clear impression that Palin memorized specific phrases to use re: marriage, and was very uncomfortable as she made sure to stick to the script.

    Over all though I enjoyed the way she refused to let Ifill or Biden tell her what to talk about.

  • Tbone

    fixed and the rug rats diapers changed.
    I short, I need a woman who thinks that is what women are for. Anyone have Kathleen Parker’s phone number?

    I already got me a Vice President!

  • bs

    Welcome home, T.

  • NightTwister

    Palin: B

    I thought she was strong where she needed to be, and surprisingly was strongest on national defense and foreign policy. So much for her being clueless. She stumbled a couple of times (the general’s name in Afghanistan). She was at her best talking straight into the camera. I really sensed she was talking directly to me.

    Biden: C

    Biden was also better than I thought he’d be. He handled himself well for the most part, but there was a couple of times when he stumbled and his eyes got shifty. You could tell Palin landed a punch at those times. I would’ve rated him higher, but the lies cost him quite a bit.

    Moderator: B

    I thought the moderator played it straight, and I didn’t notice any bias at all.

  • choponic

    That might be the most predictable headline I’ve ever heard. So long as Palin didn’t pass out cold and tumble into the moderator, “Palin wins!” was destined to be the headline.

    OK, let the banning begin…

  • mbecker908

    (Hey Neil… in version 3.1 could we get a “Hall of Fame” page to highlight comments like this…)

    Blue Ribbon

  • Moe_Lane

    Stamping your foot and pouting isn’t very interesting.

  • Tbone
  • mbecker908

    two in the same comment thread?

    What are you drinking tonight?

  • GregInFla

    Now he’s sending them to Afghanistan. Just another political promise, I guess.

  • choponic

    [Blam. - Moe Lane]

  • Tbone

    “Last time I said something of substance, I got banned.”

    ROFLMAO

  • stang

    I’m not blaming them, just making an observation. Ignorance is a voluntary condition.

    ?Never ascribe to malice that which can be adequately explained by ignorance.?

    James Thurber

  • kaedryl

    I have to agree with Lapert. The problem, I think, is that most of the “undecideds” are busy living their lives and the only political information they receive are the political ads, pieces running on local/national news and word of mouth from their friends, who are likely as poorly informed as they are. Sadly, most people don’t take politics seriously and take the time to educate themselves, as they feel no matter who’s in the White House, it likely will make little difference to them. They aren’t bad, just uneducated about the candidates and the issues. If they weren’t, the polls would be much, much different than they are now.

  • Jeff_Emanuel

  • Darin_H

    this place hasn’t been the same without you Tbone.

  • WingnutWackaloon

    [...thirty seconds to replace with a YouTube video.]

  • Martin_A_Knight

    I mean, honestly? Indictments? I didn’t know liberals were so understanding of cops using tasers on ten year olds. Did you clean yourself after you woke up from that dream?

  • GregInFla

    It is interesting to see who their debate experts are

  • nivlem

    This was her best line of the night, and
    she timed and played it beautifully…. o
    “SAY IT AIN’T SO JOE.. it is a phrase
    that would come easy to her….

    I saw a person that saw an opponent as choosing to exagerate the facts to the point that she had to choose her word wisely and heard the tapes in her head
    of those that prepared her for the debate
    who really do not understand main street
    america. She chose her words according
    to what we all understand…andnot it is real for her not “folksy”.

    And her best moment was after Biden
    “choked up”, she moved onto the matters
    at hand and did not get manipulated into
    his game. That moment showed her strength focusing on the issues, and
    called Biden out on his “game”.

  • 29Victor

    So you’re saying that they are just to lazy to bother? I’m sorry, when we talk about exercising your right to vote, a right that has been bought for you with the blood of thousands of your fellow citizens, for who will become the most powerful person in the world, then lazy = bad.

    Too busy to bother to take the time to figure out who is best for the country and letting yourself be influenced by a speech here or an ad there is right up there with ignoring your kids education or your personal finances.

    Of course, our country is plagued with people who do just that. They trust their kids education and their money to someone else, are too buisy to pay attention to either, and then get all upset when both wind up in trouble.

  • Augustine

    I’m partisan but my wife who is not political thought she did really well. I think that Biden came off as an older than dirt senator who talks alot, Palin connected with people well. If you are looking for a human for VP then Palin clearly won, if you are looking for someone to sit the president on his knee and tell stories about world history, then Biden won.

    I think that something that is important to remember is that the media is very much in the Obama tank. As such there are no ties, only Obama/Biden victory in a debate or silence. If you get silence then we know who won.

    Also I was deeply annoyed by how Ifill prefaced the homosexual rights question by referring to Alaska.

  • simpson316

    This goes down as the best comment on RS3.0 yet.

  • Uma_Richie

    My husband, whom I can no longer trust for an objective opinion as he has become an entrenched McCain/Palin supporter, believed that Sen. Biden’s answers were better on substance, but agreed that Gov. Palin’s overall performance was better.

    I thought that Gov. Palin won on both style and substance. She defended Sen McCain more ably than Sen Biden defended Sen Obama. Then by highlighting her disagreement with McCain on ANWR and Biden’s position changes once he became the VP nominee, she showed herself as an independent leader and Biden as a weak politician.

    It was a very small part of the debate, but I particularly liked her comments on divesting Alaska from Darfur. It showed policy leadership and attention to world affairs.

    Neither of us thought Gwen Ifill showed bias. For example, contrary to other posters, I thought the framing of the gay marriage question gave Gov. Palin credibility as a governor and gave her the chance to explain her position without the media filter.

  • bs

    all we’d have left is Daily Kos.

  • bk

    He made it sound like Wesley Clark’s carpet bombings had all the folks holding hands and singing Kumbaya even though no one thought it could be done. Oh yeah, so why do we still have troops there?

  • PreTjenE

    Sarah Palin was awesome! SHE was not old world politics like Obama and Biden and she answered all questions directly, honestly and straight forward that is what we need in this country! AS AMERICANS we have got to turn this mess around and get Obama out of the Cat/Bird seat! HE is dangerous on so many levels, notice Biden never refuted their TRILLION in tax increases! I am worried about the very fabric of this country with this Socialist morons, we have got to step it up and get serious about winning this election!

  • skuld1

    Is spending some years growing up in a SE asian country as a child, right?

  • Rod_Patrick
  • Rod_Patrick

    That’s rumormongering. Ifill might lose her future job as Obama’s Press Secretary.

    Please stop commenting like that. It’s a future of Ifill in the Obama Camp which is at stake here.

    We don’t condone this kind of rumors or insinuations, especially if it can cause a huge financial losses to Ifill.

    You don’t want Ifill’s Obama Book to flop in the bookstore, do you?

  • Rod_Patrick

    You have beaten speciallist on this one.

    Yeah!

  • Rod_Patrick

    Too bad. Maestro Moe rule it out as Blam.

  • Rod_Patrick
  • jdub19

    myself…

    Guess I better get in line with the RS opinion of the debate

  • stang

    So many trolls, so little time.

  • Rod_Patrick

    for the missing questions on the following topics:
    1. Energy (though candidates made some remarks on the same)
    2. Abortion

    These topics are supposed to be the strength of Palin.

    Note that almost half of the questions were on foreign relations, something that Palin is supposed to be weak.

    In addition, I find that Biden always had to be one saying the last piece.

    Now, I think that the obvious Ifill’s Bias was clearly discussed by Newsbusters’ Tim Graham. Link

    I specially agree on this one.

    Governor, on another issue, interventionism, nuclear weapons. What should be the trigger, or should there be a trigger, when nuclear weapons use is ever put into play?

    Tim thought it was just incoherent. But to me, it’s a trap question. Tying Interventionism, nuclear weapon, triggering a nuke weapon at the same time? It would insinuate to those watching outside America that USA is really a bully nation. This is dangerous not just to Sarah but to America as a nation. If Sarah elaborated on this, then Sarah would now be ridiculed as the MAD Sarah.

  • Rod_Patrick
  • Rod_Patrick
  • Rod_Patrick

    Luv them.

    As for the rest of your opinions, stay on, dude. Like the rest of RS guys, bite ‘em! Just beware of the moderators, he! he!

  • gamecock

    4

  • Rod_Patrick

    is also a very good reference.

  • Uma_Richie

    in the family anymore, I tried to filter out my prior knowledge of her book deal.

    As to the time spent on each policy area, I simply assumed that the campaigns had agreed to a number or percentage in their pre-debate negotiations.

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