Senator Biden's Night
This was Senator Biden's night.
Given the challenges our nation now faces, we need a vice president who can be persuasive with foreign leaders, tough with congress, and relentless in his drive to serve the American people. Tonight, Joe Biden showed why he is the right person for that job.
On question after question, he demonstrated knowledge, careful thought, and a willingness to make hard decisions. And with every answer, he vindicated Senator Obama's judgment and showed why he is considered one of our nation's wisest and most experienced leaders.
He was equally at home with global and local issues, demonstrated an amazing grasp of facts, and gave proof that he is prepared to be a partner who will contribute much as vice-president to solving our nation's problems.
Americans could not help but conclude that any president would be stronger and more confident with Joe Biden by his side.
Read more reactions to the Biden-Palin Vice Presidential debate from HuffPost bloggers
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No matter how it is spinned. Anyone who cares about America, and who truly puts "Country First" can see the difference between Obama/Biden ticket and McCain/Palin ticket. That is what this debate was about, not an opportunity for Palin to shine, but to show what she brings to the ticket, which is absolutely nothing but smiles, nods, and winks.
Tellingly, was when asked what they would do should they have to step up to the role of President; Biden correctly advised he would continue the plans of the elected President, whereas I still not sure what Palin would do, besides smile, nod, and wink.
Country First should be the mantra of everyone in the USA, and it should be rightfully applied to the one who has, is, and will put country first in judgement and actions. McCain dropped he ball, Palin can't and didn't pick it up, and Obama and Biden intercepted and are heading for a touch down!
(I think the football analogy is correct)
Yeah. Now let's hope no lunatic runs onto the field to block them.
Is it only me, or did any of you have another visceral reaction to the slogan Country First? When I first saw it I thought of country music (of which I'm not a fan) but then realized it was a not-so-sublte outreach to the so-called Heartland - as in country folk, country cooking, etc. which feels exclusionary. I don't care for the slogan for several reasons; that was just one.
I finally figured out who Sarah Palin reminds me of. Dolly Parton without the boobs. She's attractive, likeable and quick witted but has no depth of character or knowledgable. Those country phrases or endin all words without the g are manufactured to make her appear more 'home spun'. That is not what we need in a VP. I want GRAVITAS. That person needs to be a serious leader who can meet with heads of states and not talk babies and diapers. Come on people, get real. This is a serious world out there.
Agree wholeheartedly. She comes off as a less convincing Liza Doolittle. I simply can't see her dealing with any world leaders, friend or foe, in a manner that doesn't guarantee more loss of respect for this country.
I finally figured it out too--Galinda from Wicked...
"i'll teach you the propper ploys,
when you talk to boys,
little ways to flirt and flounce,
ooh! i'll show you what shoes to wear!
how to fix your hair!
everything that really counts to be...popul
to - think - of
celebrated heads of state,
or specially great communicators!
did they have brains or knowledge?
don't make me laugh!
they were POPULAR!
please! it's all about popular.
it's not about aptitude,
it's the way you're viewed,
so it's very shrewd to be,
very very popular like ME!"
This is what I saw at the debate last night. Very sad and scary!
"... attractive, likeable and quick witted but has no depth "
Sounds like Barack Obama.
no depth?
You don't get to be editor of the harvard law review without depth.
You don't graduate at the top of your class in law school if you have no depth.
You don't choose to serve as a community organizer if you have no depth.
You don;t get overwhelming approval as thoughtful, decisive, and presidential if you have no depth.
Depth is what people were saying Sen Obama had too much of -- too professorial, too 'elitist'.
Now you want shallow?
What you want is for the other side to play by the rules you make up, and that you change whenever they disadvantage you.
troll
I don't get how anyone can consider that SP won given she admitted that she wouldn't follow the pre-set rules and actually answer questions. That's "surrender" practically from the get-go.
Obama should have picked YOU, Ms ALbright..
Oddly enough, he's more qualified to be President than Obama, by far. Palin should run for President, since nobody seems to care about qualifications for that, only VP. Then we'd have an apples to apples comparison to make.
Come on dog...you can't really think that Palin and Obama are apples to apples...r
"One can't even pronounce the word nuclear...
And the other one told Couric that Franklin Roosevelt talked to people on TV in 1929. Guess who, dog? [note to democrats: Roosevelt wasn't President in 1929 and there was no TV]
Biden was my first choice for Pres. candidate, but as Obama won out over an impressive field, I will certainly support him. Biden has always cut to the truth for me.
Joe Biden knocked it out of the park if you ask me!!!!!! His track record of being short fused was kept under superb control last night. His knowledge of everything he was asked (except confusing article 1 and 2 of the constitution) was excellent and he actually answered the questions instead of telling America he is too stupid....
To take it one step further, I was pleasantly surprised when Biden corrected himself, mid-sentence, when he realized he was exaggerating the exact number in one of his answers. He pulled back then provided a statistic that was not quite as impressive as the first number, but was accurate. It's human nature to exaggerate sometimes - most of us have done it, at one time or another. To correct oneself, mid sentence clearly demonstrated to me Joe Biden's integrity, honesty and sense of fair play.
Ms. Albright Biden's night?? You have to be kidding. The real loser was Bill Clinton. 14 lies by Biden. You know this is Carter redo. The China issues were not discussed. The breakdown of Europe's role (NATO) in the Afgan problem. India now can use the bomb (Senate gift). Debates should be about the future not the gotcha pass. The green light has been given to Hamas. The Jewish two state solution has been put in jeopardy by Biden not challenging change of embassy location to Jerusalem. obama is weak and the 700 billion dollar deal is beyond him (he backed the rum lobby for pork). You can do better than this.
earth to.... please come back from Palin land
One can never learn from the past if one does not understand it. Certainly voting with the "past" 90% of the time for many years is not forward-thinking. Also, the administration is still in power for four more months. This is not past, this is present.
How 'bout pointing out those "14 lies" Biden supposedly told. From where I sat, he told the complete truth.
By the "gotcha pass" I assume you mean the references Biden made to the past 8 years. And those are highly relevant, since a McCain administration would be a replay of those 8 years. Now, if you're happy with the state of the economy and the abject failure of the "War on Terror" then, by all means, vote for McCain. I'm not happy with those things and many others. I want to see the backside of Bush policies, which means I will not be voting for McCain.
I am certain we can do better although Palin and Mcain are quite a few notches below any barometer i have seen. As for NATO i would run in the opposite direction when having had to deal with this current administration. It has been lying to the American people for the past eight years. Wake up will you.
Why isn't the main stream media not covering all the controversy thats going on in Alaska, ie., Shara and Todd Palins troubles. For an example, three weeks ago, there were 1,500 women that gathered and protested against Shara Palin. I did not see any news coverage on this. I've been going to the "Alaskain Daily News" web page. A Judge just yesterday, ruled in favor of the "Trooper Gate" to go forward, possibly requiring a ruling for the facts to come out. The fact that Todd Palin appears to have been really doing the governing there in Alaska along with Sara. The reasons given - he is usually always in important government meetings. He is not an employee under Sara Palin. Go visit that website to get information on the curruption, deceit and illusiveness that has hung over Sara Palin. This Lady is not qualified to be any where near the "White House" and in my opinion, she was not qualified to be in any debate of this importance. She did, although, do better presenting herself last night but, it was all scripted. She was not debating, she was reciting..
Excellent post - Thank you, Madame Secretary!
Thank you for your insight Mrs. Albright.
If there was any doubts in my mind about Joe Biden they were erased last night. Biden preformed brilliantly. Like a train he slowly built up momentum but once he got going there was no stopping him. He nailed every point on the head and came across like a knowledgeable elder statesmen. If I was once confused about Obama's Biden pick, I now understand.
I second everything you said. Joe Biden is a wonderful human being and Obama, and America, is very lucky to have him.
Here's the most amazing thing though: I just heard on the radio that a poll showed that 51% of the people think Biden won, and 39% thought Palin won. OK, I know the Bush/McCain hardcore base is about 30%, but where did the 9% come from? Were they listening to the same debate? Or were they just Hillary supporters?
I think there are lots of people that do not keep up with the campaigns. They don't hear the same talking points over and over and over, which is pretty much all Palin gave last night. While informed people would have recognized that she kept repeating the same memorized lines over and over, uninformed people would not. Those people also don't pay much attention to what's going on in the country and so wouldn't have recognized her mistakes on those.
Her delivery was very good and she did show the kind of personality that a percentage of the population will warm to. While I felt like she was talking to the public like she would talk to an 8 year old, they may have seen her as being warm and personable.
And there is also a part of the population that enjoys her attack dog style. She doesn't have to say anything of substance, and she didn't, as long as she attacks they will like it.
I agree with kathy001.
There is another point to consider. The McCain camp, and the media, made a HUGE deal about her Katie Couric interview. They set the bar so low it was in the basement.
The one thing Palin has going for her is spunk, and looks. She can lie looking you straight in the face, and she can act. She has turned a lack of integrity into a plus. Because of all of this, she surprised many who expected her to flop, right out of the starting gate. She didn't. She had her talking points memorized and for some, this performance was 'a win'.
A prerequisite for a good foreign policy should be, I think, to be able to pronounce the name of the country accurately. Is it really "Eye-raq"? Repeated and intentional mispronouncing betrays the arrogance and contempt the leaders of GOP hold for the people of this country.
I agree. And I think her pronunciation of Iraq and Iran is also affected. I think that she thinks all those "Joe Six-Packs" and hockey-moms will identify more with her if she talks the way she thinks they talk.
And "nuk-u-lar
The debate probably didn't change anyone's mind (except for a few frightened fence sitters ). But the Republican base sure got what they wanted: platitudes, empty rhetoric, and home spun colloquialisms. Even David Brooks fell off the back of his couch (read his column in today's NYT) HE was so impressed by Palin's acting debut.
In light of her "performance", I get the impression that one of the things Palin may have read in preparation for the debate was a quote from Henry Ford: " History, more or less, is bunk." It was obvious that she agreed with Henry when she stated that one shouldn't look at the causes of global warming, we just need to do something about it.
During the course of her speed-dial preparation, it's easy to discern that her handlers didn't run her script through Fact Checkers. If they had, she (they) would have agreed with Biden's analysis of McCain's maverick status as "bunk".
All in all, it was a spirited night. The only thing that was missing was a blackboard upon which Ifill should have instructed Palin to write fifty times: I will answer the moderator's questions. I will answer the moderator's questions. I will answer . . .
Palin lost the debate - but she definitely raised her chances of an Emmy.
He should now policy. it was nothing but policy wonk all night from joe, It was at one time when he was talking about foreign affairs I turned to my friend and we looked at eachother and said who cares!!! he lost me and her and believe me I'm into it but enough is enough it was like the smart kid in school trying to show off b ut all it did for us was making us think he's out of touch with issues that protain to middle class people now, not tomorrow or next week.Joe throwing fact out that I'm sure will be fact checked it's what i want to hear, If he know what to do then do it all those yrs and what for 2 yrs the senate is doing nothing!! great job Joe.
Yeah, who wants to hear about policy?!? Who wants information?!? Give me one liner zingers and folksy sayings, that's what I say. I don't want to hear about problems and solutions, I want to hear silly anecdotes that have nothing to do with running the country because that's what I'm looking for in a candidate.
What's wrong with you people who seem to think that having knowledge of the issues is a bad thing? Seriously, you need to think about that.
Judging by your comment you'd rather have the class clown than the smart kid in class running your country. Smart move.
Yeah, these are the same people who say that the disenfranchised should not be allowed to vote. But the uninformed, intellectually incurious--bring 'em to the polls ASAP.
did sarah palin write this, it was somewhat incoherent
your right we need a persun like palin who now nuthing about police and is no smart kid. she cares like middle class what is hurting for us an can handle it. I think she should use more stories on campaign trail I like her stories.
I call poe
clay, babe. Your ignorance is showing. Obviously, you didnt pay attention to grammar and sentence construction when you were in grade school. Maybe your uneducated rant will be understood by people like you but your incoherence and appalling grammar lost us normal people. All I can say about you pathetic rant is, HUH????????
You need to go back to school and PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR ENGLISH TEACHER THIS TIME.
Yes, Madame Secretary, I agree with you.
And to the Honorable Joe Biden, United States Senator:
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
My entire being breathed a deep sigh of relief to see you up there on the stage in your magnificent, strong, sensitive, and profoundly comforting statesmanship.
It was great to hear you say what so many Americans have felt about Dick Cheney --- one of the most dangerous vice presidents this country has ever had.
The Bush-Cheney regime has been a scary and rocky road, and I've had to maintain vigilance to prevent them from making me feel stressful and worried about the terrible effects of all of the horrors they have created.
Finally, we can change all of that and get our country back.
We can get our Constitution back.
We can have integrity and backbone for democracy and the principles of law and human rights that have made this a great nation.
You and Barack Obama will be wonderful for the USA and for the world!
Hooray!
Everybody be sure to register to vote now ----- and vote Obama Biden on November 4th!
Outstanding - both Senator Biden, and your eloquent and moving comment. It was gripping and brought tears to my eyes. Your sentiments mirror those of millions of Americans. My most sincere thanks.
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