I know it was unreasonable to expect Joe Biden to not drag out all of his wonky answers, even when contrasted with Palin's quick, folksy remarks. I know it was unreasonable to expect Joe Biden to anticipate that Palin's flag pin would be that much bigger and sparklier than his. I even know it was unreasonable to expect Joe Biden to do the smart thing and say he'd cut government subsidies to rather than raise taxes on Big Oil and Big (Evil) Corporations.
But for the love of anything, was it really unreasonable to expect Biden to look out at the audience, not at Gwen Ifill! Do the Dems just hate winning, or do they really not see the need to give any kind of media coaching?
Why won't someone tell the Dems it's not deceptive to use a little lipstick?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I love good stories, so I suppose I should be a sucker for pundits, but fortunately I'm also a sabermatrician.
From Fivethirtyeight.com:
"As with the Obama-McCain debate last Friday, the vast majority of the insta-polls went to the Democratic ticket. Biden won the CBS poll of undecideds 46-21, and the CNN poll of debate watchers 51-36. Independents in the large MediaCurves focus group panel went for Biden about 2:1."
Your analysis sets forth a compelling narrative of the debate, but it's hard to reconcile such a narrative with these poll numbers. Maybe if a few polls in the coming days show a decreased Obama lead I'll change my mind. As it stands, though, I see no reason to privilege your narrative over one which says that most swing-vote Americans saw a stale, talking-point Palin and a thoughtful, knowledgeable, and qualified Biden.
All good points, Anonymous. I was posting before I heard the pundits (or checked fivethirtyeight) and I didn't give the American people enough credit to believe they'd see through her BS. Believe me, I heve never been so delighted to be wrong.
Post a Comment