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Palin Botches Name Of Afghanistan Top Commander
Sarah Palin flubs the name of the top commander in Afghanistan, calling him "McClellan" rather than "McKiernan," which is his actual name.
McClellan is the Civil War general. Or she might have been thinking of former White House flack Scott McClellan.
Interestingly, Biden didn't correct her. Probably a good move.
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She's just empty talk.
October 2, 2008 10:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
STOP SAYING ALSO ARGHHHHHHHH its killing me
October 2, 2008 10:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, like, also, gee, ya know?
October 2, 2008 11:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
Biden is sounding REAL. He's really getting good here at the end.
She sounds shallow, a flurry of talking points, in that HURRIED pace. Her schtick really started to wear, and she sounded like a broken record.
October 2, 2008 10:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Who the hell cares? Seriously, are you going to nitpick this debate on such a stupid level? There were serious issued involved this evening, and this is what you've got? Jesus. It's no wonder we lose elections.
Get real. We need to discuss the issues. This is NOT an issue.
October 2, 2008 10:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
I partly agree with this sentiment. Nobody's gonna care that she schrewed-up a general's name; especially a general that no one else would be able to name. It just makes us looks pedantic and I'm glad that Biden didn't go after it.
Maybe we should be focused on how she didn't answer any questions. That basically her debating skills consisted of nothing more than cue cards to be recited.
October 2, 2008 10:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think she did OK tonight. I don't think it helps McCain, though. Paul Begala just said on CNN that tonight helps Palin in 2012. I've got to agree. If we were looking to be reassured that Sarah Palin has what it takes to be president if McCain kicks the bucket mid-term, I don't think we got that. But Joe Biden could take over and I'd trust him.
Net result as far as I'm concerned? A slight gain for Palin, but a slight loss for McCain-Palin.
October 2, 2008 11:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
I agree. Nitpicking is what pundits do when they're afraid to go out on a limb and say what they're actually thinking about the overall performance. Or even worse: don't know.
My take:
1) The bar was set impossibly low for Palin to allow pundits to later claim she "exceeded expectations" which is just the usual way of calling someone an idiot, politely, without inviting a letter writing campaign and boycott from hicksville. That alone is the single measure by which she succeeded if one can call it that.
2) She avoided answering questions and clung to her talking points and canned one liners, for dear life. Early on she stated her intent to evade questions from either the moderator or Biden, saying paraphrased "you (moderator) and Biden might not get the answers you're looking for because I intend to respond my way and stick to my talking points." She was kept on a short leash and coached to do so, because everybody, including the McCain campaign, knows her knowledge is spotty at best and the only way she can avoid saying something stupid is to stick to the script.
3) She was folksy to a point of self parody to compensate for her utter lack of knowledge or ability to think on her feet. It was contrived even beyond GWBush's "aw shucks" routine. It's a desperate grasp at the dwindling anti-intellectual populism in hicksville that the GOP have been cultivating for decades. However, after GWBush FUBARing just about everything possible, from NOLA, to Iraq + Afghanistan, to the economy, do people want another folksy idiot in the White House campaigning on anti-government and pro-corporate themes? Or President Soccer Mom? Some always will. But a majority won't this time. It's also proof the GOP doesn't have anything but the old playbook.
4) The idea of President Palin is absolutely terrifying. McCain's age and health become a serious issue with Palin and whether he could last 4-8 years.
5) Biden put in a solid performance and was objectively far more substantive and prepared to hold the office of VP or even PoTUS in a crisis.
I'll go out on a limb here and predict that while some will find her performance utterly heartwarming, i.e. the God Bless and Pass the Ammunition Republican base, overall the McCain/Palin campaign will continue to plummet and we'll see this borne out over the coming week. Biden was solid and reassured that he's qualified to advise and take the helm if need be, in a stark contrast to Palin. Biden did nothing to disrupt the ascendancy of the Obama/Biden ticket and actually reinforced their credentials further.
October 3, 2008 12:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
And the winner of tonight is...
The Scrappy Kid from Scranton, PA, Joe Biden!
October 2, 2008 10:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
He got the sound bite, the bridge to nowhere
and he got the emotional bite with his comment about being a single parent.
October 2, 2008 10:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Gov Plain did what she needed to do, but make no mistake, Biden was very reassuring as BO VP. Sarah Plain came across as hick at times, but she did what she needed to do.
October 2, 2008 10:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
My wife hit it on the head. She sounds like she is in the middle of a job interview for which she is very unqualified.
October 2, 2008 10:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yup yup.
"And I see you do, too, also."
just shoot me
October 2, 2008 10:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
http://www.slate.com/id/2201158/
Scroll down to sentence diagrams....
October 2, 2008 10:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Diagramming Sarah" -- hilarious. Thanks.
October 3, 2008 1:30 AM | Reply | Permalink
Hey champ, let get up together.
October 2, 2008 10:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Her whole exploited family is on the stage.
October 2, 2008 10:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
I love David Gergen. He loves this country, and he KNOWS McCain/Palin = disaster.
October 2, 2008 10:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Biden is sounding REAL. He's really getting good here at the end.
She sounds shallow, a flurry of talking points, in that HURRIED pace. Her schtick really started to wear, and she sounded like a broken record.
October 2, 2008 10:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
She landed a couple minor blows but Biden had a comand and gravitas when it mattered that ought to carry.
I seriously doubt she was thinking of Union General McCelland.
October 2, 2008 10:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
LOL!
Who the hell knows what goes on in that head -
October 2, 2008 10:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Gergen: Biden won!
October 2, 2008 10:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
No shit?
O please goddess - it's my birfday!
October 2, 2008 10:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
Happy Birthday to you........
October 2, 2008 11:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
Jebus - the contrast between those two families couldn't be greater.
October 2, 2008 10:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Chris Matthews is killing Gov Plain on MSNBC.
October 2, 2008 10:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Biden is sounding REAL. He's really getting good here at the end.
She sounds shallow, a flurry of talking points, in that HURRIED pace. Her schtick really started to wear, and she sounded like a broken record.
October 2, 2008 10:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Pat Buchanan says Gov Plain swept the floor with Joe Biden. LOL
October 2, 2008 10:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's always interesting to see if Pat the Analyst or Pat the Wingnut is going to show up.
October 2, 2008 10:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
So very true.
October 2, 2008 10:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yep, Pat the wingnut who cut his teeth with Richard Milhous Nixon.
Hilarious!
October 2, 2008 10:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
HAHAHA...Maddow said, "so it's good to be wrong and folksy vs. right and boring."
October 2, 2008 10:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Pat really needs to sign off. He cannot even be objective. Why do they keep this guy on the air?
October 2, 2008 11:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
If I had to proof read her speech and change all the grammatical errors and sentence construction, I would jump out of a window...
October 2, 2008 10:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
That is exactly what I said, she was driving me f**king nuts with her grammar and linguistics.
October 2, 2008 11:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
He has gravitas. These are some scary times and you don't want to hear talking points and "aw shucks, isn't America just super" crap from you VP.
October 2, 2008 10:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
Biden is sounding REAL. He's really getting good here at the end.
She sounds shallow, a flurry of talking points, in that HURRIED pace. Her schtick really started to wear, and she sounded like a broken record.
October 2, 2008 10:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
You know, it just makes me feel really good to see Howard Dean standing around there, talking in some dude's ear and then the guy makes a phone call - I feel like I'm in good hands.
October 2, 2008 10:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think Pat Buchanan's got a little crush!!
October 2, 2008 10:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
The best thing about the debate was watching the lines dive every time she said the word "maverick". They've destroyed that label, and no one is buying it anymore. It was just nice to see empirical proof of that. :)
October 2, 2008 10:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
The Delusional Right is going to be very happy with her performance. Birds of a feather....
October 2, 2008 10:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
CNN Focus Group: More people said Biden won!
October 2, 2008 10:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thank you so much. That's the bets birthday present ever -
October 2, 2008 10:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
And the majority of the group thinks Obama will win!
True that, Double True!
October 2, 2008 10:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
She could say that responded well with the focus group, but the overall impression not so good.
October 2, 2008 10:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
CNN focus group shows 2-to-1 win for Biden. Very big for genuine Biden vs. gimmicky Palin. Dial tester went way down when Palin said she "had only been at this for 5 weeks." A Republican said he didn't find her very compelling.
October 2, 2008 10:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wow, awesome.
That fake schtick doesn't work with real people, only with professional pundits who pretend to know what "real Americans" like.
October 2, 2008 10:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thank you!!!! I'm soooooo happy to hear that!
Pundits = idiots.
October 2, 2008 10:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
O - this is better than cake!
October 2, 2008 10:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
In the quiet words of a Obama supporter, a certain Mr. Simpson:
Ummmmmmm, cake! (Drool)
October 2, 2008 10:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Biden appeared like a statesman. She looked like a flirty seceratary trying to get the attention of her boss (in the case the voters).
I actually felt it was like the Bush redux, just don't say anything, stick to your talking points, charm everyone by innuendos. The heartland will like her and she'll reenergize some of her base, but I have a feeling, it serious times and after a couple of days people will focus more on the couric interview than the debate.
October 2, 2008 10:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
We're two mavericks..he's such a maverick...he's always been a maverick...everybody knows what a maverick John McCain is...America's lucky to be getting the two most mavericky mavericks in all of maverickdom.
Gwen, can I just say "maverick"? That's all. Maverick.
Oh heck, maverick-maverick-maverick-maverick-maverick. MAVERICK!
Maverick.
October 2, 2008 10:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sweet Jesus, I hate David Gregory! Now he's suggesting that Biden "handled" Palin wrong.
October 2, 2008 10:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
David Gregory doesn't want to be there. He'd rather be Karl Rove's partner on "Dancing with the Stars."
October 2, 2008 10:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
That pissed me off too!!
October 2, 2008 11:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
Winner: Biden
Losser: Gwen Iffil for caving to the Republican echo chamber.
October 2, 2008 10:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Andrew Sullivan agrees with you. He thinks Iffil caved and was intimidated. I think Iffil could have been more forceful on the rebuttals. Iffil left a lot on the table.
October 2, 2008 10:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
In the 2004 VP, Ifill asked Edwards, What qualifies you to be a heartbeat away?
How is that same question not appropriate now? It is the major question most people are asking in this country.
October 2, 2008 11:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
I thought she went overboard accommodating Palin on her rambling. She never did make her answer several questions. Not her best job.
October 2, 2008 11:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Did anyone else notice the wink? That is gonna piss some people off big time.
October 2, 2008 10:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
Who's wink? I saw Palin wink a couple of times.
October 2, 2008 10:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Palins. Sorry for not indicating that...
October 2, 2008 10:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Didn't that seem like flirtation to you? In response to a question about becoming president of the US?
October 2, 2008 11:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Good. I was thinking "Please God, don't tell me Biden was stupid enough to wink at her".
You're right, though. I thought her winking was obnoxious. She just thinks she's so damn cute, doesn't she?
October 2, 2008 11:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah...and just because some pasty, over-the-hill wankers on F