The Moose in the Closet: "I may not answer the questions that either the moderator or you want to hear"

If you could dress a gunshot wound with a band-aid than Sarah Palin did indeed “stop the bleeding” last night, as many pundits insist. Here’s a person who, for the past several weeks, has proven that she is nothing more than a talking head that gets tripped-up by the easiest questions. And I’m not talking about Bush doctrine or relations with Pakistan – I’m talking about questions pertaining to what newspapers she reads or regarding Supreme Court cases that aren’t Roe v. Wade. She stood at a podium last night and read from index cards for close to two hours. She fumbled, bumbled, passed the buck, and could hardly respond to any questions directed towards her. She smiled when a discussion headed towards a topic that she had talking points on and she stalled and distracted when it didn’t. She was even mouthing the words to her responses while Biden was talking at times, obviously practicing some little vignette she just hobbled together from index card notes in order to respond to something that was said in the last exchange. She winked, she played cute, and she insulted the intelligence of the American people over and over again only to have Biden correct her with actual facts and numbers. When Biden delivered one of the most memorable moments of debate history by getting choked up while talking about his deceased wife and daughter and severely injured sons, Sarah Palin, who PRIDES herself on compassion and family values, didn’t even acknowledge what he said and, instead, went on about mavericks.

Sarah Palin was utterly trashed in last night’s debate. Joe Biden looked like the elder statesman. He didn’t come off as condescending or rude – he came off as knowledgeable. He had definitive answers for every question that was thrown his way and didn’t speak in broad generalities. He spoke from experience, from lessons learned, and from a new vision he partly adopted from Barack Obama.

Sarah Palin added fuel to the American people’s primary concern: if, God forbid, something where to happen to John McCain, could she step up as President?

If being president means reading the script someone else crafted to you at all times then, yes, Palin is ready to be president. If being president means you don’t even know the name of the commanding general in Afghanistan but you’re confident of what he didn’t say then, yes, Palin is ready to be president. If being president means you can respond to one issue by wagging the dog and bringing up another issue then, yes, Palin is ready to be president.

The debate honestly wasn’t what I was hoping for. I was hoping for a completely overt destruction of Sarah Palin. I was hoping for questions about Jesus walking with dinosaurs, about women having to pay for rape kits in Wasilla, and further clarification on exactly what kind of foreign policy advice John McCain has elicited from Palin “many times in the past.” Despite the fact that Palin’s defeat was a bit more subversive, I think the American people got it. This bait-and-switch, wag-the-dog style of politics isn’t going to cut it anymore. And Palin showed us that she’s still playing that game. She didn’t stop the bleeding, she just opened up new wounds.

Labels: editorial, politics

"I may not answer the questions that either the moderator or you want to hear"

Friday, October 03, 2008

2 Comments

Previous Posts