A missed opportunity last night...

Overall I thought both candidates did pretty well on the debate. Sarah definitely did MUCH better than McCain - hopefully McCain will actually prepare this time and be ready next Tuesday...but I don't want to get off topic.

I don't want to write a long review of the debate - each side will say their side won and such is the nature of politics. However, in a brief recap - she spoke direct, glossed over in a very political way when she didn't have all the information she needed, and overall she handled herself pretty admirably. Biden was very factual and threw out a lot of numbers and figures, and assuming they're all true, won on that front. He was cordial and respectful and at one point choked up a bit on a personal hardship issue. I thought he did just fine.

Despite his fact throwing, I think at one point Palin actually called his bluff. He essentially railed against McCain's claim that the surge worked in Iraq and it can work in Afghanistan. He claimed the general in charge of Afghanistan said that the surge used in Iraq simply won't work. Apparently he had said that yesterday morning. Palin fired back that in fact he said a surge could work, but it would need to be customized to Afghanistan's terrain and opposing forces. When it passed back to Biden, he changed topic, with a "Ok, you got me" look because he didn't have a comeback.

I did see one big missed opportunity with Palin last night, and it stemmed from a critism I had with her that she exhibited twice (maybe 3 times...). I don't know who was prepping her with Obama's record, but I can't rationalize why anyone would send her in there with facts about Obama's voting record about seemingly NEGATIVE votes cast, when McCain supposedly (according to Biden) made the exact same votes! You can't critize someone for voting one way, implying your running mate is 'better than that', when in fact he voted the same way. It's just not even believable.

HOWEVER, in the case of the last issue that I can remember, she missed her big opportunity. I'm paraphrasing here, but she said that Obama voted against funding the troops for some vote. Bad Obama. Biden countered with the fact that McCain also voted against because there was a timeline attached to withdrawal. This would seem to be a moot point - she failed to make her case that McCain was "above that". She just let it go. Wasted opportunity. Here's what I would have said:

"You know something, Joe? You're right. John McCain did vote against that bill, and it's for exactly the same reason you just outlined. It had a timeline attached to it. You see, folks, this is what is wrong with the current political state of Washington. You can't vote for something you truly believe in and want without compromising some part of it by voting for something you vehemently disagree with. When something is desired for a good cause, our representatives in Washington jump on it and start throwing in everything under the sun because it might go through. The problem is that it happens on nearly EVERY bill. Not even bills that are assumed to be critically important are left unscathed. Look at the most recent bailout bill that just passed the Senate. It was designed to sweeten the deal for taxpayers, which is good, but under that same umbrella various special interest groups were granted millions of dollars. Now what in the world do those have to do with bailing out the economy? Absolutely nothing. We have a major crisis here, and you can rest assured that when John McCain and I get into that White House, this kind of behavior will be reigned in. As Americans we should not stand for our representatives loading up billis with unnecessary pork just to satisfy a few people. There are people's financial futures at stake here and Washington wants to just slide these things in. It's ridiculous and we won't stand for it."

Now, of course, she would have never said the last few parts because McCain actually voted for the dang bill. I don't know whether he actually agrees with it or not, but he really had no choice. It was going to win anyway, so he had to vote with the majority. If it works, then he was as good as Obama; if it fails then he was as bad as him. It basically accomplished the nullifying of Obama's vote. But still, she could have still made the point I outlined and essentially nullified Biden's claim that McCain voted against troop funding when in fact there was a good reason, and then also that current Washington politics are frustratingly and unnecessarily complicated and pushed her issue of reform.

All in all though, good debate. Palin held her own and did very well. She didn't topple Biden, but she definitely wasn't expected to. I think she did, however, get over her rash of bad publicity lately.

Finally, you can bet that if the House votes today, which I believe they are, it will pass there too. Pelosi surely wouldn't make that mistake again...