Oct 03 2008
Who won the debate?
For those who were expecting drama or even a train wreck from Sarah Palin, they didn’t get it.
SNL will be disappointed naturally…
Having read, heard and then watched previous interviews of Sarah Palin, I have to admit there was a part of me tuning in to be ‘entertained’. Especially after cringing at her interview with Katie Couric. THAT ONE… the media loved. She gave us so many interesting answers, one couldn’t resist but news-ify them. My favourite? How she told Katie Couric that merely living next to Russia helped to boost her foreign policy credentials. Right… So, I was just one of the millions watching this debate just to see how Mrs Palin performed.
You know what? She did a great job - she brushed up her knowledge, sold herself as much as she could with the thin resume she had and maximised opportunities to let her charisma and passion shine through on topics close to her heart. She even had the candor to wink a few times at her audience! Though looking nervous, depending too much on her cue notes and often swallowing hard after the end of each answer, she held herself up high and well.
Could you do that knowing over 55 million pairs of eyes in the US alone were watching you for that ‘gotcha’ moment? I couldn’t.
Palin fans can no doubt breathe much easier today than yesterday…
But hold on. She’s only proven herself to be a competent speaker. What about having the vision AND the potential to be a leader? She didn’t score there.
Whatever good she did in her answers on domestic issues and others, may have vaporised when she said she was not entirely sure that global warming was a man-made problem. And reality check… the NATO commander is General ‘Mckiernan”, not “Mclellan”. She’s still got some homework to do.
So, good for her, this debate might only have a shelf life of about 24-48 hours some critics say. And there were no moments I think will get replayed over and over again.
Same goes for Joseph Biden.
He was good. But that was expected. What really helped him was that he managed to keep to the right tune and tone the whole time during the debate. A little too defensive at first, but soon his sharp tones directed at McCain came through and I think the Democrats were happy to see that.
But the most effective moment came when we saw Biden choke up and briefly lose his voice when he spoke of his family. Biden lost his wife and daughter in a car crash and almost lost his two sons. One of them is currently serving in Iraq.
That was when the whole hall went silent. I don’t think I was the only one moved by this.
Palin though fell on deaf ears and her eagerness to get her ‘maverick’ message across might have come off looking a little cocky right at that moment.
I suspect this might have cost Palin dearly…
Palin did good.
But Biden did better…
