Open Mic Tactic?

So the VP candidates come out last night, and the first thing I realize is that I can hear everything Sarah Palin is saying. But I can't hear Joe Biden, except when he's talking to Palin. As every mic made in the world now has a "turn off" switch, it is obvious that Palin has a "hot mic." Call me a cynic, but I think this was intentional.

Why am I a cynic? Because when she meets Senator Biden and shakes his hand, she asks him in her "golly gee" folksy way, "Can I call ya Joe?"

Admittedly, I may have missed a reference since I watched the debate again on 2x speed, but I didn't hear Palin EVER refer to Biden as "Joe." It was always "Senator Biden." Why ask for permission to use a name you then never actually use?

I think her handlers told her to keep the mic on and what to say to come across as gracious and likeable, and I say, "GREAT tactic." It worked on me. If it wasn't intentional, this should go in some political operative's play book.

Open Mic Tactic?

A Running VP Debate Commentary

The next group of posts are a running, (mostly) real time commentary from the VP debate, which I watched on CNN. CNN kept a running "dial" tally of undecided Ohio voters and divided them by gender. When these voters heard something they liked, they turned the dials up, when they heard something they disliked, they turned them down. You'll probably want to go to the earliest entry and read up.

A Running VP Debate Commentary

Ohio Women REALLY Hate Cheney

Joe Biden just called Dick Cheney the most dangerous VP in history and launched a verbal assault that earned him a maxed out meter for nearly five full seconds. Wow. Ohio folk, particularly women, REALLY hate Cheney.

Actually, something just occurred to me that, when I write it, will probably get me eaten alive. Has anyone else noticed that in most instances, when the dial maxes out, it's the women at the top, and when the meter goes into the tank, the women are lowest?

Ohio women are kind of moody.

Uh oh. Joe Biden was just talking about being a single dad, and I think he got choked up. Boy, is some heartless Republican going to make him eat that for lunch tomorrow. Expect this to launch a cynical debate among the conservatorati about whether it was a REAL or STAGED cry, just like they did for Hillary Clinton.

As for the closing statements, Palin sounded too rah rah, while Biden seemed more substantive. Overall that's my read on the debate. Palin was VERY folksy, and I'd love to have a beer with her. But you judge a debate by the political effect and the substantive effect. Palin did what she needed to do to get the political benefit (show people she's NOT a loon, and emphasize her outsider status), but substantively, man Joe Biden comes off as knowledgeable. I admit my bias because I was for Biden before Obama. But that was because a restrained Joe Biden is as sharp a political figure as you will ever meet.

If only he could "maintain the restrain."

Ohio Women REALLY Hate Cheney

Sorry, Gordon Gecko...greed is apparently NOT good!

Palin is talking about ending Wall Street greed, helping main street and working class folks, and keeping taxes low, and she's roasting the scale.

Biden had his lowest moment of the debate on the dial when he said he spends time at Home Depot. (I guess people prefer Lowe's).

But when he started talking about how corporate America has "benefited plenty," he jumped up again.

How cute. Sarah Palin just gave a "shout out" to some third graders. They must be ecstatic.

And, holy cow, if I were John McCain, I'd rewrite Governor Palin's stump speech to say:

"Education, wah wa waaa waaaaaah, education, blah blah, GO EDUCATION!"

Governor Palin's lines about education, which were exhortatory cheerleading, garnered the strongest sustained approval of the night for her.

Sorry, Gordon Gecko...greed is apparently NOT good!

Here's What Biden Knows...

...foreign policy, and he's running on the high end of the meter consistently now. Palin, while certainly not embarrassing herself, is hugging the mid-line with periodic upticks.

Every time Biden mentions Dick Lugar, the dial machinery falls asleep.

(Just kidding. It actually spiked up slightly when Biden said Obama reached across the aisle to work with Lugar).

Notably, Americans in Ohio want to help people in Darfur. When Biden talked about enforcing a no-fly zone, the meter maxed out.

Here's What Biden Knows...

We all love Israel!

Israel is our democratic bud, no doubt, and both Governor Palin and Joe Biden are giving the Israelis mad props. Biden just said, "Israel has had no better friend in the U.S. Senate than Joe Biden." Palin retorts, "I'm encouraged to know we both love Israel!"

Awwwhhhh!

Let's all go to the Middle East and give Israel a big group hug.

"We LOVE you, Israel! You are NOT a stinking corpse! You are the biggest per capita @ss-kicker on the planet!"

We all love Israel!

Palin is ailing again....

When Joe Biden said Obama had a plan to get us out of Iraq, he went off the chart on CNN's dial-a-meter! Palin's response that "We're waiving the white flag" put her below the zero line deeply for the first time tonight. At least among undecided Ohio voters, the Iraqi war is an elephant around the neck of John McCain.

When Biden said we need to fight terrorism in Afghanistan, he maxed out the charts again.

Now Palin is running through a list of the "baddies" in the world. Did somebody tell her during prep that saying difficult foreign names would make her look more knowledgeable? She's said Ahmedijad five times now.

Palin is ailing again....

Palin is Ailing on Gay Marriage

Sarah Palin just told me she is tolerant. Phew! What a relief! I thought a second ago she had rather strongly implied that increasing the incidents of marriage was a slippery slope TO gay marriage. Also, I'm not sure where she really is. When Joe Biden suggested that they have no difference because they both support giving all incidents of marriage to gay couples, Palin didn't say, "That's right." She said, "Your question was whether Senator Biden supported gay marriage? My answer is no."

Palin is Ailing on Gay Marriage

RUH ROH! PALIN JUST GOT A QUESTION SHE DIDN'T EXPECT...

Governor Palin was just asked a very narrow question: "Would you have favored the bankruptcy reform act last year?" She gave an answer, but it wasn't to Ifill's question. Biden didn't do a great job, though, finessing the difference between his vote FOR the bankruptcy reform act while Obama voted no. But he was at least on the subject matter.

I knew Palin would be very well-prepared, but I also knew the more "unexpected" the question would be, the weaker Palin would be in response. Governor Palin had rebuttal time, and instead of talking about bankruptcy or the economy in general, she went back to what she knew - energy.

I can see the future of this debate:

Ifill: What's your favorite movie, Governor Palin?

Palin: If we don't plan for the future by creating energy independence, we won't be able to see movies in the future. I don't want to fight over whether man is to blame for making bad movies, I want to fight over how we make better movies.

RUH ROH! PALIN JUST GOT A QUESTION SHE DIDN'T EXPECT...

GOLLY GEE, SARAH PALIN IS SWELL!

Palin is off to a great start by any measure, not just on the "reduced expectations" measure. She's holding her own and engaging Biden directly, which is gutsy. But why does she talk like a woman who popped out of a time machine from the 1950s? Everything she says is with "darn it," "golly, "we sure will" cheerleader enthusiasm, like she thinks the American people are children. I think if we all went over to her house and told her we were sad about the economy, she'd offer us cookies and lemonade.

GOLLY GEE, SARAH PALIN IS SWELL!

Giving an Earful About Ifill

My favorite nemesis (and you know who I mean) is churning a story on his blog that Gwen Ifill is unfit to moderate the VP debate on Thursday night because she has an Obama "tribute" book coming out in January that he calls "The Age of Obama."

Here's the problem. The REAL title of the book is The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama.

Since Obama is not even the sole focal point of the book, why not truncate the title and make it seem that way?!? The Amazon description offers the rebuttal:

In THE BREAKTHROUGH, veteran journalist Gwen Ifill surveys the American political landscape, shedding new light on the impact of Barack Obama’s stunning presidential campaign and introducing the emerging young African-American politicians forging a bold new path to political power.

Ifill argues that the Black political structure formed during the Civil Rights movement is giving way to a generation of men and women who are the direct beneficiaries of the struggles of the 1960s. She offers incisive, detailed profiles of such prominent leaders as Newark Mayor Cory Booker, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, and U.S. Congressman Artur Davis of Alabama, and also covers up-and-coming figures from across the nation. Drawing on interviews with power brokers like Senator Obama, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, Vernon Jordan, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, and many others, as well as her own razor-sharp observations and analysis of such issues as generational conflict and the "black enough" conundrum, Ifill shows why this is a pivotal moment in American history.

If people want to say Ifill is not neutral, they can do so. I believe she bore an almost disgusted look after Sarah Palin's speech at the convention. People interpreted it as anti-Palin. I interpret it as her being offended about a belittling remark toward "community organizers." In truth, Ifill has been upfront about her view of Obama: "I still don't know if he'll be a good president."

If Ifill were shilling for Obama, she would have NEVER made this comment, and the notion she has a financial interest in the outcome is preposterous. People who are going to read a book about racial politics and Obama will do it independent of whether he wins. What idiot goes, "OH, I wasn't going to read about presidential nominee Obama, but now that he's "as seen at the White House" Obama, give me three copies!"

The McCain campaign agreed to Ifill, and nothing about the fact she's written a book partially about Obama should change their view of her now.

In short, we already see the excuse making for Sarah Palin coming from Republican-Land, and she hasn't even failed yet. This is a measure of how little faith even some stalwart Republicans have in her. It has never occurred to them that she could hold her own on Thursday night.

Giving an Earful About Ifill