Tito wrote:kgdjpubs wrote:
True, but by sidestepping many of the questions, she did little to refute anyone who had issues with her being qualified for the job. Anyone is going to get prepped and coached--and she obviously learned from it as she didn't fall on her face compared to the earlier interviews, but I saw very little "meat" in her answers on the issues, when she even addressed them.
And Obama has meat on his answers? Give me a break. Lets also not forget, she was running as VP not the President. Obama was and fail to give meaty details. That's more important.
Compared to Palin, yes--even though I agree with you on the experience level of Obama. Biden, like him or hate him, DID have more direct answers to the questions in the debate. Palin held her own on personality alone. I think likely that she would have been torn to shreds at that point with a tough host (ie O'Reilly or similar) who would not let the people wavier onto random campaign philosophy and dodge the questions.
McCain wasn't exactly the most forthcoming in specific details either other than saying "read my lips, I'm not George Bush". Like him or not, Obama did at least give SOME specifics, and let you know where he stood.
Tito wrote: kgdjpubs wrote:I think the Palin effect is undecided. I know several people personally that due to McCain's age, that a vote for McCain could possibly be seen as a vote for Palin should something happen to him in the next 4 years--and they were VERY against that due to speculation about Palin's qualifications. Simply put, they were scared of the possibility of a Palin Presidency. They voted for Obama so as to NOT vote for Palin. Was it enough to make a difference on the national level? Who knows, but this was NC--which Obama won by the smallest margin of ANY state, and NC always goes Republican.
The VP candidate shouldn't matter much, but McCain's age gave an added importance to the role, and the Palin controversy didn't help him. To some extent, the race was more Obama vs. Palin than Obama vs. McCain. In the end, Palin probably lost some of the independent/uncommitted base.....and gained some hardcore Republicans, who wouldn't necessarily go for the more middle McCain. I don't know if anybody will find out which was the higher percentage.
Then they were stupid. The VP choice shouldn't have matter much. Odds are McCain wll be alive in 4 years. If in a worst case scenario if he died in 2 years, you don't think she wouldn't have learned something in that time. Seriously, if anything she probably would defer more to the Commanders on the ground which would be better.
Finally, what makes Obama qualified? Because he sounds smart. He has less experience of the 4 people on either ticket. In addition, if you worry about McCain being alive what about the worries (unfounded IMO) about someone getting to Obama.
I'm not saying the criticism of Palin qualifications are unfair, my point is you then need to have those same criticism of Obama because he is in the same boat.
I agree that Obama should have the same toughness of questions put to him. The difference was that while he and Palin may indeed have the same level of experience, it was the WAY he handled the questions. In the earlier interviews, Palin was simply out of her league (or overcoached, or whatever) and came across as totally unqualified to be on that national stage. Giving Obama his due, the guy is a natural public speaker, and I never really saw him get flustered. Doesn't mean anything about qualifications, but politics has a lot to do with how much you can trust somebody.
In politics, it isn't the truth that matters--it is the appearance of truth. Palin may in fact be more qualified than Obama, but those earlier interviews DID hurt her reputation.
You are also right about some nutcase trying to take out Obama. While maybe remote, the possibility does exist--and there are a bunch of loons out there. I think Obama was safe in the pick of Biden, but Biden does have a long history in politics and didn't really do anything to make him look incompetent during the election.
All this is irrelevant anyway. McCain never convinced the American public HOW he was going to be different from Bush, and that hurt him a lot. The economy crisis simply finished it. In a close race, Palin may have had an effect, but it wasn't a close race. She's getting far more criticism than she deserves, because there were more important issues at stake that doomed McCain than picking her.