2008-10-03

American Vice-Presidential Debates

Vice-Presidential debates are primarily about one thing - they are a defacto-test of the candidate's judgment.
 
In a lot of cases, the picking of the VP is something a candidate must think long and hard about. Will the person complement them, not upstage them? Can the person play the role of attack-dog, but not serve to be an irritant? Can the person stay on message, but demonstrate personality and character? And most important, if something were to happen to the candidate, can this person pick up the mantle an carry on?
 
Watching the VP candidate debate last night, it's clear to be that each person selected validated all these points. That is, they truly represented the judgments of their respective candidates.
 
Watching Biden, it's clear he had spent a lot of time prepping, but it didn't visibly show. Why? Because he spent years, decades preparing. He was truly ready and he delivered a great performance. He was calm and clear. And he managed to expose Palin and McCain for the frauds that they are without being rude, weak, or mean to his opponent. He also spent a lot of time doing something Obama did in his debate with McCain; that is ask the viewer to think about the two sides' positions and compare what's going on today with what could happen tomorrow. On that note, Biden succeeded. And on a more higher level, he confirms Obama's judgment in picking the right person for the job.

 

Now all Obama and Biden need to do is stay focused, stay on track, and get voters registered and to the voting booths.
 
As for Palin - all about ambition, nothing else. Her sad fake routine (very reminiscent of Bush) will fool only the incredibly ignorant. One can hope that the country, having endured close to eight years of this with Bush, will learn from that mistake once and for all. Her lack of substance demonstrated she really should not be in public office at any level. And it confirmed one thing about McCain ...
 
Mitt Romney and Joe Lieberman must have said no.

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