The best analysis that I read this morning about the debate came from DemFromCT at Daily Kos…
Joe Biden is the story for me, not Sarah Palin. I was delighted but not surprised with his remarkably strong and empathetic performance. Joe is a strong Democrat, and a proud family man. He’s smart, he’s experienced, and he can <> be disciplined. If there’s a candidate who exceeded realistic expectations, it was Biden who knocked it out of the park and exposed Palin for the attractive, but callow, candidate she really is. His discussion of his injured family was the deal-maker for the audience, a moment Palin handled awkwardly afterwards in her response.
Sarah Palin’s expectations were ridiculously low, set by the punditocracy that, as Jon Stewart might say, is hurting this country. Get a grip, folks. No one cares whether Andrea Mitchell thinks Palin reached her (Mitchell’s) expectations. They want to know whether Sarah Palin can help the family pay the mortgage and pay the college tuition bill.
Two completely separate conversations go on about Sarah Palin. She’s lost thoughtful conservatives and independents, and Democrats were never her audience. Social conservatives and wingers like Pat Buchanan may love her, but who cares? Buchanan, I will remind the media, was a fringe candidate who did very poorly when he ran. Palin’s audience may love her but they are a small portion of the electorate and they do not count any more. This is not a base election. It will take a loss for the media to get it.
A new KCCI poll done by Research 2000 shows Barack Obama with another large lead in Iowa.
The new poll interviewed 600 Iowans on Monday and Tuesday who regularly vote in elections for opinion on the upcoming presidential election.
The latest KCCI poll shows that if the election were held today, 55 percent of those surveyed would vote for Obama, 39 percent for McCain. The poll has a magin of error of 4 percent.
However, the McCain campaign is seeing things differently…
“We’ve seen such a variety of polls. Sometimes we’re up. Sometimes we’re down. I think the bottom line is this is going to be a very close election,” said Dave Roederer, McCain’s Iowa campaign state chairman.
I think it is safe to say that no other state, besides Obama’s home state of Illinois, knows Obama as as well as Iowa.
The poll shows that Iowans believe Obama is qualified to be president. 65% of Iowans think Obama is qualified to be president compared to 63% for McCain. 55% of Iowans think Joe Biden is qualified, while just 37% think Sarah Palin is qualified.
Sarah Palin’s speech at the Republican Convention outlined her record and was full attacks on Obama. However, she seems to have failed to mention those pesky little facts in her speech.
Palin said…
To the families of special-needs children all across this country, I have a message: For years, you sought to make America a more welcoming place for your sons and daughters. I pledge to you that if we are elected, you will have a friend and advocate in the White House.
I told the Congress “thanks, but no thanks,” for that Bridge to Nowhere.
If our state wanted a bridge, we’d build it ourselves. When oil and gas prices went up dramatically, and filled up the state treasury, I sent a large share of that revenue back where it belonged - directly to the people of Alaska.
and the facts say…
She was in favor of the Bridge to Nowhere while campaigning for governor then was against it when it became a national laughingstock. Then, as Governor, she took the money for the bridge and spent it on something else.
Palin said…
I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending … and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress.
As mayor of Wasilla, Palin hired a lobbyist and traveled to Washington annually to support earmarks for the town totaling $27 million. In her two years as governor, Alaska has requested nearly $750 million in special federal spending, by far the largest per-capita request in the nation.
Palin said…
Terrorist states are seeking nuclear weapons without delay … he wants to meet them without preconditions.
Al Qaeda terrorists still plot to inflict catastrophic harm on America … he’s worried that someone won’t read them their rights?
and the facts say…
Obama believes in this piece of paper called the constitution. You know that thing that gives us our freedoms. Those freedoms the terrorists are jealous off and want to attack us over.
Palin said…
Taxes are too high … he wants to raise them. His tax increases are the fine print in his economic plan, and let me be specific.
The Democratic nominee for president supports plans to raise income taxes … raise payroll taxes … raise investment income taxes … raise the death tax … raise business taxes … and increase the tax burden on the American people by hundreds of billions of dollars. My sister Heather and her husband have just built a service station that’s now opened for business - like millions of others who run small businesses.
and the facts say…
The independent Tax Policy Center did a study that shows those earning less than $111,000 earn more tax cuts under Obama’s tax plan and the majority of McCain’s tax cuts go to those that earn more than $600,000.
Palin’s speech sounded good, but it would help if she checked her facts next times.
I am happy with Joe Biden being picked as Obama’s vice president. Biden wasn’t my first choice, but was close to the top and a much better choice than Bayh or Kaine would have been.
I will be working on a couple posts about Biden in the next few days. In the meantime, here is a video of Biden speaking at a campaign event in Marshalltown.
Here are the my posts on Biden leading up to the Iowa caucuses…
The Obama campaign will be sending out the text announcing their vice president pick on Saturday morning.
All signs looking like Biden. Noam Scheiber makes a great point…
You can let the suspense build and build if you’ve got a Hillary or a Gore socked away somewhere. Possibly a Biden or a Webb (or some unorthodox pick like a general or a Republican). But you’d better not come with Jack Reed or Evan Bayh after toying with people for over a week.
