How Sarah Palin Won The Debate

For the first time in my adult life I actually watched a Vice-Presidential debate. For starters, even though as of now I don’t know how I am voting (although I won’t be voting for Obama/Biden) I knew that Palin was not going to disappoint in her delivery or her grasp of the issues. After all was said and done, even formerly critical Peggy Noonan had praise for Palin… As to be expected, the MSM had a whole different take on the issue, unlike Team McCain which unabashedy declared that “She did it”

My initial concern was whether it would be two against one with Gwen Ifill who has a financial stake in an Obama victory, and Joe Biden who distorts reality worse than Pinnochio going like gangbusters against Sarah.

Unfortunately for them, she not only put Obama and Biden in their place as pretentious people who are totally incapable of addressing the concerns of the majority of the American Public, but also showed why she is more than capable of exercising the good grasp of issues necessary to be the Vice-President.

For what it’s worth, Gwen Ifill did a good (not excellent) job moderating, although her bias came through a couple of times. One of those times was during this exchange:

PALIN: …and here’s a shout-out to all those third graders at Gladys Wood Elementary School, you get extra credit for watching the debate.

IFILL: Everybody gets extra credit tonight…

I mean, it might not be a big deal to others, heck, they might not even see it as anything more than a non-issue, but why does Ifill need to steal the little moment of excitement the third graders had? I think the answer is simple, it comes down to the elitist attitude that some in the MSM have about some sort of inherent superiority to folks like Palin, or maybe she was just playign the part of a campaign surrogate for Team Obama.

Anyway, that got me to thinking, while Palin’s family is full of teachers and working people, Biden’s daugther is a menace to society, and his brother and son are currently in court facing allegations of embezzlement. Ever heard of the apple not falling far from the tree?

Overall, I think what really endeared her to me was the fact that she represents who I am as a person. I mean, even though I live in New York City, have a Political Science degree from a liberal arts college in the Midwest (shout out to Butler University), and own a financial services company, I still consider myself more at home on Main Street than I could ever, or would ever feel on Wall Street.

Anyway, Sarah brought back the warm and fuzzy feelings Bill Clinton generated in ‘92 and ‘96 for his folksiness. This is in sharp contrast to Joe Biden who reminded me of quite a few academicians who seem to know everything about the nuance of everything but lack a dollop of common sense. Thankfully, Sarah called him out on his BS numerous times, including when she said the famous:

PALIN: Oh, yeah, it’s so obvious I’m a Washington outsider. And someone just not used to the way you guys operate. Because here you voted for the war and now you oppose the war. You’re one who says, as so many politicians do, I was for it before I was against it or vice- versa. Americans are craving that straight talk and just want to know, hey, if you voted for it, tell us why you voted for it and it was a war resolution.

Talking about Biden, I also noticed that even though he is a lawyer who was “at the top of his class” in law school, and is head of the Senate Judiciary committee, he has no clue as to what the constitutional role of the Vice-President is, as defined by the Constitution:

BIDEN: Vice President Cheney has been the most dangerous vice president we’ve had probably in American history. The idea he doesn’t realize that Article I of the Constitution defines the role of the vice president of the United States, that’s the Executive Branch. He works in the Executive Branch. He should understand that. Everyone should understand that.

And the primary role of the vice president of the United States of America is to support the president of the United States of America, give that president his or her best judgment when sought, and as vice president, to preside over the Senate, only in a time when in fact there’s a tie vote. The Constitution is explicit.

I know I only have a degree in Political Science, and I graduated somewhere in the middle of my class, while Biden is a genius who graduated at the top of his, but, I could have sworn that:

The Constitution states that the Vice President is always the President of the Senate, in Article I, Section 3:

The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided.

Also, what is this story about Dick Cheney Darth Vader being the most dangerous Vice-President in history, I thought that distinction went to Aaron Burr who as a sitting Vice-President killed Alexander Hamilton ? But then again, what do I know?

To me the highlight was when Sarah once and for all ended the whole Obama/Biden strategy of declaring McCain/Palin to be Bush III:

PALIN: Say it ain’t so, Joe, there you go again pointing backwards again. You preferenced your whole comment with the Bush administration. Now doggone it, let’s look ahead and tell Americans what we have to plan to do for them in the future. …

No, in fact, when we talk about the Bush administration, there’s a time, too, when Americans are going to say, “Enough is enough with your ticket,” on constantly looking backwards, and pointing fingers, and doing the blame game. …

But for a ticket that wants to talk about change and looking into the future, there’s just too much finger-pointing backwards to ever make us believe that that’s where you’re going.

What does Biden say as a response? To show how far removed from the thought process of average everyday Americans he is, he quotes Act II Scene I of William Shakespeare’s “Tempest” and says:

“Past is prologue”

Incidentally, someone ought to send a memo to Joe to stop contradicting Barack Obama, especially not on the national stage, Joe had the following to say about Israel:

BIDEN: Gwen, no one in the United States Senate has been a better friend to Israel than Joe Biden.

Only thing is, here’s what Barack Obama told the Pittsburgh Gazette that:

Obama “The fact is, though, that no one’s been a more stalwart ally of Israel”

So folks which one of you is really Israel’s best friend in the world? I don’t know, but I do know that if your name is Sarah Palin and you choose to speak at a Pro-Israel / Anti-Iran rally, Obama and Biden shall sic the IRS on you.

Gateway Pundit has some pictures from the afterparty, all in all, Sarah did a great job, and whatever fears anyone might have about her readiness or suitability for the Vice-Presidency should have been put to rest… McCain might have taken a gamble, but in all likelihood it is going to pay off…

Exit quote on Barack Obama from Sarah Palin:

Now, Barack Obama had said that all we’re doing in Afghanistan is air-raiding villages and killing civilians. And such a reckless, reckless comment and untrue comment, again, hurts our cause.

Posted by PUMA Pundit