Biden Dominated
02 October 2008 7:39 pm by Taylor Marsh
Palin got a passing grade tonight. Good for her. It wasn’t near enough. She
was clearly in over her head. Out of her league.
Biden simply soared.
If you want someone who is ready to be president tomorrow, that isn’t Sarah
Palin.
Joe Biden had the toughest job tonight and he respected Palin while driving
hard into the facts, using experience and a lifetime of learning to rebut Sarah
Palin’s carefully scripted sentences, winking and nodding. She did her best,
but it was clearly not enough.
Biden was humble.
Biden was grateful.
But there was a moment at the end when he was talking about family where
the words got caught in his throat.
“But the notion that somehow because I’m a man I don’t know what it’s
like to raise two kids alone. I don’t know what it’s like to have a child
you’re not sure is gonna — is gonna make it— … I understand. I understand…
as well, as all due respect as the governor or anybody else what it’s like
for all those people sitting around the kitchen table. They’re looking for
help. They’re looking for help.”
He also had the good grace to reveal his respect for John McCain while revealing the
record, which is stark.
“He’s not been a maverick on the war. He’s not been a maverick on anything
that genuinely affects the things that people talk about around the kitchen
table. Can we get mom’s MRI? Can we send Mary back to school next semester.
We can’t make it. How we gonna heat the house this winter. … … So, maverick
he is not on the important, critical issues that affect people at the kitchen
table.”
Biden’s experience and depth of the issues was expected to win out. But they
took a back seat to his incredible heart.
There is no question who “won” this debate. Palin was out of her league. However, the Biden who showed up tonight would have blown anyone away. The performance of his career, at a time in history where he needed to rise to the occasion. Obama won big tonight, too.
