A standing-room only crowd of young professionals gathered at Seattle's Spit Fire sports bar to watch the Vice-Presidential debate between Sen. Joe Biden and Gov. Sarah Palin, on Thursday. Attendees were overwhelmingly liberal and Democratic (a Democratic debate watch party and fund raiser were in full swing in the back of the bar, and Obama signs were everywhere). Most members of the highly partisan crowd went into the debate with a low opinion of Republican candidate Palin's qualifications and at least prepared to be impressed by Democrat Biden. In the end, most seemed to feel those views reinforced by the 90-minute exchange that followed.
Viewers' low expectations of Sarah Palin had been shaped by her stumbling performances in interviews with Katie Couric and others, and by the the way that her remarks had been skewered on late night TV. Most agreed with social worker Marti Hickey that Biden's experience and knowledge "vastly overshadows" Palin's. Research librarian Cindy Davis described Palin as a "female George Bush," lacking in "depth" and "knowledge." After Palin's acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, freelance designer Nathan Brutzman had thought that the plainspoken "hockey mom" would strengthen the Republican ticket. But her poor performances in subsequent press interviews had convinced him otherwise. Brutzman complained that Palin's answers to reporter's questions often sounded like "high school book reports." Software engineer Eddie Davis judged that McCain had made a "tactical error" in choosing Palin as a running mate. The Alaska governor had helped McCain secure the Republican Party's conservative base, but only at the expense of alienating other voters. Davis felt that Republican women like Kay Bailey Hutchinson and Elizabeth Dole were more qualified than Palin, and that McCain's decision to go with Palin reflected poorly on McCain's judgment. Hotel sales representative Jen Joyce commented that Palin's stumbling answers during interviews made her "embarrassed" and "almost sorry" for the Republican candidate.
Unsurprisingly, the Spit Fire crowd harbored quite different expectations about Joe Biden, whom they described as "experienced," "knowledgeable," and "completely vetted." Some did worry about Biden's history of long-windedness and gaffes. But software engineer Ashley Mitchell pointed out that during the course of a decades-long public career, Biden had had "more time to make mistakes than Palin," while the latter had racked up an embarrassing record of miscues in her first few weeks on the national stage.
The audience was quick to rally to Joe Biden when the Delaware Senator went on the offensive, laughing and cheering when he dismissed John McCain's tax policies as "the ultimate bridge to nowhere" and when he marveled that McCain "wouldn't sit down" with the government of NATO ally Spain. Viewers also cheered Biden's declaration that the government could not solve the problems posed by climate change without understanding its (human) causes, and reacted strongly to the links Biden drew between G.O.P. nominee McCain's positions and the Bush Administration policies on issues such as Iraq and the economy. Biden's call for decisive U.S. action in Afghanistan and Sudan also met with applause.
By contrast, the Seattle crowd responded to Palin's repeated use of catch-phrases such as "soccer mom," "main street," and "straight talk" with groans. (They did not react in this way when Biden engaged in similar rhetoric about "my neighborhood" and "the middle class.") Viewers exchanged puzzled looks over how Palin's tendency to veer away from the question at hand (although some later admitted that Biden had also "dodged" certain questions). And while the bar was quiet and all eyes focused on the television screens early-on, as the debate progressed viewers tended to disengage and chatter while Palin spoke. However, the strongest reaction the G.O.P Vice Presidential hopeful provoked during the entire exchange came during her closing statement, when she expressed relief at being freed from the "main stream media filter": the suggestion that Palin had been treated unfairly by the media provoked loud, derisive laughter.
If anything surprised members of the Seattle audience, it was the extent of the two candidates' agreement on the subjects of gay marriage and gay civil rights. Several expressed surprise on learning that Democrat Biden opposed gay marriage.
But those I spoke to came away with their impressions of the two candidates, and the two campaigns, largely confirmed: Ashley Mitchell judged that Biden's performance reflected "three decades of experience," while Palin's reflected "three days of cramming." Jen Joyce and others came away feeling reassured that Barack Obama had made a "great choice" in selecting Joe Biden as his running mate," whereas McCain's choice would not help him "at all" in the general election. Cindy Davis ticked off the hurdles that Biden had cleared: he had been "succinct" and had not been "condescending"; Palin, by contrast, struck Davis as "reckless" and "shallow." Nathan Brutzman felt that Palin's characterization of the Vice President's responsibilities sounded a little canned: "Being able to recite the Wikipedia version of what a Vice President is does not mean you understand it."
Palin cannot be said to have benefitted from the Seattle audience's low expectations. For this frankly partisan group, the focus was not on how much Republican candidate's performance improved on the gaffes and missteps of the past several weeks. Rather, they judged Palin by what they considered she added to a Republican ticket they already opposed, and by what they viewed as her readiness to be "a heartbeat away" from the presidency. And they came away feeling better about their party's prospects, this November.