Additional thoughts on the VP debate

1) Proper English, please.

Why is it charming, cute, folksy, or "real" when white people don't speak proper English, but when black people don't speak proper English, it's lazy or worse?

I wonder what the reaction would be if Obama said something like this in a debate:

"You sho-nuff iz gonna hear some fear in dat momma's voice."

2) The issue of "looking back" on the Bush Administration.

Yes, Obama and Biden both often compare McCain to Bush. It's a legitimate comparison as McCain's current policy stances are, for the most part, the same as the stances of the Bush Administration.

Palin criticized Biden for "looking back" and "playing the blame game" last night whenever he brought up Bush.

I have a hint for the McCain campaign. If you don't want to be compared to Bush, stop supporting the same policies and philosophies that Bush supported for the last 8 years. Stop directing most of your tax cuts to the wealthiest people (and for God's sake stop lying about how it's really for the small businesses.) Stop trying to outlaw abortion via judicial appointments. And so on.

And PS - the McCain campaign claims it's going to bring reform and change to Washington. How are they going to know what reforms are needed, or what change is needed, if they refuse on "principle" to look to the past?

DOING THE SAME AS WE'VE BEEN DOING FOR EIGHT YEARS IS NOT CHANGE OR REFORM. DOING THE SAME AS WE'VE BEEN DOING FOR EIGHT YEARS DOES NOT MAKE YOU A MAVERICK.

(And PPS - let's just accept your claim that Obama votes with the Democrats 96% of the time. Guess what? That would suggest he's different (i.e., a CHANGE) from Bush.

Palin's debate cheatsheet

This was created and posted by Aden Nak at ph33r and loathing.

VP Debate - Impressions

Okay, again, I'm not going to post the debate video or fact-check it. I'm just going to write about some of my general observations and feelings about the debate.

First of all, I am absolutely livid at Sarah Palin. I was irritated and angry last night while watching the debate, but as time has passed and I've thought more about it, I've become even angrier. Why?

The damned winking.

I am a working woman. I know that based on statistics, it's likely that I earn less than most of my male colleagues. I know I've watched men at my workplace get promoted, over and over again, while women that are more competent are left behind. I've participated in meetings where men would interrupt women repeatedly, or be dismissive of their comments. The fact is, it is difficult being a professional woman. It's difficult to be taken seriously. It's difficult to be respected equally.

It's a lot better than it used to be. Back in the good old days (days which I particularly would not have enjoyed, being a mixed-race woman) the women who did have careers were often regarded as fair-game for sexual attention at work. Winks, shoulder rubs, a pat on the ass - secretaries, bookkeepers, clerks, and waitresses were expected to put up with this bullshit. And women certainly weren't going to be promoted to management or be given official responsibility.

One of the things that women have had to fight against in order to make the progress we have made is being sexualized in the workplace. We've had to struggle to be seen as colleagues and not office ornaments. We struggle with walking a fine line between being attractive/well-groomed and being suggestive/sexual.

On what essentially is the biggest job interview for any woman in the United States, Sarah Palin decides to wink and grin like she's in a bar and more than half drunk. More than once.

Governor, you're not running for VPILF. You're running for VP.

And before any Palin apologist starts running off with "Oh, that wasn't meant to be sexual. That was just cute/folksy/charming/pick-your-euphemism" I'd like to mention:

• You don't see Biden winking.
• You don't see Obama winking.
• You don't see McCain winking.
• You didn't see Bush winking (either one, including the charming, folksy W.)
• You didn't see Hilary Clinton winking.
• If you watched the post-debate coverage, you probably saw several male and female journalists, campaign staff, pundits, spinners, etc. NOT A ONE OF THEM WINKED.

It was about as cute and folksy as when some women decide to wear cleavage-baring camisoles, open-toed stilettos, and/or thongs that "accidentally" show whenever they bend over (which seems to be often). In other words, it's not cute. It sets women in the workforce back. And it makes me sick.

In addition, even if you want to pretend that it wasn't sexual, it was extremely juvenile. This country faces grave challenges. We have 2 wars going on. We have instability in Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, and Russia. We have a looming official recession (in addition to the unofficial recession that most of us have been feeling for some time now). We have a health care crisis. We have an exploding national debt and a growing budget deficit.

THIS IS NOT THE TIME FOR WINKING AND GRINNING. Governor, you're not 16. You're a grown, professional woman interviewing for the 2nd highest job in the nation. You're trying to show that you have the knowledge, judgment, and seriousness to be able to negotiate with members of Congress, meet with foreign leaders, and conduct business on behalf of this entire nation. And you ought to be embarrassed when the barista at Caribou Coffee acts more professional than you do.

Okay - with that aside....other debate impressions.

I thought it was obvious that Biden knows a great deal more than Palin. Biden was well informed on the issues last night, and made it a point to answer questions for the most part. Palin generally ignored questions that were difficult or potentially damaging. This was not surprising to me, or probably anyone. Her few interviews have shown her staggering level of ignorance on most national issues.

I was surprised about Palin's comments on benefits for same sex couples. I know that her voting record on the issue and her religious convictions on the issue don't really match up to each other. I was mostly surprised to hear her be so willing to provide benefits. I wonder what folks like Dobson are saying about that comment (if anything). I'll have to check later.

I was shocked and horrified to hear Palin agrees with Cheney on the role of the Vice President, and even worse, she seems to want additional "powers and flexibility." Umm.....no thanks.

Overall, I don't think this debate changed much as far as the race is concerned. The people that loved Palin still love her. The people that hated Palin still hate her. And the undecideds - most are still undecided. Those undecideds knew pre-debate that Biden would know more than Palin, but that Palin was more "folksy" than Biden, and they simply had that confirmed. Not a game changer.

I will probably add more to this posting later.

First Debate - Reactions

If you didn't have the opportunity to watch the debate last night, I highly suggest you do so. You can find the full version of the debate here. Likewise, I'm not going to fact check the debate. You can read factcheck.org's view on the accuracy of the candidates here. As expected, McCain's inaccuracies were more, well, inaccurate, than Obama's.

I would just like to give my initial general impressions of the debate overall.

• At worst, this debate was a tie. And what that really means is a loss for McCain. According to the McCain campaign, McCain should have wiped the floor with Obama. However, Obama was informed, coherent, measured, and certain throughout the entire debate. Obama only had to prove to be "good enough" on foreign policy. With as much as McCain has been bragging about foreign policy and his credentials, McCain should have been the clear winner and he was not.
• Initial polling suggests that Obama was viewed as the winner of the debate, both overall, and by uncommitted voters. That is very bad news for McCain.
  
• McCain's inability to even look at Obama, coupled with his hunched posture, sighing, and grimacing, may hurt his standing with some voters.