reply to post by AshleyD
I think she did a wonderful job at showing many of us that she is a decent human being and as she said had only been at it for about 5 weeks. She
spoke about them ("east coast politicians") vs. small town Alaska and while I understand that she was trying to draw a contrast and suggest she was
more in tune, it made me think that she sees America as a place deeply divided and as VP she needs to view it as one. Joe followed up brilliantly by
pointing out his grass roots and small town background as well. I'm glad she also pointed out that she actually did know what a VP does and
neutralized that earlier slip up.
All and all (and I'm bias of course approaching this from a progressive world view ) I think both were classy and spoke well. With Biden I felt he
seemed "a natural" and knew very precisely the subject matter in depth and what he was talking about, whereas I sorta' got the feeling that Sarah
had spent a lot of time with coaches prepping for many of the topics.
I was very annoyed with her habitual use of hollow cliché’s however, and am wondering how that will play with folks. I'm feeling like more and
more people are learning that hollow cliché’s and empty slogans are just shallow and for the most part baseless...
At the end did anyone notice how Joe really made an effort (what looked very genuine to me) at meeting Sarah's family and though I couldn't hear
what he was saying, it looked as though he was complimenting her. I think they both acted very cordial and professional.
Another thought: The Sarah we saw could have almost been a democrat. Several times I was thinking "she's running as a Democrat!". Of course the
reality of the platform she is representing is drastically different, but she and the coaches know that the Democratic party platform right now is
leaps and bounds ahead of the Republican one in terms of new voters and polling data so to me it was obvious that they were trying to appeal to folks
who are more inclined to vote Democratic, but perhaps, don't know enough (or care much to put forth a whole lot of effort to find out) about politics
and such to make the more educated differentiation.
Something else that stood out to me was her facial expressions and body language when it got to the “gay marriage” issue. I suspect (but of
course could be wrong) that she really wants to be pro on this, however being a Republican can’t afford to break ranks and risk all those right
wing Christian votes. Of the entire debate, this is when she came the closest to blushing, loosing her place and acting like she has in past
interviews…I don’t know if anyone else noticed that or not? I think Joe was successful with his explanation of the importance of civil and
Constitutional rights and equality insofar as that was concerned and Sarah’s position seemed to more reflect something within a church setting which
he wisely pointed out was different from that of civil law. She then worked hard to take it back into the realms of that “sanctity of marriage”
label the Christians love so much.
Anyway, I respect her and thought she did a good job. Joe was kind and I felt very honest, and yet stern. I read somewhere that she appeared like an
animal of some kind that might leap out and try to tug at the pant legs of a passer by, and I think that really sums it up, at least for me...I think
she needs to focus on her State and work at becoming a bit more knowledgeable on National and International affairs. The team who wins will be thrown
to the wolves, and it's a nasty pack, and she failed to get me to believe she is ready at this point in her career to take them on.
Aside from all this cuddly warm perception stuff, I strongly disagree with her on policy and would rather that she avoid the cliché’s. I'm still
for Obama and Biden.
*** 28 pages...wowsers!!!!***