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The Magician's Assistant
Oct. 3rd, 2008 09:20 amI've come to the conclusion that Sarah Palin is the magician's assistant for John McCain. We're supposed to watch her while he's moving the elephant around backstage. So, I haven't posted much about her. But since last night was her brief solo outing (the magician was out back for a smoke break) I'll discuss her debate.
The modern Presidential debate format is structured to be hard to win and relatively hard to loose. In Palin's case, as long as she avoided "moose caught in the headlights" moments she was okay. In Biden's case, as long as he didn't call her a "little lady" or some other condescending term, he was okay.
Palin used "Alaskan Rules Debating" (think "Australian Rules Football" with different accents) to avoid most of the moose moments. Basically, she took the pre-cooked talking point closest to the question (which sometimes wasn't very close) and regurgitated it on stage. She still had, by my count, two moose moments.
The first was when she got asked about Cheney's weird views on the power of the Vice Presidency. I think this was a surprise question, and her mental thought processes were "Cheney's a nice guy - I'll have what he's having." That might fly with Cheney fans, but that subgroup of Americans is pretty thin on the ground. The second moose moment was when Biden got choked up about loosing his first wife and daughter. I don't remember what Palin's exact response was, but I know what it wasn't - "Gee, Joe, I'm sorry about your loss."
The point was clear - Palin has difficulty thinking on her feet. In McCain's judgment, that's okay because she's not a governing pick, she's a political pick. If they get elected, Palin will quickly find herself sitting in a quiet office with very little to do. If, on the other hand, Obama wins, Biden will be the floor general in Congress, getting Obama's platform passed.
Which brings up a logical question - who exactly is McCain going to use as his go-to guy in Congress? Laws don't just pass themselves, so I'd really like to know.
The modern Presidential debate format is structured to be hard to win and relatively hard to loose. In Palin's case, as long as she avoided "moose caught in the headlights" moments she was okay. In Biden's case, as long as he didn't call her a "little lady" or some other condescending term, he was okay.
Palin used "Alaskan Rules Debating" (think "Australian Rules Football" with different accents) to avoid most of the moose moments. Basically, she took the pre-cooked talking point closest to the question (which sometimes wasn't very close) and regurgitated it on stage. She still had, by my count, two moose moments.
The first was when she got asked about Cheney's weird views on the power of the Vice Presidency. I think this was a surprise question, and her mental thought processes were "Cheney's a nice guy - I'll have what he's having." That might fly with Cheney fans, but that subgroup of Americans is pretty thin on the ground. The second moose moment was when Biden got choked up about loosing his first wife and daughter. I don't remember what Palin's exact response was, but I know what it wasn't - "Gee, Joe, I'm sorry about your loss."
The point was clear - Palin has difficulty thinking on her feet. In McCain's judgment, that's okay because she's not a governing pick, she's a political pick. If they get elected, Palin will quickly find herself sitting in a quiet office with very little to do. If, on the other hand, Obama wins, Biden will be the floor general in Congress, getting Obama's platform passed.
Which brings up a logical question - who exactly is McCain going to use as his go-to guy in Congress? Laws don't just pass themselves, so I'd really like to know.
