The veep debate was last night. Joe Biden vs. Sarah Palin. Honestly, I found the whole thing pretty boring. Neither candidate stumbled notably, dammit.
Biden choked up once, talking about the tragic accident that killed his first wife and almost took all his children as well. Other than that, he seemed to stay on message — without any obvious (to me) gaffes.
Palin did well by employing one tried and true political maneuver: she often didn’t answer the question posed but launched instead into a rehearsed topic of her own choosing. With the exception of her answer to a question about global warming, she managed to avoid the air-head, beauty queen answers for which she’s become infamous.
Absent the fact-checking by pundits, I’d say Biden won because of his greater experience, direct answering of questions, and gaffe-free performance, but it was a moral victory for Palin, who managed not to fall on her face as many expected.
This debate was probably a wash as far as its overall effect on the presidential election. Personally, I don’t want another cowboy talkin’ individual in the executive branch. Palin’s small-town “yep” and “nope” and “joe six-pack” persona is a distinct turnoff for me. Beer-drinking, moose-hunting, small-town redneck types may be common in America, but not in Washington. I want highly educated, sophisticated, worldly politicians and diplomats running our government, people who understand the very complex issues facing America and the world today (hopefully better than the current crop seems to understand economics). That’s not a guarantee of better government, but it certainly improves the odds.