Putting the "Fun" in Fundamental Differences

I finally had the time to watch the second presidential debate from this past Tuesday and, to me, it was just a lot more of the same. There weren't a whole lot of new ideas presented by either candidate (except for McCain's claim that the government could buy up mortgages, which I was tempted to believe he said by accident). In fact, as I was watching, I kept having to ask myself, Did I watch this already? because I've heard almost the exact same answers and phrases before. At least they're finally being consistent, right?

In case you missed the debate, you can watch it here on CSPAN:


According to the polls, Obama is the winner, however many Americans felt that it was a draw. Having watched it myself, I would have to agree. I think Obama did a better job and gave answers I think more Americans will be happy with, but McCain didn't do a terrible job either.

One thing that bothered me about this debate, though, was how much back-and-forth "attacking" was going 0n between the candidates. It was like watching kids fight at the playground, each trying to get the last word. Who started it? Definitely McCain. Who was more annoying about getting the last word? Obama.

McCain's attempts to tear down Obama seemed more like desperate flailing to me than anything else. I think Obama found them quite amusing, himself. Throughout the debate, anytime McCain was talking, Obama looked right at him, smiling. He really kept his cool throughout, something McCain isn't so good at. I don't blame Obama for wanting the opportunity to respond to McCain's accusations rather than answering the next question, but it did start to wear on me after a while that neither of them could just move on.

I also felt like McCain went out of his way to be irritatingly "chummy" with Tom Brokaw, telling him "Just wave your arms at me, Tom, when you want me to stop, and I'll look at you," and "I'll actually answer the question." He should know that everyone hates the teacher's pet.

Regarding the actual issues being debated, I think both candidates did a fairly good job, however I think Obama was better prepared than McCain was, which is interesting considering the whole "experience" issue, McCain's time in Washington being vastly greater than Obama's. When Obama answered the questions, I think he kept it pretty clean and didn't say anything too negative until he had to defend himself, while McCain seemed, well, desperate.

Additionally, I felt like Obama was anticipating McCain's answers and when it was he who had to respond first, I got the sense that he knew what McCain was going to say and was almost pre-refuting it. For example, when the question of taxes came up, Obama made a big point that even though some taxes would go up, there would be a "net tax cut." Of course he had to know that McCain would try to milk the "raising taxes" thing as hard as he could, but what surprised me was that McCain completely ignored what Obama said about the net tax cut.

Was he daydreaming? Having a "senior moment," perhaps? It was only about two minutes after Obama explained the tax issue that McCain was, again, claiming that Obama would raise taxes. In fact, he worked this into almost all of what he had to say on the economy! Every time he did it, I was watching Obama's face, ready for him to react, but he didn't. He just smiled. It was almost creepy, actually, how well he kept his cool. I imagine he was depending on the viewers to see for themselves that McCain was beating a dead horse, so to speak, and decided to sit back and watch him dig himself a deeper hole.

Overall, I think Obama did a good job of exposing the shallowness of McCain's arguments and setting America straight on his policies. I think many of the uncommitted voters saw it this way, as well, based on the poll results.

After the CBS News broadcasting of the debate, Katie Couric asked her small audience of uncommitted voters in the studio to weigh in on the debate. It seems to me that everything involving the politics nowadays goes through Couric. Anyway, many of her uncommitted voters felt that McCain was disrespectful in his "that one" statement.

Watch here if you missed "that one":


While only one person admitted that he had been officially turned to the Obama side, I got the impression that many others were at least leaning in that direction. The conversations seemed to be against McCain and for Obama, even coming from registered Republicans who are still officially "uncommitted."

The overall consensus of the voters at the CBS News studio seemed to be that McCain was very much "on the attack" but Obama "wasn't rattled" by it.

Couric then asked the opinion of Jeff Greenfield, a CBS senior political correspondent, who said that McCain had "wandering eyes" while Obama maintained constant eye-contact, and that McCain was very "childish" throughout the debate. These are two of the things I noted while watching, as well.

Couric then asked Dee Dee Myers, a former White House Press Secretary, what her opinion of the debate was. She said that Obama kept trying to keep McCain from "scoring," which I think is a good defensive strategy since Obama is currently leading the national polls.

Next on Couric's list was Dan Bartlett, a former Counselor to the President (for George W. Bush). Bartlett said that the best point McCain made was that we don't need a president who needs on-the-job training. The uncommitted voters polled nation-wide agreed that Obama is not as ready for the job as McCain, however this does not seem to be affecting their votes.

All in all, I think this debate helped Obama and McCain, but overall Obama is absolutely the winner, in my opinion. I was expecting McCain to really shine in this town-hall style debate, but that was not the case.

Lastly, and on a completely superficial note, McCain jerkily walked around the stage with his wavering voice and shifty eyes, while Obama remained calm, cool, and collected.

I think this match goes to Obama, who left the playground the victor.

Paris for Fake President

I admit this really has nothing to do with anything, but while I watch the Presidential Debate on TiVo (I wasn't home last night) I thought this would give me something to post:

See more Paris Hilton videos at Funny or Die

Palin Speaks Again

I always get a little nervous when Palin speaks. Here's a video of her saying that Obama "pals around with terrorists."

SNL VP Debate

In case you missed it....

The VP Debate

So, I wish I had posted about this when the details of the debate were still fresh in my mind, but I was away briefly and unable to. In fact, I was in the car driving when the debate was on, so I had to listen to it on the radio. I much prefer watching things on TV, I think because I like to see what's happening, not just listen to what's being said. Also, you may have noticed that lately, I've had an obsession with important things like Katie Couric's facial expressions.

Anyway, listening to the debate gave me a completely different perspective on the whole thing. I didn't get distracted because I was stuck in an insane amount of traffic with nothing else to think about, and I think I actually heard what the candidates were saying even better than I did when watching the presidential debate on TV last week.

First of all, I think Sarah Palin did an adequate job, which was an enormous surprise. I'm not sure if she actually did a good job debating, though, or if I was just expecting her to crash and burn, which she did not. I think America's expectations for her were so very low that she really could have gotten up there, recited the Pledge of Allegiance, and people would have applauded her efforts.

Joe Biden, on the other hand, did a fantastic job. Biden really sold himself to me. In fact, I was left wondering why we didn't nominate him to run for president. He proved that he not only knows the facts, but understands them (a quality Palin severely lacks). He also just sounded more qualified to me. He used a collected, even tone throughout and seemed to really know what he was talking about.

Palin spit out a lot of facts and made a whole lot more sense than ever before, but as I listened to her answers, I got the distinct impression that she was making a mental check-list of things to say and trying to work them into the questions. This reminds me of many many college exams I took, where I would decide there wasn't enough time to actually learn the information, but if I memorized a few BIG facts, I could somehow make them work for any essay question. Was anyone out there keeping track of how many times Palin explained why she wouldn't be answering the question and then went on to say whatever she felt like? This actually really bothered me. While Biden did some of the same, I got the feeling that he was explaining information he understood, even if he got a little off-topic, while Palin was simply regurgitating, regardless of whether or not it was related.

Another thing that really started to bother me about Palin's debating was that she threw in far too many "dog gone it"s and "darn right"s. Additionally, she seemed to go way out of her way to point out that she speaks for the hockey moms and soccer moms of the country. She did it so much, that I found myself actually laughing out loud at how predictable she is.



Video of some highlights:


Lastly, did anyone else hear how many times she paused just that little bit too long? I could almost hear her panic a little on a few questions. She'd pause, then throw out one of her key points, like how she and McCain are a couple of Mavericks, or something like that, just to fill the time while she thought up an answer. Maybe I'm being a little hard on her, I just can't help it.

To be fair, I thought it was a good move on her part to emphasize that she, too, is from the middle class and knows about the financial struggles of taking care of a family. Biden shot right back, though, as a widower who lost a daughter and had sons who were severely injured. He got a little choked up about it, in fact, which made me completely forget whatever Palin had just said about her enormous family and paying for them.

Biden talking about his family:


I think that overall, it was fairly obvious that Biden was the winner of the debate. Palin made a few good points, but Biden was ready for them and Palin most certainly was not ready for some of the things he threw back at her. If nothing else, the VP debate further proved that Palin can't think on her feet and, considering that she wants more power than previous VPs, that's completely unacceptable.

I will say, though, that Palin did not say anything Tina Fey-worthy (although I'm sure they'll find something to poke fun at) and I think that's a huge accomplishment for her.

What Happens in a Pizza Place...

According to John McCain, what happens in a pizza place just doesn't count. This past Saturday, Sarah Palin was at a Philadelphia cheesesteak restaurant (apparently the same thing as a pizza place in McCain's book) when a voter asked her about cross-border attacks from Afghanistan to Pakistan. Palin responded that she approves of these attacks, as long as they keep the terrorists from coming any farther.

Watch the clip here:


This, however, entirely goes against McCain's views (while agreeing completely with Barack Obama). Katie Couric points that out in this interview with McCain and Palin:


I have to say, I have so much more respect for Couric now. I thought Charlie Gibson was going to get all the credit for taking Palin down a notch with the Bush Doctrine fiasco and Palin's Russian neighbors, but I think it has been Couric who has driven the point home. I think Couric has exposed Palin for her inexperience, while being completely fair in her conduct and interviewing.

I think McCain's comment, "This is not the first time that I’ve seen a governor being questioned by some quote, ‘expert,’" while looking right at Couric was completely out of line. As I said, I think Couric conducted a fair interview, and perhaps if Palin was an "expert" at anything political, we could all take a sigh of relief since she could one day be our commander-in-chief.

Overall, I'm glad to see that Couric isn't letting anyone get away with anything. I think the candidates now know that you better know your stuff before you go on her show.

VP Candidates on Roe v. Wade

I have to say, I've watched more Katie Couric during the campaign season than I think I ever have before in my life. I think she happens to be an excellent interviewer, and I particularly like the faces she accidentally makes at Sarah Palin almost every single time they've spoken (just watch, you'll see what I mean).

Abortion is always a big political issue, especially for women, so I was excited to see Couric interviewing both Sarah Palin and Joe Biden about Roe v. Wade:

Watch CBS Videos Online

I have to wonder if Palin really thinks she's fooling anyone. She makes it so painfully obvious that she knows nothing about what's going on. Her answers rarely make sense and she never actually says anything.

Watching Palin is a lot like watching Miss Teen South Carolina talk about education in America (I couldn't resist, I had to post the video):


But on a more serious note....

I know that Palin is being prepped constantly so that she'll look more informed, so how does she continue to make these mistakes? There's a part of me that keeps wanting to give her the benefit of the doubt that she's just not up to that lesson yet in her vice presidential prep course, but isn't it completely unacceptable not to be able to name any Supreme Court cases? Couric asked her to name any example other than Roe v. Wade, and Palin still comes up with... Roe v. Wade!

I definitely don't feel comfortable watching the woman who could be vice president (or worse yet, president!) and thinking to myself, why don't I run? Apparently anyone can be vice president.

In closing: Sarah Palin, you aren't fooling anyone.