Palin did fine. But did NO ONE notice she dodged the most vital question?!?

[NinetySix]

When Gwen Ifill asked Biden what he would do if the President died or was incapacitated, he said in essence that the policies of the Obama Administration would continue on in the Biden Administration without interruption.

But when the same question was asked of Palin, she said a) God forbid that should happen to either a McCain or an Obama Administration, and b) that the two of them don't agree on everything, but whaddya expect from a coupla mavericks, and then continued with blah blah blahddyfuckin blah, empty stock phrases that her responses were already liberally peppered with.

Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the question at hand the single most vital issue in the voters' minds when they consider whether to cast their ballots for a 72-year-old candidate with a history of multiple bouts of melanoma and his ill-experienced, unproven and suspect running mate? Isn't this EXACTLY the question voters tuned in to hear her answer?

Evidently the CNN pundits missed it. I caught it, and I'm no cable news pundit; Hell, I didn't even sleep in a Holiday Inn Express last night. This was no gotcha question (Dan Quayle notoriously flubbed it himself), but one she should have been well-prepared to answer fully and directly, rather than simply bobbing and weaving as she is wont to do on even the simplest of softballs (e.g., "what newspapers do you read?").

God help us all if we ever find ourselves in a position to discover the real answer.

[speedoo]

1. Lots of people are noting that. KO is nailing her now. nt

[billyoc]

2. MSNBC called her on not answering the questions, not just that one, but most of them.

[BrightVictor]

3. Additionally

This is the most prepared she can be and it wasn't great. She dodged several questions and came off as lacking any substantive knowledge of the issues. Biden was the most professional I have ever seen him. He even won over my republican dad.

[Liberal_in_LA]

4. She didn't answer the questions!

[leftofthedial]

5. she dodged almost all the questionsq

and you're right. her answers were so full of stock repuke bs slogans that it was hard to understand her sometimes.

[earth mom]

6. Yep and it's because Palin plans the mother of all HOLY WARS in the middle east that

even McCain wouldn't support.

:puke:

[DB1]

7. Me, my wife, and our 2 kids lost our seats! That and the white flag were busters for us.

[Caliman73]

8. She didn't do fine

She answered nothing. She had no answers. She just talked and talked and was nasty and mean spirited.

[erpowers]

9. Yes

I took notes during the debate and I notice that on a number of the questions she tried to avoid answering the question. She would try to go back to another question and answer that particular question.

[Quantess]

10. She said something like

"shucks, ya know, we're both mavericks!
:puke:

[DB1]

13. When Darfur was mentioned did she even achnowledge it?

[Lugnut]

31. She didn't.

I thought it was a clear indication that she had no clue. She immediately reverted back to her talking points and never responded appropriately.

[AngryOldDem]

40. She did, verrry briefly.

She said that when she and the Alaskan legislature found out about Darfur, they decided to divest any state funds going to Sudan (WTF????) Then she added quickly, however, that sucha move has to be approved first by the legislature.

So, short answer: No, she hasn't done a fucking thing about Darfur, and what's more, she doesn't care. Oh, and by the way, where's Darfur? :sarcasm:

[ThatsMyBarack]

11. My mom thought they both did pretty well....

But she (my mom) was half-asleep. :boring:

[lala_rawraw]

12. fine?

compared to what?

[NinetySix]

26. I mentioned Quayle in my OP. Yeah, comparatively, she did fine.

You have to admit, she didn't have the same deer-in-the-headlights demeanor. If you were expecting a hilariously ugly pratfall, you were disappointed, because she didn't deliver. If you were expecting a knockout blow from the blindside, then you were, well, the most optimistic of Republicans with a spankin' new prescription for rose-colored glasses. Her performance was fine in that she appeared very professional (meaning she didn't speak haltingly or with any noticeable apprehension or discomfort).

She did fine. In what respect, Charlie?

Well, if you were already a Republican supporter, especially one with doubts about her, er, erratic public appearances to date, then tonight you're jumping for joy. But in that case, you weren't looking for any policy specifics, and a good thing too, since none were forthcoming. If you were a Democratic critic hoping for the final nail in the coffin, there was very little that will linger in your memory. I don't think anyone who is undecided will find her performance particularly compelling, but if they were tired after a hard day's work, already had a couple of beer in 'em, and weren't paying very close attention, they'd probably wonder what the fuss was all about.

So yeah, she did fine.

[RainDog]

14. She's a Christo-fascist

and she cannot admit that because her entire candidacy would be over.

[Duppers]

44. bingo

But in so many small ways, she has admitted that very fact.

But I'm not sure that her candidacy would be over because there are that many stupid people in this country---all of the south and midwest would applaud her for it!

[robinlynne]

15. She didn't asnwer any of the questions.

[Hatfield]

16. She is Painfully Uninformed

She also has no fucking business using words like "Cyclical" when talking about global warming.

Yes, climate change is cyclical, but its rather insignificant over 6,000 years, which is how old she believes the Earth is. Someone should ask her about the early Pleistocene which occurred roughly 1.8 million years ago, and have her explain the cyclical differences from the global cooling during this period compared to the warming period of now. You think that would shatter her perception of reality? Doubtful.

How fucking cyclical can global warming be if you only believe the Earth is 6,000 years old.

What a stupid bitch.

[ThatsMyBarack]

19. Welcome to DU, Hatfield!

:hi:

[Lubernaut]

30. Excellent point!!!

..!!!

[cui bono]

33. LOL!

But in a sad way. :)

[illuminaughty]

35. Great point

Do you think she believes in ice core research?

[Hatfield]

37. I think it would be doubtful

Dnagsk8, thank you for the welcome.

Illumnaughty, I would love to place some ice core samples from Lake Vostok in Antarctica in front of her face and explain to her how they date further back than 6,000 years and see what her response would be.

[Supersedeas]

38. so true

[MsLeopard]

41. Oh, if only Gwen or Joe had asked her

that! OMG - her head would be spinning. Even her flow chart wouldn't be able to help. http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4159308

[cui bono]

17. Howard Feinman said a couple weeks ago, if McCain thinks Palin isn't going to round up

support from all the evangelical/conservative base and try to get her own agenda going he better think again. With wht I've seen of her attitude and personality I would not put it past her to attempt her own little coup within the WH.

[RainDog]

20. I think this is the point for the Christo-fascists

they are a danger to this nation.

[hvn_nbr_2]

18. She said right at the start that she didn't care what the questions were.

She was going to talk about whatever she wanted. And then she followed through by spouting glittering generalities and repeating untruths that have long and often been discredited. But she did it in an earnest and mostly pleasant way.

Presentation: B, maybe B+
Content: epic fail

Unfortunately, most people won't notice anything but the presentation.

[Duncan]

21. fine?

like a stepford wife.

[Contrary1]

22. She could have blasted the Right Wing Wacko group who are praying that McCain

either dies or is rendered incapacitated shortly after he is sworn in. But something tells me that Palin belongs to that same bunch of nutballs.

[Faeya]

34. Meanwhile...

Ever since I saw the info about her dominionist church and such, I've been wondering how long he'd live if they were elected anyway. A little somethin' in his metamucil? Specially seasoned moose burgers? I have to wonder...is Palin just a believer, or is she an "operative"?

[The River]

23. All Of Her Debate "Prep"

was not on policy or facts, it was on how to dodge,
obfuscate or ignore questions and simply go with
memorized talking points that might fit...ya betchaya!

Like a talking doll. You can pull the string
but you never know what phrase will come out.

[hay rick]

24. The tyranny of low expectations.

Biden clearly won the debate but Palin didn't embarrass herself on the scale of the can't-name-a-newspaper and can't-name-a-supreme-court-decision gaffes. Politically a draw- good for us because we have the lead, good for them because another Palin nosedive would have ended any remaining hope for the McCain campaign.

[KitchenWitch]

25. Did she seriously give a decent real answer to any question posed this evening

She needed an air traffic controller to tell her to land the damned plane.

[beac]

27. Palin's answer to EVERY question: "ENERGY!"

I guess if McHalfDeadAlready croaks, she'll just "Drill, baby, drill!" :eyes:

[GeorgeGist]

28. She's counting on Joe and Joan sixpack not to notice ...

but too many Joes and Joans have dimbo's like her for spouses. They'll notice the dodge.

[gratuitous]

29. She whiffed on the taxing health insurance question, too

Biden came back to it later, and credit to Ifill for posing the question. Unfortunately, the questions that round went to Biden first, and he sucked a lot of the air out of the room. So, if you weren't paying attention, you might have missed it. But it boiled down to a scheme by the Republicans to raise revenue by taxing employer-paid health insurance as income for workers.

Class war indeed.

[K8-EEE]

32. In fairness to her,

She dodged ALL the questions!

[Marr]

36. I was blown away by her idiotic suggestion that the office of the VP be handed more authority.

That displayed a real lack of interest and knowledge in the Constitution-- not to mention a lust for power.

[AngryOldDem]

39. Just look at her, and say to yourself, "She could be president."

For anyone with half (or even a quarter) of a brain, that should give them pause.

I watched a little of the postdebate CNN coverage with the focus group of undecideds in Ohio. I got the sense that a lot of scales fell from a lot of eyes last night.

[IsItJustMe]

42. She was a joke. If that fine for you, than that's all right. Whatever gets you to the light.

[fed_up_mother]

43. Playing to "her" right wing base. They love her. They don't love McCain.