The most striking thing about the vice presidential candidates’ debate is that neither of them actually blew sky-high or had a complete melt-down on stage. With Joe Biden, the main concerns were that he would either be too didactic, or made an unscripted remark that would cause Obama embarrassment. He avoided that. With Palin, the expectations were slightly lower. The Republicans were hoping she wouldn’t be the serious embarrassment she had been in interviews with Charles Gibson and even harmless little Katie Couric. Well, let’s face it: things had kind of reached the point where Republicans were reduced to hoping that she could field a question like “Do you like dogs?” without fucking it all up. By any conventional standard, Joe Biden was the clear winner of the debate. He was knowledgeable without sounding wonkish, assertive without being bullying, and open and human without appearing weak. And while he sometimes nuanced the truth as a seasoned politician can do (for example, talking about a surge in Afghanistan being opposed by American commander General McKiernan, when the general, while opposing a Baghdad-style “surge” nevertheless wanted a troop increase), he never actually told a bare-faced lie. Sarah Palin did, most notably when she characterized Obama’s tax plan as targeting “millions of small businesses.” The tax would be on the income the owners get from the business, and limited to individuals making over $200K. The businesses themselves would see no tax increase. Both candidates and moderator Gwen Ifill both tiptoed around the ongoing financial crisis, mentioning it obliquely if at all. As a result, it was the 800 pound gorilla in the room.
Biden’s finest moment came when he was talking about people worrying about how to pay the bills and sitting at their kitchen tables and sweating it, and how he knew what it was like to be a single parent. Palin’s came when she was talking about education, and the ways in which America shorted its teachers. Palin actually managed to sound coherent on foreign policy, managing not only to identify Ahmadinejad as the spokesman for Iran but even pronouncing his name correctly. Unfortunately for her, she tried pretending he was in charge in Iran rather than the Mullahs. He’s more of the “Tehran Ted” type, and Biden was quick to point out the error in Palin’s assumptions. Palin sounded scripted, which is hardly surprising, given that she was talking about things of which she knew nothing at all just three weeks ago. She was scripted, and she stuck pretty close to the talking points. She did better than during the Couric interview, where she just sort of babbled GOP memes with sublime disregard as to whether they had anything to do with the question, or anything else in the known universe. One area where she did blow it was in discussing the role of the vice president. Explaining that she was just making a joke when she asked what a vice-president did, she went on to reveal that she STILL didn’t know, calmly asserting that the Constitution was vague regarding a vice-president’s powers, and that she looked to expand them. Biden, who has been in the Senate over 30 years and knows exactly what a vice-president can and cannot do, quickly informed her that the Constitution limited a vice-president to casting tie-breaking votes in the otherwise titular office of President of the Senate. He went on to tell her that despite the “bizarre claims” by Dick Cheney – who he characterized as the most dangerous vice president American has ever had – the vice president is a member of the administration, and one given no formal powers as such. Informally, of course, a president has discretion in the amount of influence a veep can have. Under Bill Clinton, for instance, Al Gore was empowered to seek out and submit reports on how to reduce the size and cost of the federal government, a task that Gore had startling success at. Biden noted that Barack Obama had made it clear that Biden would work with him in an advisory capacity, suggesting that Biden should as needed, play the role of devil’s advocate. Palin tried accusing Biden of opposing clean coal as a substitute for inefficient coal burning methods, and Biden pointed to his voting record, claiming the supposedly anti-clean coal remark he made in a handshake queue was taken out of context. She frequently referred to herself as an oil industry foe, when in fact the opposite was true, and she displayed it when asked her thoughts on global warming. While finally admitting that it exists, she steadfastly refuses to believe it was caused by humans, naming some vague and non-existent “natural cycle of climate shifts”– presumably, the glaciation cycles which should, in fact, be causing global COOLING at this point. Palin accused Obama of wanting universal health care on a single payer basis. Unfortunately, that is not true. She also accused Biden of saying raising taxes was patriotic, when in fact he had said that PAYING them was patriotic. Each accused the other’s party of bankrupting the country, either through too many taxes, or spending without income. I leave it to the reader to figure out which is which. Biden won decisively, but in a spin-world where everyone worried about a first round knockout – or that Palin would simply not be able to climb into the ring – the fact that he didn’t pull a Godzilla vs Bambi on her was seen as something of an exculpation for her. But nobody will be able to seriously claim that Biden didn’t win the actual debate. Republicans are heaving a sigh of relief because Palin managed not to come unstuck and say something so stupid even the base couldn’t ignore it, and she probably even managed to convince some of the base that maybe she wasn’t a complete idiot. Of course, this is the same base that voted for George W. Bush – twice. It’s not like it takes much to fool that lot. They could have stuck a Chatty Cathy doll up on stage, and the die-hards would have been clasping their hands rapturously and pronouncing her Ready To Lead. But this is bad news for the Republicans, because they were all set to pronounce Biden a vicious bully, and Gwen Ifill a stooge for the DNC or black power or some damn thing (she has a book coming out that basically explores the miracle of a black man in America becoming a serious candidate for President), and play the victim card to the max. They can’t do that because Biden was careful to be polite and not be overbearing, and Ifill, if not laser-like in her questions, was scrupulously fair. Between the general lack of drama in the debate and the very real drama in the ongoing economic crisis, everyone will have forgotten the debate by tomorrow, which means that Palin won’t have made a serious dent in the public consciousness that could lead to widespread acceptance of her being a suitable VP. And of course, if she punts another interview, that will eliminate all gains she could have made tonight. But the results of the debate will be competing with the House vote on the bailout bill, now redubbed the emergency relief package, and given the far greater importance that has, that’s as it should be. In baseball terms, she pitched a six hit, two run seven inning game – a respectable performance. But the reliever has the bases loaded with nobody out. And McCain, through his own ineptitude, is seen as that reliever. If they hoped she wouldn’t make an ass of herself, the Republicans are happy. But if they think it changed the general shift in Obama’s direction that the recent weeks have seen, they must be miserable.
