Update: One wonders if [Biden] ever realized that, even with 35 years in the Senate and all his expertise and fluidity in policy, he wasn't beating the hockey mom from Wasilla. -- Rich Lowry
Peggy Noonan loved Sarah Palin's performance during her debate with Joe Biden:
She killed. She had him at "Nice to meet you. Hey, can I call you Joe?" She was the star. He was the second male lead, the good-natured best friend of the leading man. She was not petrified but peppy.Noonan is not the only one. Palin received accolades from a few unlikely Democrats. Hillary Clinton praised Palin during a Friday morning interview:The whole debate was about Sarah Palin. She is not a person of thought but of action. Interviews are about thinking, about reflecting, marshaling data and integrating it into an answer. Debates are more active, more propelled--they are thrust and parry. They are for campaigners. She is a campaigner. Her syntax did not hold, but her magnetism did. At one point she literally winked at the nation.
As far as Mrs. Palin was concerned, Gwen Ifill was not there, and Joe Biden was not there. Sarah and the camera were there. This was classic "talk over the heads of the media straight to the people," and it is a long time since I've seen it done so well, though so transparently. There were moments when she seemed to be doing an infomercial pitch for charm in politics. But it was an effective infomercial.
"It's amazing: she's been thrust into the national spotlight with very little preparation and I think that, all things considered, you saw a very composed and effective debater last night."
The problem with Biden is simply his representation of the facts: CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN (as in, Changes to History): 14 of 'em, and counting. From the sixth-longest-sitting Senator (33 years), who's been on FamousPlagiarists.com since 2005.
Karl Rove summarizes ten Biden misrepresentations (HT: Rightwingnews):
Mark Whittington (AP) reports,
Joe Biden, while he clearly struggled not to lose his cool, did not commit any obvious gaffes, but did constantly mangle facts. Whether it was misrepresenting the Constitution (Article 1 deals with the Legislative not the Executive Branch) or the costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (three weeks in Iraq do not come anywhere near to equal seven years in Afghanistan) Biden misrepresented facts. Sarah Palin, by and large, let them slide, perhaps her sole mistake.And there you have it ...
Related: more here
She thought she did well. However, this is not the entire interview. I saw this interview when it aired and Noonan conceded that Biden won the debate.
Also, let's not forget Noonan's own gaffe:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vE6xeG0sXQY
I understand your views. But, most people, even a number of respected conservative journalists, say that Biden won the debate. Also, that Palin did better than expected. wow.
Noonan must have contradicted herself because I also heard her today on talk radio and she consistently gave the debate to Palin. Here's more of her WSJ article:
Her triumph comes at an interesting time. The failure of the first bailout bill was an epic repudiation of the Washington leadership class by the American people. Two weeks ago the president of the United States, the speaker of the House, the secretary of the Treasury and the leadership of both parties in Congress came forward and announced that the economy was in crisis and a federal bill to solve it urgently needed. The powers were in agreement, the stars aligned, it was going to happen.
Does this sound like Noonan gave the debate to Biden?
Real Politicians don't get to make "Lame Jokes" when asked tough questions. I fear this woman is GWB part 2. Not what the GOP needs.
A man without a party,
Would it really be the end of the world for the prolife movement if she did turn out to be GWB part 2? Furthermore, I think you are severely underestimating Gov Palin. She is doing a lot better than most give her credit for. Remember, a lot of what we've seen from her has been filtered through the MSM.
Jim C
Palin didn't kill Biden, she lost comprehensively, but don't just take my word for it, all leading polls indicate Biden won and most aside from the AOL poll he won by a sizeable margin.
Most telling is that a Fox News poll had Biden winning 61% to Palin 31%
CBS Biden 46% Palin 21%
CNN: Biden 51% Palin 36%
FOX NEWS: Biden 61% Palin 39%
MSNBC: Biden 52% Palin 38%
AOL: Biden 48% to Palin 45%
MediaCurves: Biden 67% to Palin 33%.
Survey USA: Biden 51% Palin 32%
Opps a typo:
It should read :Fox News poll had Biden winning 61% to Palin 39%
Just becasue Palin did better than expected, does not mean she did better than Biden. She seemed like she was getting by purely on being a mother of...blah,blah,blah.
The US needs someone who can think better than the average person. If McCain were to end his term early, which is very likely, then we will have an even less adequate version of Bush running the country. (Wow thats right, I said less adequate, whats 20% of 0?)