US Politics - 2008 Election

VP Debate: There for the Crash

By Ben Bull
Published September 30, 2008

Tim Harper's article in the Star made me chuckle over my cornflakes this morning. Looking ahead to Thursday's U.S. Vice Presidential debate, Harper noted:

If Thursday's debate is television's highest-rated vice-presidential debate ever - as expected - it might be because U.S. politics is now drawing the type of crowd that flocks to car races. They say they are there for the speed, but a lot of them are there for the crash.

After the influx of YouTube clips featuring Sarah Palin stuttering her way through her Katie Couric interview, or her evisceration at the hands of "Saturday Night Live", I have to say I feel the same way.

I'll probably flip between the Canadian Leaders debate and the VP one, but as soon as Palin opens her mouth I know I'll be cringing along with the rest of us.

It should be funny but it's not.

Ben Bull lives in downtown Toronto. He's been working on a book of short stories for about 10 years now and hopes to be finished tomorrow. He also has a movie blog.

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By adrian (registered) | Posted October 01, 2008 at 15:32:33

Actually, I'm not so sure that she'll perform as badly as being predicted.

The media loves to set up these kinds of situations: talk on and on about how poorly she'll do until everyone's expectations are at rock bottom, and then, when suddenly she does a passable job, all the headlines will be "Palin Surpasses Expectations", "Palin Takes Biden by Surprise", etc.

It makes for good press.

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By nobrainer (registered) | Posted October 01, 2008 at 16:18:14

Normally I'd agree with you...except...Sarah Palin isn't just bad. She's heroically bad. She's epicly bad. She's Wow. Just. Wow. bad. She doesn't have thoughts. She just repeats catchphrases until she can't any more. And then she stares like a deer caught in the headlights.

It's, like, really that bad... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vbg6hF0nS...

I don't know what's more painful to watch...her not knowing what to say about Davis...or her getting pwned over who Americans are waiting to hear from on the economy...or her goin' to find ya some and bring 'em to ya.

But it gets worse... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PX7iFSLO...

Miss Teen South Carolina tries to explain the bailout.

Could it get any worse? Oh yes it could... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRkWebP2Q...

That's right, she can't name ONE SINGLE NEWSPAPER OR MAGAZINE that she reads.

Honestly the best thing that could happen to her at this point is that Big Old Biden makes her cry and she wins some sympathy votes.

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By highwater (registered) | Posted October 01, 2008 at 17:52:06

I'm ashamed to admit we'll be tuning in to this. We've already decided who we're voting for and are not likely to be swayed by the debate, so we'll be tuning in to the Palin show.

Adrain's got a point, however. Apparently she's performed well in her mayoral and gubernatorial debates, so she could pull it out of the hat.

Still, here's another gem. She appears to be supportive of Hamas (or more likely doesn't have a clue who they are), and clearly doesn't realize that Ahmadinejad was elected. Too funny.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsTLQ612F-A

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By nobrainer (registered) | Posted October 01, 2008 at 23:10:57

Worser and worser and worser... http://www.cbs.com/thunder/player/tv/vid...

Listen to Biden explain why he supporte Roe v. Wade and then explain intelligently why he opposed another SCOTUS decision.....and then listen to Palin mindlessly spew right wing catch phrases that don't even make sense let alone answer the question. She thinks the Constitution guarantees privacy...but thinks states should be the ones to do it? Does she know what a constitutional right even is???

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By adrian (registered) | Posted October 03, 2008 at 09:06:31

Well, here we go:

"Palin Digs Herself Out"

"Palin eases the hurt in McCain-land"

"A Candidate Recaptures Her Image"

And that's just the Washington Post, the New York Times, and Associated Press.

It's all just a big game...

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By Pundit (anonymous) | Posted October 03, 2008 at 11:43:41

It's going to be an obama landslide in november, everyone whose paying attention knows it, but thats no good for the newsmedia, they need to sell drama and uncertainty, so if it looks like one side is pulling ahead they pump up the other side to keep the drama going to the last minute, it sells more papers that way. All just a big game indeed...

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