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George Gerber: The Defining Moment

Submitted by BuzzFlash on Fri, 10/03/2008 - 9:30am.

A BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTION
by George Gerber
 
The Vice Presidential debate has now come and gone. The newscasters, journalists, and pundits will take over and debate this historic television moment for a long time. They will each declare winners and losers but, in fact, there were no losers and only one winner: the American people.
 
Governor Palin acquitted herself well when compared to her interviews with Charlie Gibson and Katie Couric. There were some shaky moments but she seemed more comfortable and more relaxed than she did in either of the other venues. Unfortunately, her responses were still robotic and memorized. There was little substance and few facts to support her talking points and, when she was unable to answer a question, she simply changed the topic to energy. Because of the format limitations, she often went unchallenged performing that slight of hand. The bar was set low and, in that sense, she cleared the hurdle. But lowering the bar to accommodate the competitor should be unacceptable to all Americans. By the end of the debate, she seemed no more capable of assuming the presidency than she did at the beginning. Smoke and mirrors can never reflect a person's true nature. They only obscure the truth.
 
Senator Biden's presentation was delivered with facts, style, and clarity. It was a presentation of substance and he truly served Barack Obama and the American people well. He cleared the bar easily and cleanly as it should be when competing for the second highest position in the land. By the end of the debate, it was clear that he would have no trouble stepping into the President's shoes should that ever be required.

And yet, I found the most defining moment of the night was when Senator Biden, speaking of losing his wife and daughter in a car accident and almost losing a son, had to fight back tears that were wrenched from deep inside. That was the one moment in this debate that was unscripted. It was a moment that truly reflected the stature and sincerity of a politician who has fought for the average person for his entire career. He overcame adversity of overwhelming proportions at a time when he had just won his Senate seat. Heroism comes in all forms.
 
Sarah Palin was unable to make any kind of human response to Joe Biden's grief. Without blinking an eye and looking straight ahead, she just continued to recite the memorized talking points of a political candidate. Despite all her claims of connecting with the average American, it was Joe Biden who made that connection. It was Joe Biden in that brief period who connected with the person on Main Street USA who has experienced similar tragedy in their lives.
 
Joe Biden, in the blink of an eye, showed us the humanity that has been sorely missing from this campaign until now. He walked the walk in that one defining moment.

A BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTION

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She is Very Much Like Bush!

Submitted by kroses98 on Fri, 10/03/2008 - 5:12pm.
She is really Bush III, in so many ways, and it is so easy to see how stupid she is, just like Bush ii. She has his same dumb habits and quirks, and I doubt that people will want to see her elected. They are so sick to death of G.W., that they just want to get rid of him quickly, and any reminder will not go over well. McDOPEY was DUMB to choose her, but then, he has always been DUMB, and things can only go down hill from this time forward!!!
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Dear George, Thank you for

Submitted by Revolutionary on Fri, 10/03/2008 - 1:26pm.
Dear George, Thank you for this perspective! It was a powerful moment for Joe. I know how emotion can well-up in your soul when you talk about a lost loved one. I cannot image the great control he had to muster at that moment knowing that millions of people were watching him. My heart was touched and I cried! I was taken aback by Piden's lack of acknowledgment and indifferent reaction. I can only guess that she was either uncomfortable and did not know how to react or that she lacks compassion and empathy. During my review of several blog sites I have noticed that many men found this to be a weak moment for Biden. It seems that there are still many men who are uncomfortable with displays of true emotion -- emotion that causes the heart to be touched in a powerful way.
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Pallin Had a FEW Good Moments - But....

Submitted by drprodny on Fri, 10/03/2008 - 10:33am.
Her best moment, and the only moment when I thought she was speaking for her own beliefs than preprogrammed talking points, was when she spoke with amazing (for a Religious Right type, at least) nuance and compassion about her objections to same-sex marriage. Yes, she opposes it strongly, but at the same time knows a number of gay people and doesn't feel there's anything inherently wrong w/same-sex relationships - and as she reminded Biden, her stance is pretty much the same as his and Obama's own. It was to me her best moment since she came to the attention of the world outside Alaska - and it will probably cost her significant support since she wasn't the frothing homophobic zealot the Khrister Right wants!

But in the end, she really was Jane Sixpack Soccer Mom stuffed full of talking point attacks and talking point rhetoric from two weeks' worth of cramming, debating policy with a man who's had to consider world-changing decisions every day for the last 36 years. She was clearly nervous, reciting canned answers and switching to canned answers even when they didn't fit the question - and on more than one occasion, she lost her place in mid-peroration just like she disastrously did in her interviews with Charlie Gibson and Katie Couric, and fell back on the first canned answer she could remember. With the exception of the gay marriage moment I already mentioned and a brief flash of human pride talking about her kids and their public school educations, she reminded me of nothing so much as THE ONION's Pentagon Spokesdrone spewing preprogrammed talking points in response to any and every question.

Did she do better than expected? Sure - even if she did look like Garth in the first WAYNE'S WORLD movie trying to do the show on his own, giving the impression his head was about to explode ala SCANNERS. She just proved to the world how completely out of her depth she is even talking about global issues, let alone dealing with them should she ever be President....
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Biden did OK

Submitted by neoconned on Fri, 10/03/2008 - 10:12am.

I can't agree that Biden did as well as you think he did, but he didn't do anything he'd regret this morning. On the other hand, he didn't do much to knock McCain-Palin off the tracks. He did score heavily on facts, but Palin beat him on appearance.

The net result is that for all intents and purposes the debate was essentially a tie, with both sides having something to brag about. There is plenty for the spinmeisters to work with, and as a result, the American people are going to be bombarded by sound bites intended to confuse them further than they already are. Ergo, the American people will be the ultimate losers of this debate.

Hint to the Obama campaign: watch the debate, and notice how Palin's demeanor and camera gaze worked for her. Look into the camera! The voters will get the impression that you are looking at them. Kennedy did it in 1960, for goodness sakes! It works!

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Winky winky...

Submitted by TJAmericanWay on Sat, 10/04/2008 - 12:21pm.
Boy it didn't work for me, every time she winked at the camera I almost launched my dinner right at the TV. And the idea that it's time for "Joe-Sixpack or a "Hockey Mom" to have a position of power in our government so that the common person has a voice? Even IF she actually was a "Common person", which I truly believe she isn't, I'm sorry but I'd rather leave governing to those who are truly able to do so, not some hack politician from Alaska. And that whole thing about expanding the role of the VP? I guess no one in McSame's campaign explained to her that Darth Cheney has been a disastrous VP for the Rethugs, and that they've now realize that putting one of the puppet masters too close to the lime-light isn't at all a good idea. I can hear them saying to her "Sarah, you weren't picked to actually do ANYTHING other than look cute, appear to be from the working class, and win them over with your Barbie/Cheerleader routine. Just follow our lead and obey your handlers."

But Biden's emotional moment when talking about his loss touched my heart. I felt truly sorry for his loss and the obvious pain it still holds for him. I admire him for being able to hold it together through that bit of painful recall. It struck me as a totally from the heart response, and a moment that really showed the depth of his humanity.

Every time I've see Palin stumped by a reporter's simple question, I've been waiting for the springs to pop out of her head, the batteries to drop from her ass, smoke to come from her ears, and for her to go off like a confused robot.

Hey a guy can wish can't he?
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Can't Agree About Biden or Eye Contact, neoconned

Submitted by drprodny on Fri, 10/03/2008 - 10:47am.
Biden came off as well-informed and thoughtful, and more importantly courteous and supportive of his clearly out-of-her-depth opponent - even while landing repeated blows on her and McCain's campaign. It was a good a debate performance as I've seen - he came off as Ready On Day One to step into the President's shoes should anything, Deity-of-Your-Choice Permitting, happen to President Obama - as opposed to Palin, whose head would probably explode under the same circumstance.

As for the making eye contact - it only works if you can't see how desperately nervous somebody is, as you could plainly see with Palin last night. She showed us the reality of Matt Damon's "bad Disney movie" jape - someone stuffed with other people's answers, suddenly realizing in front of the Whole Wide World just how little she really knows or understands....
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both have good points

Submitted by colinjames on Fri, 10/03/2008 - 12:02pm.

Although I didn't see Palin as "desperately nervous". What really matters are how the undecideds viewed the debate, which went 50+% to Biden winning, 20-something to Palin, and 30-something saw a tie.

Basically she reminded me of Bush in the 2000 race, a lot of empty rhetoric, platitudes, dodging questions- all style, no substance. Declaring she'd like more power as VP was her biggest gaffe, hope it gets MSM play. And winking? That's what people running for class president of their High School do. Toward their friends. Smugness is not appealing!

Biden was great in my opinion, his command of facts and issues, the confidence in his delivery, he did Obama proud. God we need to win this one. By a large enough margin to overcome Repub election-theft, that is.

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