Debate: Part Two

Israel?

Biden: this administration's policy has been an abject failure with Israel.

Good come back.

Good statement on Iran . . . . They have been strengthened under a Bush adminstration.

"I don't believe that this administration's policy has been an abject failure."

Now she's playing a scolding mom -- telling the Democrats that they shouldn't be finger pointing at the Bush administration.

"We're going to put excessive partisanship aside." Huh???

Biden: "Past is prologue."

Good point, Joe. "I haven't heard how McCain's policy has been different from George Bush's."

Gwen: "What should be the trigger if nuclear weapons are put into play?"

Palin is now trying to distance McCain's policy from Bush after saying that it wasn't so bad

Woa, "Obama is hurting our cause" . . . . . . I knew it. She's done it. Obama is on the side of the terrorists. No matter what Biden says this one is going to stick.

One thing is certain -- Palin's handlers have prepped her well on all the foreign policy talking points.

She's winning simply showing more energy and apparent confidence in what she says. People aren't going to parse the content. It's the confidence she exudes that will stick in their minds.

Biden is losing . . .

"I'm a Washington outsider. . . "

She's jumping on Biden's differences with Obama that he had during the primary debates. Smart move.

She has been well trained. What I feared is true -- they let the press believe she was a light weight so she could come on strong here.

Even on foreign policy she's got Biden on the defensive.

"John McCain knows how to win a war and knows what evil is."

(scary stuff - its all about winning. Never mind the body count. As long as we win!!!)

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Finally -- Joe Biden is looking at the camera and speaking about his folks in Delaware. Good move.

Palin: "doggonit" Does this work??

She's snarky . . . . . .

Now her confidence is feeling more like "I know better than you. I know better than anyone." This isn't confidence. This is a cockiness based on . . . nothing.

I think this is going to work against her. It's the prom queen, cheerleader, popular girl rubbing the noses of everyone else in the fact that they aren't as popular as she is.


Accepted wisdom - what about your weaknesses?

Palin: will not admit to having any weaknesses -- I'm very experienced. I'm attached to the homeland. I'm a mom. Special needs children. I was a poor person. "We've been there."

"But even more important is that world view - America is a nation of exceptionalism, we are a beacon of hope. We represent a perfect ideal ("God bless America. Land of the free . . . John Phillips Souza is heard playing in the background)

And now Biden is speaking of his experience - brings in his experience as single parent. I know too! (so there, Sarah. )

What's that about Biden's wife? That was a low blow - your wife has got her reward in heaven?? Please.

Biden - tears. Good move. Unrehearsed. He is a man of feeling up against an autobot blustering with a confidence that has been rehearsed.

McCain - maverick, maverick, maverick . . . . If I was playing Palin Bingo and I had maverick in line I would have won.

We get it, Sarah, John McCain is a maverick.

Biden: good comeback "John McCain is not a maverick!"

Best Biden bit yet.

Biden is now coming across as much more "real" than Sarah Palin. I think in the end he will be seen as connecting better with people than her. She's performing. He's speaking from his heart.

"There's been nothing that I've had to compromise on."

"I walk the walk and don't just talk the talk." She does love those memorized phrases.

Now she's repeating political mantras . . . parrot.

FINAL STATEMENTS:

Palin: "We're going to fight for America. I've been there. I've always been proud to be an American. We've got to fight for our freedoms." Quotes Ronald Reagan. "We will fight for it."

Biden: He connected well. He's a man of the people.

Final judgment: TIE

The Sarah Palin Effect Effects What?

It's been interesting watching the networks fall over themselves hunting for formerly Democratic white women who are so infatuated with Sarah Palin and angry with Obama for not choosing Clinton that it proves the power of the "Sarah Palin Effect." I saw one they interviewed at a Palin rally this past weekend who claimed to have been a former Democrat, only to throw that into question when she admitted she has never been very political.

The fact that the press has to look so hard to find these people makes one wonder how effective the Palin effect is. From what I've been reading it's had the opposite effect on many women who are appalled by what Palin stands for. The fact that she is also ill prepared for the position, almost embarrassingly so, hardly sells her to Clintonites. There's far too much to swallow here for whatever disappointment they may still feel over Clinton's loss to translate into a vote for McCain. The point is, most intelligent, reasonably well-read women, which is the vast majority of them (as opposed to men, where the "reasonably well-read" part would have to be modified), are not taken in by Sarah Palin. My wife, who fits this categorization, is certainly not alone in being able to spot a phony a mile away.

Let me go out on a limb and make a prediction here. The Palin effect will not be very effective come election time, especially as we find her continuing to stonewall the press as she repeats the same memorized lines over and over and over again. She will, in fact, become an irritant to many people, reminding them (as she reminds me) of that former cheerleader, student council president, miss straight A'ed, perfect toothed, goody two shoes who made high school such a hell for so many people. (She is irritating that way, don't you think?) The effect in this case will be to push more people into the Obama/Biden camp. And the Democrats will win the election. By how much I'm not certain. But they will win.

After the electionSarah will go back to Alaska, but having made so many enemies by lying about the bridge and sending high power Washington lawyers up to smear the reputation of the former police chief and state senators, she will be voted out of office. Finding this door closed and the "not welcome" sign out for the Wasilla mayor's position, she will move with her family to Washington to work as a high power lobbiest for the NRA.

Just see if I'm not right . . .

Trooper Gate: the Plot Thickens

Here's a contrast worth noting. First is an excerpt from a piece from Reuters News Service announcing the (surprise, surprise) attempt on the part of Republicans to stop the "trooper gate" investigation of Sarah Palin . Immediately following is an excerpt from a piece written by an Alaskan politician ruminating on how the insertion of national politics into the investigation (by the Republicans) introduced a brand of politics Alaskans are unused to.

Make note of the fact that up to this point Palin has only known Alaskan politics.

First the piece from Reuters:

Alaska Republicans sue to stop Palin trooper probe

By Yereth Rosen

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - Five Republican state legislators filed a lawsuit in Alaska state court on Tuesday seeking to block Democrats from investigating whether vice-presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin abused her power in firing a state trooper feuding with her family. (full story)

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Karl Rove Comes to Alaska

Now an excerpt the piece from the Alaskan politician named Les Gara (from Mudflats), filed under the headline: "Karl Rove Comes to Alaska" last week (before the Republicans invented their fiction about Democratic control of the process):

To get their way, and prevent sworn testimony from leaking out on what I suspect was probably a minor breach by Governor Palin, McCain’s operatives have come to Alaska to add invective in a state where people generally get along. They’ve chosen to vilify: 1) one of the state’s most respected public officials, Senator Hollis French; 2) the state’s most respected law enforcement official, Walt Monegan; and 3) a highly respected former DA and Victims Rights advocate a legislative committee voted 12 - 0 to hire to conduct the investigation, Steve Branchflower.

It’s the ghost of Karl Rove. Say something untrue enough times - like that Al Qaida is training with Saddam

Hussein’s help - and people will believe it. Not this time. I’m not sure if I mentioned a few important facts.

Did I mention that no one ever attacked the Troopergate investigation by Alaska’s Legislature - started long before Governor Palin was placed on McCain’s ticket - until August 29? That was the day Governor Palin joined the McCain bid for the White House.

Did I mention that before the McCain camp got involved, the Governor stated

of the Legislative investigation: “That being the route they choose, so be it. I’m happy to comply, to cooperate.” (KTUU.com, July 24, 2008). She repeatedly stated she’d comply, and that it was the right thing to do.

Did I mention the personal attacks against our local public officials only started after Sen. McCain sent his flacks up to our small state on August 29? They came with a mission to make America believe a Republican-initiated investigation, started with a unanimous committee vote of 8 Republicans and 4 Democrats, was a “partisan” plot. That’s only a tough sell if people know the facts.

Did I mention they now claim the Legislature cannot legally proceed with an investigation into government misconduct (I thought Republicans didn’t like attorneys who made frivolous arguments), and that they are threatening to to go to court to stop it? The Governor’s attorneys started writing those letters on - you guessed it - August 29. Before then they agreed the investigation was proper.

Oh, and what about this. Last week the McCain camp put our Governor in a bizarre position. They told her to file an ethics complaint against herself! Yup, again after her VP nomination. Too weird? What’s behind this move? You guessed it. Lawyers. (FULL STORY)

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And now, as Paul Harvey says, here's the rest of the story. (the latest from AKMuckraker at Mudflats):

Blizzard Warning. Palin Halts Traffic.

16 09 2008

STORM WARNING! The legal paperwork blizzard has arrived. Today we are expecting accumulations of 10-12″ of legal stall tactics, creating hazardous conditions for those trying to navigate through the Palin scandal we have come to know as “Troopergate”. So, before proceeding, make sure you’ve got your studded tires on, and a good shovel. Ready?

Today, five Republican lawmakers filed a lawsuit against not only Democratic Sen. Hollis French, who is overseeing the investigation; not only Juneau Democratic Sen. Kim Elton, who heads the Legislative Council, and not only independent investigator Steve Branchflower, but the bipartisan Legislative Council itself. The suit seeks to delay the infamous ethics investigation until after the election on November 4, or to remove French and Elton.

FULL STORY HERE