Sunday, October 05, 2008

VP Debate Recap and Analysis

Joe Biden did not say “fuck.” Sarah Palin did not breast feed her baby while on stage.

All in all, the event was a success for both candidates.

I offered both the good Governor and the slick Senator a few words of advice in last week’s posts, here and here. Generally speaking, they followed my recommendations rather closely. Palin did end most of her sentences with the word “also,” even though I had warned her not to do this. It’s poor sentence construction, and sounds too hockey mom-ish for my tastes.

Joe Six-pack might approve, but The Mill is a twelve-pack or mini-keg kind of guy. That means I expect more than the average voter.

The winks were a nice touch, but kind of creepy.

Despite my disapproval of her grammatical negligence, Sarah Palin celebrated her relatively strong debate performance with her family and close advisors – at the local Dairy Queen. She ordered a Wonder Bread Blizzard, which had to be specially prepared for this maverick from Alaska.

As for Fightin’ Joe Biden, he seemed to leave the anger and fury at home or in the hotel room. Rumor has it that Biden really tore up the St. Louis pub scene on Thursday night – drinking his way through about 15 college bars. He lost his shirt at bar # 7, his shoes at # 11, and his final drop of inhibition at bar # 14: The Man Hole.

The rest of the night is a total blur, according to campaign staffers – Biden forced everyone in his entourage to throw back shot after shot.

Biden is still missing.

The VP debate met many of my expectations - 90 minutes long, live audience, questions asked and answered in English - but also left something of a gaping abyss deep within my soul. This wasn't a debate so much as a 1.5 hour commercial for each campaign. Palin didn't even answer half the questions, for God's sake. And Biden stood there smiling like a Crest spokesmodel - with bad hair.

Where was the direct confrontation? The challenging of one another's policies and opinions? The name calling? The tears?

And we don't even get to see a rematch. The more I think about it, the more of a monumental disappointment this was in terms of pure entertainment value.

The American people wanted a circus sideshow, and the VP candidates gave us a high school physics lecture.



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