Republican vice presidential candidate Governor Sarah Palin was a little cool and stiff at first, but warmed up quickly and started to shine with the down home spunkiness that is part of her character.
Palin got Democrat vice presidential candidate Senator Joe Biden on his statement that paying more taxes was "patriotic." She made good points that in the Democrats' efforts to stick it to the rich, they're also sticking it to many of the small businesses that provide the jobs and economic well-being of millions of Americans.
Biden said taking money from one person and giving it to another isn't "wealth redistribution;" he and his bunch call it "fairness." If "theft" is "fairness" in Biden's dictionary, then I suppose he has a point.
Class envy and hatred of the successful business sector that drives America's economic engine were definitely on display from the Left tonight.
Palen's environmental pandering was a bit disappointing, stating that we needed to do something about "climate change" regardless of the cause. She didn't jump on the anthropogenic band wagon, at least.
She did score a good point that in relying on other countries who don't even try to produce oil as cleanly as possible, we are contributing to any pollution problem that does exist, and energy independence would mean more clean oil production.
She also hit Biden hard on his reticence and that of his party to do anything proactive to drill for more oil or do anything to meet our growing energy needs.
Biden made no bones about his faith in the religion of Global Warming; there is no doubt in his mind that our SUVs are more responsible for any climate change than is the star in the center of our solar system, or the climate cycles which have been documented for thousands of years.
Biden said there would be no distinction in an Obama administration between a heterosexual couple and a homosexual couple.
Palin drew the line at redefining marriage. She did tout her "tolerance" in people choosing their own relationships (maybe she hasn't checked the data on the tremendous health risks homosexual behavior involves, with higher rates of AIDS, STDs, depression, substance abuse, suicide and domestic violence).
Biden said he didn't support "gay marriage" and neither does Obama, yet Obama says on his website he plans to completely repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA):
I also believe that the federal government should not stand in the way of states that want to decide on their own how best to pursue equality for gay and lesbian couples — whether that means a domestic partnership, a civil union, or a civil marriage. Unlike Senator Clinton, I support the complete repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)
Biden's statement tonight seems disingenuous at the very least. Domestic partnerships, civil unions and the like are nothing but "marriage lite" or "homosexual marriage by another name."
On Iraq, Palin commended the success we have seen in reducing violence under the surge, and pointed out that Obama opposed funding for the war in Iraq. She made no bones about it "We have got to win in Iraq."
Palin said Biden and Obama's plan is a "white flag of surrender."
On Iran, Palin said Iran cannot be allowed to get nuclear weapons "period." She was also clear that Iran wanted to wipe our ally Israel off the map. She took Obama to task for stating he would meet with Iran's homicidal leader "without preconditions."
She said that diplomacy is important, but when dealing with those who want to destroy what we stand for, they cannot be met without precondition on a presidential level.
Biden made a big pretense of friendship and standing with Israel, and when Palin responded, she made a good-natured quip that it was so good that they could both agree on friendship with Israel.
Palin also took Obama to task for saying our troops are overseas killing civilians and air raiding villages.
Palin said she was just a "Washington outsider" and just didn't understand things like why Biden and others voted for the war and now they're against it, and why they rail against atrocities around the world--like in Sudan--but do nothing about it.
When asked how they as vice presidents might do things differently were they to rise to the top position, Biden said he'd continue Obama's policies. Palin said that she and John McCain are "a team of mavericks" and aren't going to agree on everything." She said that she was working on him on supporting drilling for oil in
ANWR.
On education, Palin spoke highly of teachers (and winked at her teacher-father in the audience) but said standards are lax in some areas and need to be tightened up.
In the role of a vice president, Palin gave a good answer with a bit of self-depreciating humor, and spoke of exercising the constitutional authority granted to a vice president with the Senate, and of pursuing a number of policy initiatives on behalf of the administration such as improving things for special needs children.
She also spoke of her executive experience as a mayor, oil-and-gas regulator, business owner and governor that she would bring to the position. She also spoke of the everyday responsibilities that so many women face, like that of wife and mother, and even the mother of a special needs child; balancing these responsibilities is something that many women--and men--across America can relate to, and know that they are no little responsibility.
Biden played the "me too" game with parental responsibilities, and actually seemed a bit miffed that she had mentioned her responsibilities as a mother; he seemed to feel somehow slighted and unappreciated in his role as a father.
In closing, Palin said she had enjoyed the unfiltered debate setting and preferred it to the stifling "mainstream" media interviews where they tell the American people "what they just heard." She spoke highly of the values and ideals of the American people, and that John McCain was dedicated to protecting those.
Biden's closing seemed a little flat. And, as is the standard with most Democrat statements, was heavy on class envy, how terrible things are in America, and a laundry list of government give-aways that would make everything better now.
Moderator Gwen Ifill seemed to do a surprisingly fair job, though perhaps not quite so surprising since her extreme
bias, some of it directly
against Palin, has been pretty well vetted over the past day or so.
The questions often seemed to be tainted with a presumption that the liberal worldview was the
only worldview, but that's what we've come to expect from the "mainstream" media.
Palin was not afraid to take the initiative and lead the discussion where she wanted to go; at one point, she said she might not answer the questions the way the moderator wanted, so she could communicate with the American people.
No one knows everything about everything, yet that has become the facade of those stuck inside the orbit of the Beltway. "Mainstream" media hacks like Charlie Gibson and Katie Couric have tried to squeeze Palin into that mold...and put on the masks of thinly veiled elitist condescension when she doesn't fit.
Sarah Palin is an average hard-working American who loves her country, has a solid moral center, leadership ability, and wants to serve the country.
Palin is all the things we average Americans are...and many of the things average Americans admire and would like to be.
