The Veep Debate

It's been endlessly dissected and masticated by the media, so my observations are nothing new. But allow me to sum it up.

Palin did better than expected, and Biden gave a solid performance. I was proud of him for not jumping all over his opponent in moments where it would have been easy to.

This is what kills me, though. Some people are gushing about how well Palin did. Let's be clear. It wasn't that she did well, it's that she didn't totally blow it. All she had to do to be a success was not screw up. The bar was set excruciatingly low. She definitely beat the spread by clearing it, but let's get real and not chalk it up to an overwhelming victory. To her credit, she brought up some points where Biden and Obama had differences of opinion in the past. But to her discredit, she repeated vague talking points a lot, and skirted questions by redirecting the conversation to what she felt comfortable talking about (energy), even at one point outrightly refusing to answer. She also hammed it up a little too much with gee-whiz, folksy rhetoric, winking, and cutesy little comeback lines (i.e. "Oh, say it ain't so, Joe"). Come on. You are running for the vice presidency of the United States, not for homecoming queen of Hickville High.

Biden, thank God, reigned it in. He didn't come off as sexist, but neither did he treat her with kid gloves. He pulled it off by not attacking her, but by attacking McCain. He spoke in specifics, and rattled off some pretty salient stats. Our country spends in three weeks in Iraq what we've spent in Afghanistan the whole 6 1/2 years we've been there? He established himself as knowledgeable and having a grasp of the issues, and criticized specific points of McCain's proposals that Palin wasn't able to rebut. He even had an emotional moment while talking about the loss of his first wife and daughter. Palin could have gained some points acknowledging his loss and seeming sympathetic, but instead she rattled off more talking points and tired attack lines.

That Biden won is not anything to gloat over. He had the obvious advantage as a senior statesman. That Palin didn't mess it up is only something for the Republican base to rejoice over. Because that's all she did--reassured the base. It didn't change the game. Because in a race this close, the game is left up to the swingers. States and voters, that is.