Dartblog

Stay tuned for up to the minute live coverage of the Vice Presidential debate…I hope you’ll consider joining me at 9pm EST.

I certainly hope that the debate itself is not as ridiculous as some of the coverage it has already garnered. CNN quotes spokesmen for the campaigns trying to lower expectations as saying:

On behalf of Biden, spokesmen David Wade: “He’s going in here to debate a leviathan of forensics who has debated five times, and she’s undefeated.”

For Palin, Ben Porritt said Biden is the “Cicero of the Senate, who has been an amazing debater for 30-plus years.”

I have heard Biden speak on many occasions from tapes of the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings to stump speeches for Obama; comparing him to Cicero would be like comparing Milli Vanilli to Ella Fitzgerald. Palin, for her part, so far as I can see, would scarcely qualify as a debating leviathan at a Wasilla town pancake breakfast, much less a vice presidential debate. But maybe my low expectations are ill-founded, we’ll see…

9:06: Unfortunate answers from both candidates on the first question of the bailout: no substance to be found from either.

9:08: Sarah Palin pushing the “John McCain is a bipartisan maverick” line.

9:13: No one for free markets? Palin talking (with admittedly very appealing down home metaphors) about the need for good oversight. Biden accusing McCain about excessive support for deregulation.

9:14: Bravo to Palin for stickin’ it to Biden and Ifill with a great zinger saying that she would talk straight with the American people, even if she wasn’t answering the way either of them wanted to hear.

9:18: Biden, sounding a lot like John Edwards-lite: “We don’t call that redistribution, we call that fairness.” Palin: “Let the private sector and families thrive.” Amen.

9:24: Palin talks of “massive oversight,” sounds oppressive, but she was quite articulate (and at the same time, clean) when talking about managing Alaska’s energy situation. Biden on the same old talking point of “windfall profits tax.”

9:32: As Palin talks about it, the “all of the above” plan to combat climate change, including natural gas and other domestic energy sources, she really seems to be hitting her stride. Biden, for the first time, is getting defensive and doesn’t seem to have any coherent response.

9:37: With Biden talking about rights afforded by the Constitution, all I can think about is his complicity in slandering Clarence Thomas during his confirmation hearings. Both candidates on the same page in terms of supporting benefits for same-sex couples and opposing same-sex marriage. Palin using the ‘some of my best friends have alternative lifestyles’ defense to demonstrate her tolerance.

9:43: Both candidates’ teeth are very white. Biden’s look very nice next to his crisp white shirt. We can be sure, at the very least, that the No. 2s ready to take over the presidency in the event of tragedy have solid brushing techniques.

9:46: Biden really likes the word “fundamental.” As far as it goes, a good filler when you are thinking of your next comment, as in ‘We don’t believe that the surge works, that’s a fundamental difference between…”

9:49: No discussion yet about international trade or women’s rights issues on which I am particularly interested.

9:50: Biden says that allies are telling us to “talk, talk, talk,” hopefully Obama-Biden policies would do a little more than just that.

9:53: Joe Biden: “There has never been a better friend to Israel in this Senate than Joe Biden.” The third person approach was funny, but Biden’s comments were very strong in support of Israel and his statements on Iran were much more aggressive here than in talking about Iran independently before

10:05: Biden’s comments strikingly interventionist, Bosnia, Darfur, &c recalling a Reason column I cited earlier on the fact that Obama (and now apparently the Obama ticket) does not oppose the principle of interventionism, merely specific details about the particular one in Iraq.

10:10: Palin throwing out a lot of gems, paraphrasing people on ‘main street’ saying “government get out of our way,” I’d love to hear her (and all the other candidates, for that matter) talk more like this. Biden apparently spends a lot of time at small town diners and Home Depot. Joe-six-pack. All these shout outs seem quite silly and far from genuine a la Obama’s ‘I have a bracelet too.’

10:29: Closing Statements. Palin got in a great Ronald Reagan quote that “freedom is always one generation away from extinction,” very solid. Biden’s was strong as well, maybe not fundamentally strong, he grew up in the same kinds of neighborhoods that we do!

JOE adds: Andrew Sullivan summarizes reactions here. I find myself generally unmoved by the debate.