So who will have the worse verbal diarrhea in the Veep debate this Thursday? Palin seems the favorite, but never underestimate a Democrat's ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. (Or in Joe Biden's case, steal somebody else's method for verbally snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.) Feel free to post your favorite stupid statement here if you wish to warm up, but be advised there are two rules: 1. Every quote must also include a photo that truly represents your contempt for his or her incompetence. (Can't think of an image? Do a google image search for "fail" for ideas.) 2. The game really starts once the debate does We'll count up the score at the end of the debate, and give bonus points for the image that truly captures how dumb the statement was. There will be no winners, as we all lose.
"Chuck, stand up, let the people see you" \ .... "Oh, God love you. What am I talking about? I'll tell you what, you're making everybody else stand up, old pal. I'll tell you what, everybody else stand up for Chuck. Stand up for Chuck!" \
My thought is that Gov. Palin will try to say as little as possible. It's to her benefit if she lets Joe Biden filibuster. What I really hope is that the questions aren't about Joe Biden's gaffes or about how much (or little) Gov. Palin knows about John McCain's voting record. Instead, I hope the questions are asked to allow each candidate to expound on their vision for the country and what they'd like to achieve. BTW, there's no way that happens. We're going to get questions on the "Bush Doctrine" and what Joe Biden said about Barack Obama in the primaries. I hate the press.
And to give Palin one more/last chance to explain how being next door to Russia gives her experience in foreign policy . . . it's just so cute how she tries to justify that one. : )
I've always thought Gwen Ifill does a great job of asking smart, substantive questions. It's interesting that for these first two debates you've got two leading public television figures doing the moderating. Say what you want about the free market, but there's a level of thoughtfulness on public television shows like The Newshour and Washington Week that you rarely see elsewhere. I think Ifill will do as well as Lehrer did in the last one, which I'd say was pretty darned good.
You bring up an excellent point: If you don't have experience in something, don't try to make a mountain out of a molehill. She should just say that she doesn't have experience in foreign affairs, but neither did Reagan or Clinton at the time of their election. That more important than having experience in foreign affairs was to have a vision for this country and to surround yourself with experienced policymakers.
I agree. There seems to be a good correlation between not having to worry about ratings and being calm and thoughtful.
I think his vision is pollyannaish. He believes that his very being will bring people to agreement. The sad fact is, both sides have to wish to come to an agreement to reach it.
Have you heard Obama talk the past few days? He's all about the blame game. I don't see him being a unifier.
Obama will conduct a campaign that will give the best chances of winning in November. The blame game seems to be working . . . and really it is like shooting fish in a barrel with the Bush administration.
So we have to chose between gibberish and diarrhea of the mouth? That's a tough call. Somehow I think Palin is going to actually pull out a "decent" performance, and with the bar being set so low after her disastrous interview with Couric it won't take much for her to appear as other than a blithering idiot (frankly I would hope that she's at least moderately prepared and somewhat intelligent, because there's a very real possibility she could be our president if things broke the wrong* way). Biden on the other hand runs the very real risk of coming across as condescending or bullying, and could very well use all of his allotted time answering a single question, which would be just as cringe inducing and worthy of mockery. Should be a good show! *wrong: meaning McCain is elected and keels over during his term.
