Sen. Biden did an excellent job last night in the VP debate. Gov. Palin, by virtue of not spontaneously combusting or running off the stage in tears, beat expectations. By being largely (although certainly not completely) coherent (excellent memorization skills! high five! good job, crammers!), she was hailed as the victor by the right. (Never mind all the polls, which had a pretty wide spread in Sen. Biden’s favour.)
She probably turned off a lot of “folks” by bein’ so folksy, though, by golly. Condescend, much? Course, the doubtless turned on a lot of (male) voters. Apparently the winking went over well with the National Review. Yah, she’s way hotter than Ferraro. Is the American Idol voting public so large? is she going to try to do a Clinton and play the flute for the talent portion?
She’s got big brass ones, I mean stating that you’re not going to answer the question asked, as you again don’t answer the question asked. I’m not sure how a debate can count as a debate when you refuse to accept the questions, though. Isn’t the whole point of a debate that each candidate answers the question, and the audience gets to judge whose answer is more in line with their own thoughts on a particular matter? Gov. Palin just treated it as another stump speech, mostly.
And so I come to the title of this entry. Remember my exasperation about the “What newspapers do you read” non-answer? apparently the furore in the media about this even reached Fox News. So today, someone even softer than Katie Couric was blessed with an answer.
So while I do understand that she felt she’d be attacked if she revealed her reading materials (and no, I don’t at all accept that she reads the NYT and The Economist, I don’t, for the simple reason that if she’d thought to say that, she would have, because she could have rubbed Katie’s nose in it); I sure do not accept that Katie had a subtext of spurning Alaska. Katie is probably actually quite aware that the US Mail and the Internet reach Alaska. Here’s the transcript:
Couric: And when it comes to establishing your worldview, I was curious, what newspapers and magazines did you regularly read before you were tapped for this to stay informed and to understand the world?
Palin: I’ve read most of them, again with a great appreciation for the press, for the media.
Couric: What, specifically?
Palin: Um, all of them, any of them that have been in front of me all these years.
Couric: Can you name a few?
Palin: I have a vast variety of sources where we get our news, too. Alaska isn’t a foreign country, where it’s kind of suggested, “Wow, how could you keep in touch with what the rest of Washington, D.C., may be thinking when you live up there in Alaska?” Believe me, Alaska is like a microcosm of America.
I didn’t get the insult so clearly felt. “World view” was a clear reference to Palin’s “Bush doctrine” debacle, but I thought she could not have been nicer about it. Palin’s little suck up was inappropriate and useless. Not to mention clearly untrue.
Does she think that she gets extra points for using words like microcosm? cause she trots them out like a 7th grader who expects a pat on the head.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, McCain has withdrawn from the Great State of Michigan. The electoral math today is looking good for the good guys.
