So, who won the Palin/Biden Debate?
Daryl Fisher's 'My Back Pages' column
Oct. 8, 2008
copyright News-Ledger 2008
If you’re like me, you’ve been asked by countless family members and friends for your take on last Thursday night’s political debate at Washington University in St. Louis between vice presidential candidates Sarah Palin and Joe Biden. My first response is, “What debate?” The last I looked, a real debate is a point and counter-point exchange of ideas that allows for probing follow-up questions which give true insights into what the debaters know and don’t know, and that of course didn’t happen last Thursday night. Instead, Biden debated McCain, who wasn’t there, and Palin debated no one. In fact, Palin announced early on in the evening that “I may not answer the questions that either the moderator or you want to hear, but I’m going to talk straight to the American people.” Well, that’s fine, but it has nothing to do with debating the very serious issues currently facing our nation. And it seems to me that Biden wasn’t much better at getting off his stump speech talking points than Palin, so when asked who won the debate, I guess it’s fair to say it was pretty much a tie, taking into account of course that no actual debating took place. There was a clear loser, however – all those Americans who had actually tuned in hoping to hear a genuine, in-depth debate about our country’s problems and future.
Vice presidential debates in the past have hardly been watched, and for good reason, because it’s the top of the ticket that is truly important in presidential elections. But Americans have always loved a good train wreck – especially if it is going to be televised – and I think that had something to do with the incredible number of people who apparently clicked on their TV sets last Thursday night. First, there were all those who wanted to see if Biden would make a faux pas or two, as he’s prone to do, and there was also the question of would he be appropriately gracious or inappropriately condescending to his female political foe. But I think even more Americans tuned in to see if Palin was indeed as “profoundly uninformed and verbally incoherent” as she often appeared to be in the Katie Couric interview which millions of Americans had seen ad nauseam in the week leading up to the debate. So, not only did both candidates have to slay a couple of personal dragons and prove they could successfully run the country should the unthinkable ever happen, but Palin also had the added pressure of trying to pass what one commentator called a nationally televised IQ test.
There is much to like about Palin. You don’t get elected to be the governor of a state unless you have a lot on the political ball. And in getting elected as governor of Alaska, she often had to take on her own political party, which has been known for decades as being one of the most corrupt political machines in the nation. She also has a wonderful sense of humor, which seems to be spontaneous and genuine, and who doesn’t love all those folksy phrases of hers and the disarming way she can smile and blow kisses. I mean, she didn’t win Miss Congeniality in the Miss Alaska contest for nothing. And I especially admire her decision to lovingly raise a child with Down Syndrome, which will no doubt greatly enrich her life and the lives of the rest of her family. But is she a plausible president of the United States should something ever happen to her 71 year old running mate? And it’s that very important question which brings me back to last Thursday night’s vice presidential debate-not.
It’s one thing to be able to stick to well-scripted talking points and to wink and gosh-darn yourself through 90 minutes of political theater, but anyone wishing to play in the big leagues of presidential politics has to be willing (and eager) to do all the really tough stuff that McCain, Obama, and Biden have already done (and continue to do). Palin has to be willing to submit herself to press conferences and give-and-take interviews with the American press, which short of meaningful debates, is the only way the voters of this nation can truly make an informed decision on her candidacy. She also needs to go on highly regarded television news programs like Meet the Press and Face the Nation, which have informed American voters throughout the years, and if she and her handlers can’t bring themselves to face such in-depth scrutiny, then Palin can’t hope to be taken seriously on the presidential/vice presidential stage. Her strategy can’t continue to rely on just being the vice maverick and a charming pit-bull hockey mom who speaks in nothing but sweeping generalities and sarcastic (with a smile) stump-speech clichés. That simply won’t cut it this time around. The stakes are much too high.
Look what has happened to this country under a president who often wasn’t as inquisitive, knowledgeable, forthcoming, and engaged as he needed to be. With all the deadly serious problems (both foreign and domestic) now facing this nation, our next batch of political leaders are going to have to have their act together and surround themselves with the very best and the very brightest. There is going to be little wiggle room for error.
So, doggone it, do I think Joe Biden would make a much better president of the United States than Sarah Palin if, God forbid, it ever comes to that? You betcha!