[collide]

Originally Posted by **SuperGirl** (View Post) I can understand why you would say Obama was saying "Your President" because McCain is a Republican...but as you've said yourself, McCain has distanced himself from Bush and has made it more than clear that he hasn't agreed on everything that's been done.

There is a video that said McCain has agreed with Bush 90 percent of the time. That does not inspire much confidence.

[UnsilentMajorty]

Looking forward to this weeks Biden/Palin debate...

The consensus among various analysts (TV and print) is this will be the make or break debate for the McCain campaign. Even if McCain were to somehow out perform Obama in the next two debates... Which is very unlikely, IMO... The McCain camp would still be forced into doing double duty by splitting their efforts to not only convince voters McCain is the right man for President, but also downplay whatever role Palin might play as Vice President if McCain is elected. The Republicans have painted themselves into a very tight corner where they could potentially LOSE voters BECAUSE OF Palin. The irony is this is what they were hoping would happen to Obama after he won the Primary (that they could win over enough disgruntled Hillary voters and undermine Obama's chances).

The double irony is even Republican women are openly opposed to Palin being on the ticket simply because she is such an embarrassment to women in general because of how she comes off and how she is being handled with kit gloves. This next debate and the fall out should be very interesting...

[Cristofle]

I see a lot of talk about how expectations are too low and how if Palin shoes up and doesn't cry or pee in her pants, she's automatically won. But I don't agree with that. She was flayed for her interview with Katie Couric. KATIE COURIC. A cream puff if I've ever seen one. The questions weren't even difficult, she should know some basic answers by now, and she just doesn't. It's word salad. If she performs on the level of that interview- and it doesn't seem likely she can do much better- Biden is going to eat her alive. I think she may show up (although I wouldn't be shocked if she found a way to cancel) and I seriously doubt she'd cry. I just expect her to be as stupid as she's proven herself to be.

[UnsilentMajorty]

I predict Palin will hold her own. I am no fan of hers, or McCain, but I don't think this is going to be a "slaughter" and I would hope Biden and the Obama people aren't complacent going into this either. In fact, it appears they are not because Governor Jennifer Granholm, Michigan, is standing in for Palin in mock debates they are supposedly running... But I have to wonder if this is more for the quote-un-quote sensitivity training part of the debates versus Joe Biden concentrating on the subjects he is very knowledgeable and well-versed in. I would hope it is the latter.

I don't mean to be presumptuous, but it would not surprise me if the Republicans play the gender card and accuse Biden of "picking on a woman" just to put a negative spin on the debates even when their might not be any. What is ironic is Republicans seem to want it both ways with Palin: They want a strong female candidate, yet they want her to be treated like a stereotypical weak and ignorant female at the same time. Which one is it?

[sunnykerr]

It's certainly hard to call. Everyone knows Biden to be a man of great eloquence and rational thought. Whereas Palin's such an unknown quantity that, her various TV interviews not withstanding, she may turn out to be capable of expressing herself in a manner that reflects intelligence and inspires confidence.

Of course, I remain skeptical of the media's ability to portray either of these candidate's fairly as, so far, it seems that their interpretation of the concept of fairness has been to give Palin every excuse in the book to justify her failings and every opportunity to gloss over her inadequacies.

[ceilirose]

Palin is ok when she is talking about subjects she has knowledge of but unless we're being totally scammed her grasp of national and international issues consists of what she's told to say by the McCain campaign.

When she expresses her own opinion as she did on Pakistan yesterday then McCain goes on national TV and says she didn't mean that.

CNN Political Ticker: All politics, all the time Blog Archive - McCain retracts Palin’s Pakistan comments � - Blogs from CNN.com

WASHINGTON (CNN)— Sen. John McCain retracted Sarah Palin's stance on Pakistan Sunday morning, after the Alaska governor appeared to back Sen. Barack Obama's support for unilateral strikes inside Pakistan against terrorists "She would not…she understands and has stated repeatedly that we're not going to do anything except in America's national security interest," McCain told ABC's George Stephanopoulos of Palin. "In all due respect, people going around and… sticking a microphone while conversations are being held, and then all of a sudden that's—that's a person's position… This is a free country, but I don't think most Americans think that that's a definitve policy statement made by Governor Palin." Saturday night, while on a stop for cheesesteaks in South Philadelphia, Palin was questioned by a Temple graduate student about whether the U.S. should cross the border from Afghanistan into Pakistan. "If that's what we have to do stop the terrorists from coming any further in, absolutely, we should," Palin said. During Friday night's presidential debate in Mississippi, Obama took a similar stance and condemned the Bush administration for failing to act on the possibility terrorists are in Pakistan. "Nobody talked about attacking Pakistan," Obama said after McCain accused the Illinois senator of wanting to announce an invasion. "If the United States has al Qaeda, bin Laden, top-level lieutenants in our sights, and Pakistan is unable or unwilling to act, then we should take them out." McCain emphasized Sunday, Palin "shares" his view on the matter

There are many issues with Palin but the bottom line is that she's taking women back. I know the conservative Christian base loves her and she can do no wrong but she's not reaching other groups in a consistent and steady fashion. She's either agreeing or being forced to not speak unless the campaign says it's ok.

Biden is in a bit of a bind because he can't go after her freely - he'll be called sexist. Biden can't say she's not ready for the job, she's naive or she's not knowledgeable enough to be VP which is what McCain said/insinuated on Friday about Obama. As a woman I feel she should be treated like Biden, Obama and McCain in these debates but I know she won't.

[Cristofle]

LOLOLOL! So now McCain doesn't even trust Palin to retract something herself? He has to do it for her? And this just cracks me UP.

"In all due respect, people going around and… sticking a microphone while conversations are being held, and then all of a sudden that's—that's a person's position..."

W.T.F? He sounds pissed off to the point of incoherent that the press...dared to try and ask her a question. "What? What? What? How dare you! She isn't...you can't...YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO ASK HER ANY QUESTIONS UNLESS I SAY SO!" The wild defense of this woman by the GOP is just ridiculous. I mean, I completely understand why they don't want her in front of a camera- I saw the Katie Couric debacle- but that's THEIR fault. That's THEIR problem for picking her as the VP. If she's this ignorant on the subject of her own running mate's stances, she has no place in the White House as VP.

[metal heart]

i think palin will back out after the debate tbh... i mean biden doesnt even have to try to make her look like an idiot... she'll do so on her own free will... if she even gets a complete sentence out before completing a statement... gah! i can't wait... the ship is sinking

[Cristofle]

Palin is ok when she is talking about subjects she has knowledge of

But she doesn't seem to have any knowledge of the issues outside Alaska, lol. She:

-doesn't know what the Bush Doctrine is.
-doesn't seem to understand her own running mate's position on Iraq and Pakistan
-has no idea what examples there are of McCain being a maverick (granted, there are none past like 2004 and he's repealed every single one of them, but I guess she could use an old one if she could've picked McCain out of a crowd in 2000, which I'm finding more and more unlikely).
-did not know the job of a VP up to one month prior to being picked
-had no coherent answers on the economic crisis
-had no coherent answers on health care.

Palin is not knowledgable on issues particularly independents care about, which is the point of the debates. And her position on abortion won't win her any points with independents. By and large, independents do not believe Roe Vs. Wade should be overturned. The anti-abortion group is an extremely vocal minority.

[ceilirose]

Oh I know - she does best on local issues. But I wouldn't underestimate her and the situation she'll be in on Thursday. My hope is that Biden cleans up but I'm still a little leery that she'll surprise people.

All she has to do is not make a major mistake and the media/Republicans will say it was a success.

[Cristofle]

I would have found it more likely they would prep her enough not to make an ass out of herself prior to the Couric interview. They must be working with her around the clock as they hide her from the press- and THAT was the best she could come up with. It's very obvious they've given her talking points, but she absolutely CANNOT deviate from them. If a question doesn't fit a specific talking point, she picks the two or three closest ones she can think of and meshes them together in this bizarre word salad. I'm not being snarky when I say she's not smart- it's clear to me from the Gibson and Couric interviews that this is just not an intelligent woman, and no amount of coaxing can make her that way. I really think she's less intelligent than Bush.

I was really surprised the press called the debate victory for Obama, though. Not because I think he didn't deserve it- I think he did- but because the press tends to claim the Republican won it no matter what. Kerry handed Bush his ASS in the debates and they tried to claim Bush won.

[Bella Grint]

When do we find out who won the debate?

I think everyone will be prepping Palin on the debate. Otherwise Idk how she can pull anything out of thin air. Biden won't go easy on her but I hate how he'll be called sexist. I believe Palin can hold her own and if she's prepped then I think they should treat her like an equal. If she might be VP we can't keep coddling her. I hate how the sexist card will be used. I guess we can forget what everyone including Republicans said about Clinton when it came to sexism when she was still in the race..

BTW I've read John Kerry was a Vietnam veteran? Can someone please tell me more about that?

[*Ledi*]

Originally Posted by Bella Grint (View Post) When do we find out who won the debate? I think everyone will be prepping Palin on the debate. Otherwise Idk how she can pull anything out of thin air. Biden won't go easy on her but I hate how he'll be called sexist. I believe Palin can hold her own and if she's prepped then I think they should treat her like an equal. If she might be VP we can't keep coddling her. I hate how the sexist card will be used. I guess we can forget what everyone including Republicans said about Clinton when it came to sexism when she was still in the race.. BTW I've read John Kerry was a Vietnam veteran? Can someone please tell me more about that?

Just check out this Wikipedia article.

[Bella Grint]

Ok thanks, I remember him being compared to McCain in here and I was wondering why..

[Cristofle]

Yes, he was. He was a lieutenant in the navy. There were rampant rumors that he didn't "deserve" the three Purple Hearts he has in the 2004 election (largely deemed unfair by reliable sources now), leading to a lot of mocking him by the Republican delegates in the 2004 RNC, like wearing "Purple Heart" band-aids (suggesting he got a Purple Heart for a band-aid wound).

Snopes.com has a bunch of stuff on the controversy:

snopes.com: John Kerry's Service Record