Ex-Bush Officials: Biden Won The Debate

The consensus from the debate seems to be that while Sarah Palin exceeded the exceedingly low expectations set for her, Joe Biden won the night. The word comes from former members of the Bush administration and even John McCain's former press secretary.

Torie Clarke, who worked with McCain back in Arizona and with the Bush Administration's Department of Defense, had the following remarks on ABC:

"I'm so surprised at what we are talking about before and after the debate. Before the debate the speculation was all on Sarah Palin, how well can she do, can she answer the tough questions? Nobody was paying attention to Joe Biden. I think Joe Biden had his best night tonight. He came with one mission, and that was to go after John McCain, and he did it, backed up by facts. I think he did a better job tonight of tying McCain to the Bush administration than Obama did last week.

Matthew Dowd, who worked for George Bush's communications team while in the White House, followed Clarke and he too agreed that the Delaware Democrat took the evening.

"I think, you know, I agree with her on this. I think Sarah Palin did reasonably well. The death spiral she has been on for the last week, she survived. She's lived another day. She did well. But I think, when the polls come out in the next two, three days, Joe Biden won this debate."

Comments

[mccainstoblame]

Biden wins!

http://myrealitytelevision.com/2008/10/who-won-the-vice-presidential-debate-2008/#comment-427

[Zingaro Zorro]

Mulitiple political punch combinations had her spinning throughout the debate.

No-maverick knockout punch to end the drama.

[hapiguy]

Gwen was soft, guess McCain intimidation worked,,Palin was able to deliver her Sedona Speech nearly word for word,,,if the networks are looking for a morning Sara ,,she.s your girl,,,folksy, winking,,,and well rehearsed,,no flubbing here, now back to protection­...of the Advisers,,,

[Keith52]

Yeah, there were no hardballs thrown. You are correct.

[glesslib]

It is the country's misfortune that Sarah decided to go after a career in politics over a career in broadcasting. I know about her sportscasting job and all, but the competition must have seemed tougher in broadcasting so she took the easier road to notoriety. So the city of Wasilla and the state of Alaska won.

If this doesn't work out for Sarah, look for her to have her own talk show on Alaska's largest TV station or, who knows, Regis and Kelly may become Regis and Sarah.

[moAb]

I thought Gwen was ineffectual. After a night of sleep I woke up wondering if she had in fact decided to let Palin hang herself by her own noose of words and excessive, cloying folksiness. Maybe Gwen outsmarted us all. The good news is that the results are coming in for Biden, not Palin.
THANK YOU JOE!!!

[sadiehawkins]

Gwen was on a talk-radio show, this morning and she said that she allowed Governor Palin to hang herself with her own noose.

[Gigi36]

I think it is time for people to call the moderators into question. I have a great deal of respect for both Jim Leherer and Gwen Iffel but neither of them had control of the debate. Palin should have been made to answer the questions instead of telling Gwen that she wasn't going to answer the question. I will say that Gwen kept to the time limits.

That facts are that Palin lied about some things. She did raise taxes when she was mayor of Wasilla and left the town with a huge debt for building a sports complex. Special needs children are "dear to her heart" but she cut the Special Olympics budget in Alaska in half and she still has not released her federal income taxes. She lied about Obama's votes and about Mccains. She did keep the earmark money for the bridge to nowhere and she also asked for more earmarked money. I hope people will call her into accountability.

I also think that she demeans folks by calling them "Joe six-pack". It makes them look like there is nothing else of importance in their lives. It also shows her level of thinking about people.

[Mekarri]

When she said she wasn't going to answer the moderator question the next question should have been then why are you here and if you can't or won't follow the rules then you can leave.

[OpinionsRMine]

My favorite part of the debate was when Biden shut Palin down about the whole McCain being a "maverick" thing. He listed several reasons why McCain was NOT a maverick. Maybe someone sent him the information from the Huffington Post that could help with his strategy..­.nah, he didn't need it because he actually KNOWS McCain and his record.

When Palin spoke about being at this for five weeks, she should have said she was being "coached" for five weeks to prep for this debate. Maybe she can talk in front of the cameras now. Despite all that, she still won't be saying anything that I'm interested in hearing. What amazes me about a lot of die-hard Repubs is that most of them that I know don't have a pot to pour stew into nor a window to pour it out of, but they are still supporting these people. Gas pumps don't ask you what your political affiliation is. You don't get discounts on your light bill for being a Republican.

Vote for people who actually have a plan to move this country forward. Where do you want your family to be in four years? We've already had someone we can have a drink with and look how drunk the economy is now...not cute. We need to bring back some integrity to the office of the Presidency of the United States.

The only choice is Obama/Biden '08.

Donate now: donate.barackobama.com

[Babzter]

I don't know how many people really tried to make sense of her responses. Most of them were so convoluted I couldn't understand what she was trying to say. Her answers didn't make sense, and were totally unrelated to the questions asked. How anyone can say she did "okay" baffles me. She bluffed her way through the whole thing.

[white mende man]

now now let's talk about energy...

[Keith52]

Yeah, she could have told us how her policies translate to the McCain administration. I don't believe she did, do you?

[Keith52]

I agree. Her answers consisted of 1. attempted attacks obviously fed to her during her "debate camp" and 2. circular folksy "joe six pack" rhetoric that attempted to connect with the people who are suffering. But the only problem was, as Joe pointed out, not a single idea. Not one. Not a maverick idea, not a solution. It was exactly Bush's policies repackaged with "Maverick" graphics.

[2876]

If I was the hiring manager and she came in for an interview, there's no way I would offer the job to her. She didn't really answer any questions. She ignored the question and talked about what she wanted. She should have been called out for it more often

[ebanks84]

First of all, I believe the republicans tried to set up Americans by releasing those videos from Katrie Courie showing Palin as being a complete "dummy". They did that on purpose to make us feel she would be more dumb than she really is. Think about it, why would McCain allow CBS to release all those tapes if he knew it was really hurting him? All of you can answer that question -- he wouldn't! So that tells you right away that those videos were a setup for tonight.

But, Palin has lost the campaign for McCain because she has allowed the public to see her real self and that self is as e.v.i.l as McCain is. There is no difference between them. They love to attack, tell lies, and be mean. Neither one can say anything nice about their opponents ever. Now what does that tell you?

It tells you that you have two people who have no LOVE between them to share with others. They are selfish, cold, rude, disrespectful, liars, con artists, and outright bullsh__ters. Why would Americans want them to lead us?

That is the question we all need to answer!

[Deni]

Why would McCain "allow" CBS to release them? Ever heard of the 1st Amendment? Ever hear of the free press? The press doesn't need McCain's permission, regardless of what he might think.

[robotfog]

there is no 'free' press in a terror-capitalist culture.

[fnygy]

Does the McCain campaign really "allow" CBS to do anything? I think you give them too much credit - or not enough. Not only do they have no control of CBS' content, it wouldn't make sense to set your candidate up to look bad - in hopes that she'd look better later on. As any strategist knows - it's harder to change a perception than to create one.

As for not saying anything "nice" about one's opponent, this reflects their position in the polls much more than any inherent "evil." In every political race I've ever seen, the candidate who is behind does more attacking than the one who is ahead.

[Softnsweet]

I don't think they set us up with the Couric tapes. Palin still does not know what she is talking about. If you listenned closely to her answers she was bluffing her way through. If you understood her then you are great.

[metsfan1]

I don't think McCain has any control over what the networks release. Sometimes it feels and seems like that, but I don't think so, really. She just had a lot of help last night with her notes and obviously couldn't find some of them or had not been prepped about others so she just fudged it along.....­...

[white mende man]

One thing for sure, Palin did exceed Pat Bucannan’s expectations, the guy was as giddy with excitement as a school girl.

[ebanks84]

Palin could have said anything to make him giddy.

[Keith52]

I was giddy too.... or aroused...­.. oh.....sor­ry....... never mind... ( don't tell the first duuuude!)

[skepticalindenver]

I thought the same thing. When Pat started gushing, I thought "I guess anything better than a dancing bear would have surpassed his expectatio­ns." Honestly, she survived only because the moderator was more concerned with keeping them on time instead of on topic. She didn't even tangentially respond to many questions. Her answers were often unrelated to the question.

[white mende man]

that's what happens when someone crams for an exam they hope that what they crammed for comes up in the test, in Palin's case it didn't matter what the questions she had to say what she had memorized relevant to the questions or not. that is why did kept going back to energy.

[loria]

Pat has a big old crush on Palin.

[fnygy]

Buchanan doesn't give a crap about John McCain - he does care about Sarah Palin. His giddiness, I think, has more to do with Palin rescuing her 'brand" to - if need be - fight another day. Buchanan is a movement conservative who would LOVE to have Palin as an old-school conservative candidate. His eye is on the future of the Republican Party. Oh - and he could be right. One day, if she ever educates herself, she might make a pretty good GOP candidate.

[SouthernBlueBelle]

Pat said, when Sarah was first selected, that she had worked on his Presidential campaign. So there you go, not exactly going to expect him to be critical of her. One hand washes the other.

[KennaP]

Best moment of the debate:

When Joe says to Gwen (after he'd nailed mc on deregulation record), "you notice she didn't address that" and the camera pans over s.p. and she got this weird smile on her face but can't look up.

[2876]

Palin was probably congratulating herself on how smart she is. She either ignored the question entirely or just gave a general convoluted answer.

[uvymopkq]

"former members of the Bush administration and even John McCain's former press secretary"
Now you know why they are FORMER...t­hey were stupid.

[Texdude]

No they were smart to get away from the sinking ships.

[robotfog]

I don't know. they could be stupid, but clever enough to get away from a sinking ship. I have always thought that even if bush's speeches were delivered by someone with an actual brain, the content would be nonsense. Think about it. All his speeches were about "God told me", and all that vonny cal.

[raw915]

"fool me once...sha­me on, shame on--fool you, what the he.ll" Yes they were stupid for signing on with W, but they benefited from their mistakes. Now they know better than to endorse another Bush and Cheney regime...p­eriod! Since when is someone stupid for abandoning a scuttled ship?

[DrJohnnySkeptic]

Sarah Palin flopped royally in the debate. 'She held her own?' What a f#%king joke.

If she is still alive, she's floating on a sea of mediocrity, taking a breath every now and then. She'll drown in the stew she has made for herself. And God bless her for that.

Bye bye, don't wanna see ya, wouldn't wannna be ya... doncha know (wink!)

[Bepragmatic]

If this were a football game Biden went into this expecting to win 28-0. He did better than expected even under the limiting conditions and Palin showed that, at least within this format, she is better than Saturday Night Live material. The final score: 35-14. She beat the point spread but still lost the debate by a blowout.

[Equalizer]

The VP Debate:Who isThe Most Qualified for "The Heartbeat Away From The Presidency"

http://mav-equalizer.blogspot.com/

[DWP]

Both Biden and Obama talk to adults. McCain and Palin talk down and insult the intelligence of the citizens. As for Obama and Palin both having a lack of experience -- the difference is the intelligence. Is there any comparison. Yet, I never hear the media address this. Many of them harp on the fact that Obama doesn't have experience -- but they don't address his intelligence and the fact he has put it to use to help people. And then there is always judgement. Need I say more.

[Babzter]

Obama's IQ has been estimated to be between 151 - 170. It will be nice to have a brilliant President.
I'll take brains over experience anyday; besides, McCain's experience is really the same year, over and over and over. He shows absolutely no growth as a person or legislator.

[loria]

I thought it was unbelievable when Palin questioned Obama's experience. What a joke.

[DrJohnnySkeptic]

Thank you for saying what needed to be said.

OBAMA/BIDEN '08!!!

[pixy242a]

She didn't respond to Biden about McCain's record on de-regulation. Isn't this what she promised to get back to Katie Couric about? I guess she came up empty.

[ohmetoo]

Wonder if they'll want her back after these past 5 weeks?

[DrJohnnySkeptic]

Running on empty, more like it.

[SDSL]

Biden was Vice Presidential. Palin was Vice Versa. She needs to go back to Alaska on November 5.

[DebM]

Love this line. Thank you for the chuckle!

[JackND]

The day McCain sheepishly returns to the Senate after losing the election and his disgusting campaign should be interesting.

[DrJohnnySkeptic]

Aaaaaaaaaamen!

[LCRover001]

I knew Palin would do well in the debate she has in the few she has been in, I also knew she would not answer questions, she never did in those debates either.

Yea she answered some but on most she fell back on her talking points taxes and energy.

Her answer on what the VP does was one I found to be most telling. She wants the VP to have more power, but Joe hit the nail on the head the VP has only two jobs to break ties and to become president if something were to happen to CIC. That is it end of story. Cheney has been over stepping his roles and everyone knows why because GWB is a puppet.

When I look at how the two campaigns are run that is where I see who will lead. Does the candidate run their campaign or does the campaign run them? Look at the two campaigns and tell me honestly who is running what concerning these two campaigns. I can tell you what I've seen ad it is that Obama and Biden run their campaign and McCain and Palin are run by their campaign. That is telling because that tells us who will be running things in the White House. Will the CIC be running things or will their handlers be running them?

Was I the only one who noticed Palin stopped saying maverick after Biden lit into the maverick persona?

[ebanks84]

You are so absolutely correct. And yes, no more maverick past her lips after that. Excellent review.

[TheBlackCat]

i so agree that this shows a key difference in how the two tickets view executive power, and was one of the most important parts of the debate