Document Actions
Friday: Veep reax, with bells
posted at 2008-10-03 22:47 | Last modified 2008-10-04 10:40
Consider me schooled.
I certainly do. I had no idea I was such a cynic till so many of you wrote in to take me to task for dissing Biden’s choke-up moment last night.
Okay, I give. I wasn’t completely convinced either way. But the responses I’ve gotten, together with the national reaction, makes me think Biden’s reaction was for real, and mine was, well, uncharitable.
From L.:
"I disagree with you about Senator Biden's tearing up at the thought of his son's near death. I thought it was genuine - that same son is heading to Iraq very soon, so I'm sure those emotions are very close to the surface. Also, I thought that moment preventing Gov. Palin from completely owning the parenthood thing. Biden did a good job of illustrating that Democrats are not elitists who don't understand the day to day worries that parents face. I honestly thought that one was a game changer.
"As for Gov. Palin,…she started talking about taxes after Senator Biden's obvious grief over the accident that took the life of his first wife and daughter. She was grinning from ear to ear while he told the story, and went right back to talking about taxes."
And from W.:
"Thought your analysis was pretty good but I have to take exception to your Biden worst moment. I don't think it was contrived at all. my wife and I were watching it and after the moment, she started to cry. She is very cynical when it comes to politicians and her comments to me were that he made her think about what heaven forbid that happened to one of us and our children. So I think it was a genuine emotion. more so than the supposedly "folksy" Palin...who I agree is a very likeable person and does have that every person feel up on that stage."
Then there were those of you who gave me a pass for cynicism, but think I’m nuts for calling it a draw -- like H., who said I'd given Palin too much credit for exceeding low expectations:
"Her comment about not answering the questions the way the way the moderator wanted was worse than a gaffe. It was thumbing her nose at those of us who want to know if she has anything to offer beyond the folksy "golly gee whiz" or her self-anointing as a Maverick… My apologies to Alaskans, but governing a state where you can hunt wolves from a helicopter has not prepared her for the world stage. Picture Sarah Palin sitting across from Putin or the ruling clerics in Iran. She doesn't even know the name of the American Commander in Afghanistan. Are you comfortable with that? Good golly, I'm not!"
Reader E. couldn’t have agreed more:
"The major goal of both camps was to instill confidence in the voters that the VP choice is capable of becoming president. I’m sorry, but Palin failed that point and Biden won it, hands down. The depth of his knowledge of the players on the world stage and on domestic issues proved his confidence, competence and ability to command…At one point, I felt like Palin had to prove that she studied for the test and kept repeating Ahmadinejad’s name, among others. She was, however, a great cheerleader for McCain and her new highlights looked lovely."
Which isn’t to say that everyone out there thought Biden was the winner. Many didn't, like J., who wrote in to say
“They should have let Sarah Palin debate topless. It's only fair--after all, every time Joe Biden opens his mouth, he shows his a**.”
Ah, civil discourse.
Save the Azaleas
My vocation has made me the foster parent of two perfectly lovely “Coral Bell” azaleas. I’m blaming Dem Gov hopeful Bev Perdue's campaign.
Earlier this week, while I was on vacation, the plants were delivered to the Capitol Press Corps by Perdue campaign workers. The point, as Binker explains (bonus: Monty Python reference), was to highlight Republican Gov contender Pat McCrory’s connection to “Bush.” The plants’ plastic pots were plastered with xeroxed headlines to that effect.
Whether or not you think the reference was apropos, the end result was several extremely unhappy azaleas sentenced to a slow, arid, fluorescent death in the windowless press room. I don’t know many humans who thrive in that environment, let alone plants. So here’s a proposal: let’s ban the use of any living organism as a campaign prop. I mean, sure, they’re just plants – but what could those azaleas have done to deserve this?
I took the last pair of foundlings home for the weekend for some TLC (sun, water, food, etc.) but ethical considerations won’t let me keep them. So I’m looking for a permanent placement, preferably non-profit. Any ideas? Let me know.
