5:38
It's coming your way in 22 minutes. Stay tuned. (Oh, and here's the previous matchup between McCain and Obama, if you missed it.)
5:54
Tension defuses in the Anderson household, as the blogger uses the magic of headphones to save his marriage.
6:01
"Can I call you Joe?"
6:02
Tina Fey looks a lot like Sarah Palin tonight, don't you think?
6:05
Biden is gaffe-free for 90 full seconds. Palin is folksy from the get-go. "As advertised" may be a cliche, but it's a true cliche. "The barometer is going to be resounding." First mixed metaphor of the night, and it's a good one from the Governor.
6:06
Whoa. That was a heck of a wink from Palin. "A team of mavericks." Palin is a metaphorical wonder.
6:08
A subtle sigh from Joe Biden, just before Palin, Joe Sixpack, and Hockey Moms rail against the corruption on Wall Street.
6:10
John McCain: a good man. Joe Biden borrows from the Obama playbook, and builds up before knocking down.
6:11
Joey Dank (Denk?) is the first named anecdote-filler of the night.
6:13
Oh, to live in Alaska, land of federal dollarpalooza, when a mayor can freely cut property taxes while everyone gets a cash dividend from oil.
6:17
The bailout still looms large, in the silence, smiling and chuckling under its breath.
6:19
Biden and Palin are both much more direct about addressing the television audience directly.
Oh, and the first laugh of the night: Biden's "I call that the ultimate 'bridge to nowhere.'" Palin has to wait to rebut, too, letting the jab sink in.
6:22
"I had to take on those oil companies," take their tax money, and brag about cutting taxes on the way. Classical conservatism is dead.
6:24
Palin vs. McCain: are we going to get a windfall profits tax? Biden points out Palin's support for Obama's energy plan. If it's true, it's a pretty good "turn."
6:25
Palin: "It's a toxic mess on Main Street that's affecting Wall Street." I'm guessing she flubbed it, switching streets.
6:30
Palin: "How are we going to get there to positively affect the impacts?"
6:31
"Barack Obama and Senator O'Biden." That's my favorite of the night. Not going to be topped, I imagine.
6:36
An interesting direction, completely different from everything before: same sex marriage. A strange and labored agreement is the result.
6:39
Palin scores big by quoting Biden against Obama on the (oft misunderstood) war funding vote. But Biden comes back lashing. This sounds mysteriously like the last debate. New revelation, though: Joe Biden has a man-crush on John McCain.
6:43
CBS is cutting out, so I'm switching to the ol' radio.
6:45
If you had to do a pushup every time Joe Biden said "fundamental," you'd have ripped pecs by now.
6:46
Nukeyular is back. Oh yeah.
6:51
My internet connection is suddenly spotty. Also, Gwen Ifill is making things too easy. We need a question that doesn't lead to an answer, something the candidates have to respond to without obvious prompting.
6:53
"He has been the maverick, and he has ruffled feathers." Keep that bull out of the chickencoop!
6:55
Palin: "Nuclear weaponry would be the be-all end-all." I do not think that phrase means what you think it means.
6:59
Palin calls the top general in Afghanistan, McKiernan, "McClellan." Wrong war, there.
Oh, and from a while back: I noticed this one, too.
7:02
Palin gets all outsidery and mavericky.
7:05
John McCain knows what evil is: earmarks.
7:06
Another silly question: what would you do if your running mate died in office? What are they going to say? This is a terrible, terrible debate.
"A team of mavericks" comes up again. Is it like an anarchist convention? (Somebody else notices.)
7:10
It's a battle of neighborhoods! Down-homies, mount up!
7:10
"Say it ain't so, Joe, there you go again." No comment.
7:11
Palin wins my vote: "Teachers need to be paid more." That's all it takes. Flat out bribery. (Whoa... NCLB is too inflexible? Emphasis on the profession? Top-of-the-line? More attention in that arena? Oh yeah.) (Zing!)
7:12
The Vice President presides over the Senate. Let us hope that is all s/he ever does.
7:19
One radio deficiency: I couldn't see it when he broke up.
7:21
The word "maverick" just smashed through the ceiling and whizzed into space.
7:23
I like the next question: what major change in judgment have you undergone in your political career? Biden talks about judge selection. Palin (who completely ducked the "Achilles heel" question) rambles on about "quasi-caved in" and "zero-base budget."
7:27
Found: jobs, deceased. One suspect. Detective Palin on the case.
7:32
I tuned out around "national security freedoms" (Palin) and "fundamental" (Biden). Who won?
2 comments:
Biden: hands down. More polished speaker, and he didn't come off as so phony.
He acted like a LD debater: calm, collected, polite in his insults, and pointing out his opponent's drops. Now all he needs is the impacts and we've got a nat's contender!
Oh: i LOVED the "Cheney is the most dangerious VP" comment
Palin: "I'm not going to answer that question. Or any question. I'm just going to talk about Alaska and Energy."
Ifill should have simply said, "and now Sarah has something to tell us," instead of asking her any questions.
I'm glad to see that concerns over Ifill's bias were unfounded. At least her line of questioning was balanced.
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