V.P. Candidates’ debate: Who won? Take reader poll.
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From Wire Reports
Published: October 3, 2008
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Vice presidential candidates Sarah Palin and Joseph R. Biden Jr. squabbled over tax plans and economic prescriptions last night during their first and only debate.
Biden, Democrat Barack Obama’s running mate, blamed the lagging economy on President Bush and criticized Republican John McCain’s plan to extend Bush’s tax cuts for the wealthy. “The economic policies of the last eight years have been the worst economic policies we’ve ever had,“ Biden said.
Palin defended McCain, saying her experience as governor of Alaska showed that cutting taxes can spur the economy. She criticized Biden and Obama for backing tax increases, saying it’s a “backward way of trying to grow our economy.“
Some of the most animated moments of the debate came when the discussion turned to taxes. Palin said Obama has voted 94 times to raises taxes or oppose tax cuts. Biden said using the standard she was using, McCain has voted for higher taxes 477 times.
“It’s a bogus standard,“ Biden said.
From the opening moments of the debate, Biden sought to make McCain out as a straight-ahead successor to an unpopular President Bush. “He voted four out of five times for George Bush’s budget, which put us a half-trillion dollars in debt and over $4 trillion in debt since he got here,“ he said of McCain.
Palin merely accused Biden of reciting the past rather than looking to the future. “Americans are cravin’ that straight talk” that McCain offers, she said.
The debate also grew contentious when the subject of Iraq came up. Biden stressed that the issue brought up a “fundamental difference” between the two campaigns.
“We will end this war,“ Biden said. “For John McCain, there is no end in sight.“
Palin challenged him on Iraq, “especially with your son in the National Guard.“
Biden did not immediately reply to Palin’s mention of his son, Beau, the Delaware attorney general, who is scheduled to fly to Iraq with his National Guard unit soon.
The Alaska governor also noted that Biden had once said Obama wasn’t ready to be commander in chief, “and I know again that you opposed the move that he made to try to cut off funding for the troops and I respect you for that.“
Biden’s reply was in clipped tones. “John McCain voted to cut off funding for the troops. Let me say that again. John McCain voted against an amendment containing 1 billion, 600 million dollars” for protective equipment that is “protecting the governor’s son and, pray God, my son and a lot of other sons and daughters. He voted against it.“
Palin made only one obvious stumble, when she twice referred to the top U.S. general in Afghanistan as “Gen. McClellan.“ In fact, his name is David McKiernan. George McClellan led the Army of the Potomac during the Civil War.
They clashed over energy policy when Palin said Obama’s vote for a Bush administration-backed bill granted breaks to the oil industry. By contrast, she said that as governor, she had stood up to the same industry, and noted that McCain had voted against the bill Obama supported.
Biden said that in the past decade, McCain had voted “20 times against funding alternative energy sources and thinks, I guess, the only answer is drill, drill, drill.“
On the environment, Palin declined to attribute the cause of climate change to man-made activities alone. “There is something to be said also for man’s activities, but also for the cyclical temperature changes on our planet,“ she said, adding that she didn’t want to argue about the causes.
Biden said the cause was clearly man-made, and added, “If you don’t understand what the cause is, it’s virtually impossible to come up with a solution.“
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Posted by ( Eeltee ) on October 03, 2008 at 8:37 pm
Some must have watched a different debate than I did because Biden’s remarks were precise and clear like a programmed robot, repeating same answers often, where Palin was spontanious.
She should have asked Biden if he knew where the suspicious 200 million dollars came from in the democratic pool since no one else seems to know.
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Posted by ( arica434 ) on October 03, 2008 at 6:34 pm
Boy, Republicans will say and believe just about anything to MAKE Palin a viable candidate. Biden won that debate hands down. Palin’s voice kept cracking, she was scrambling for notes, mispronounced or completely emmitted the names of leaders from other countries (b/c she didn’t know who they were), and kept with that annoying *wink*! Biden had it together and knew what he was talking about. I was anxiously waiting for the debate to happen so that I could see Biden shine and boy did he deliver! Go Biden!
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Posted by ( rocknwsc ) on October 03, 2008 at 2:34 pm
Palin merely repeated what she had been told to say after numerous coaching sessions at one of McCain’s 8 or 10 houses. She was vague and her answers contained nothing of substance. She frequently used misdirection and talked in circles.
This woman, like Bush, is capable of stabbing you in the back while smiling in your face.
She forced rape victims to pay for their own rape kits when she was mayor. That is just one example of her abuse of power.
Her pregnant 17 year-old daughter is a direct result of teaching abstinence as the only method of birth control.
We do not need another brainless, smirking hillbilly for president (even if she is mighty purty).
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Posted by ( Eeltee ) on October 03, 2008 at 12:24 pm
When you answer spontaniously and from your heart, the answers are not the same as one that speaks like a programmed robot. She also did not contradict herself as Biden did several times, almost like he forgot what he was supposed to say.
And as far as sounding like Bush, you say that like it is a bad thing! But, I think she sounded like Palin. She was spontanious, cheerful, honest, and did not mind even speaking to where she disagreed with McCain in some issues and the republican partuy in others.
We need leadership that can do this; do what is best for the people, not what others tell you to do, or say, as again I believe is what Biden showed he is doing already.
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Posted by ( dharrison9 ) on October 03, 2008 at 9:41 am
I think that the fact that she didn’t mess up a lot does not mean she did well. She is an insult to politics and debating. Maybe next time she can answer the questions asked instead of answering what she feels should be talked about. Palin reminds me of President Bush.
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Posted by ( Eeltee ) on October 03, 2008 at 9:19 am
Palin won this debate by a landslide! Smart answers, TRUTHFUL responses. Biden on the other hand repeated the same 3 or 4 answers to most questions whether on subject or not. Biden’s responses were obviously memorized well before the debate, Palin’s were not.
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