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The Biden-Palin Panderfest

by: Matt Cooper October 03, 2008    
Matt Cooper

Matt Cooper

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Okay, Sarah Palin didn't implode. Her sentences, however meandering, found their way to a period. Joe Biden doesn't have Tourette's Syndrome. Neither screwed up terribly in their one and only debate Thursday night. And Palin did far better than she's been doing in recent interviews where she left one longing for the gravitas of Dan Quayle.

But let's be honest. Both were dishonest in a fundamental sense. Both of these vice presidential candidates left the impression that they could offer a lot of benefits to the middle class. Biden, the Democrat, repeated the 95 percent of Americans getting a tax cut pledge from Barack Obama's campaign. Palin left a similar impression that she and Republican John McCain could bestow benefits on a beleaguered middle class.

The truth is this: Both candidates are going to have to chuck a lot of their promises. Those pledges were based on a pre-9/29 world view, the day the market crashed 778 points. We're clearly heading into a recession if we're not technically there. Federal revenues are going to plummet and the options of the next president are going to become more and more limited. And we've just added another $850 billion to the mix.

It's crazy to think that the promises are going to come through. That doesn't mean that there aren't important differences between the candidates. But the endless appeals to the middle class should have been tempered with the mess we find ourselves in and how the middle class will pay. It won't just be Exxon Mobil that picks up the tab for this party we've been throwing ourselves.

In terms of the overall impression they made, Palin came out like gangbusters, but seemed to run out of things to say and clearly didn't have Biden's command of the issues. Her bizarre proposal to expand the powers of the vice presidency was jarring. No one could have left that debate thinking Biden was unready to be president. You can't say the same for Palin.

Early polls show undecided voters overwhelmingly favored Biden. I think that might have been true no matter what happened tonight. The economic gyrations of the last two weeks, if not year, have been so unsettling that voters now seem overwhelmingly prepared to vote for the Obama-Biden ticket.

The news Thursday that McCain is pulling his campaign ads and staff out of Michigan, once a prime G.O.P. target of opportunity, a state that McCain won handily in 2000 against George W. Bush, shows how the economy's tumult has hurt McCain. The possibility of an Obama landslide now doesn't seem so far-fetched. Odds are the race will tighten and there will be moments of voter doubt about the Democrat in the final weeks, some of it for good reasons and some for baser ones.

But after two weeks of hellacious economic headlines, Obama seems far less risky than McCain. And Palin's inexperience seems more like a gamble. She had a good night, but not good enough. With the proviso that things can change, it still feels like Obama's to lose. The middle class is in for a very rough ride, no matter who wins.

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This article has 44 comments:

  •  
    Oct 03 04:06 AM
    the middle class and the poor are screwed. they always get screwed in bad economic times.
    Reply
  •  
    Oct 03 05:32 AM
    ...2/3rds of America is in love with Sarah Palin,
    and the other 1/3rd is foaming at the mouth...
    Reply
  •  
    Oct 03 07:13 AM
    It's a matter of trust; when Sarah Palin blames only the mortgage lenders for seducing people to purchase over-priced homes yet places no blame on greedy buyers who was thinking of home of as a cash cow, then she is either incompetent or worse ... How can you trust her to be in a position to become CEO of this country?
    Reply
  •  
    Oct 03 07:54 AM
    I think I heard Governor Palin mention that it's time for personal responsibility and that Americans must learn from these mistakes.

    Unfortunately, no pol is going to blame potential voters. They're trained to only be nice to voters, even ones they know will never vote for them. I think this is a big mistake for McCain/Palin and will cost them the election.

    They need to pin this whole mess on do-gooders and the War on Poverty via the CRA, and the maestros in charge of FNMA and FMAC like Franklin Raines, one of Biden's Chicago mob buddies and theif-in-charge of FNMA. Short of being able to connect the dots for the American people and hanging the mortgage mess on ACORN and community organizers like Obama, McCain is toast. He's running a Bob Dole campaign.....too gentlemanly.
    Reply
  •  
    Oct 03 08:03 AM
    It is a wonder that Biden last night again reiterated that something should be done to save peoples homes who are under foreclosure. Biden Obama solution seems to suggest that the principle owed one those mortgages should be reworked so that those people can get to keep their home and the mortgage agreement should be changed to assure that. Are we now going to tell lenders that the legal contracts will me null and void and they should shoulder and pay for the misfortune of bad judgment of these buyers/"investors... That would be like telling the lending institutes, banks, groups or privet lenders -- traditional or non-traditional: lend at your own risk because when the borrower cannot pay his/her mortgage we are just going to make you cut your rates and even your principle owed you, to make sure that the borrower cannot loose. That however maybe a good thing because in that way we could make this nation again a renter nation benefiting a small number of the population that are landlords. Some of these changes proposed by Obama/Biden, that is if they can pull it off, seem counter intuitive.
    Reply
  •  
    Oct 03 08:31 AM
    Governor Palin did make a point about only incurring debt that we can reasonably afford to pay back ...buying a 300K house when we can only afford a 100K house..........taking the advice that our parents gave us before we got our first credit card... - NOT only putting "the blame" on the greedy money lenders (my words) If I'm always looking for outside sources to take care of me and/or fix my problems I'm in deep trouble. As a small business owner - we're taxed to the max - so pay attention to the small guy - not just the big corporations that everyone is so focused on.
    Reply
  •  
    Oct 03 08:35 AM
    "Both candidates are going to have to chuck a lot of their promises... We're clearly heading into a recession if we're not technically there. Federal revenues are going to plummet and the options of the next president are going to become more and more limited."

    Deficits should be expected during times of economic hardship, and tax cuts are appropriate stimulative policy during such times. Where we've gotten away from reality is in tolerating deficits during economic expansions. That the government would run a $400B deficit during an economic expansion is a travesty.

    "I think I heard Governor Palin mention that it's time for personal responsibility and that Americans must learn from these mistakes."

    Read the transcript. She clearly did not want to put ANY blame on real people. Basically, she said that the people need to learn from this, not so that they won't make bad decisions in the future, but so they won't be taken advantage of again.

    "He's running a Bob Dole campaign.....too gentlemanly."

    You're kidding, right?
    Reply
  •  
    Oct 03 08:36 AM
    AND................she didn't put the blame on home buyers - she was trying to make sure WE'RE PAYING ATTENTION so this doesn't happen again. We were caught in a similar situation in the early 80's in Colorado - had a home mortgage loan at 14%!!!! Filed bankruptcy - but learned a lesson - not to get into debt we can't afford to reasonably pay back!!
    Reply
  •  
    Oct 03 08:41 AM
    You may be right once everything plays out. However, I think we will all be asked to sacrifice for the good of our country, not just the middle class. Biden emphasized fairness, some people like me might have said "social justice", is needed to mend a broken nation after almost 8 years of "trickle down" economics.
    Reply
  •  
    Oct 03 09:06 AM
    I guess the deficit will be $200b worse when Biden gets to send the $200b "let's be friends, mmm-Kay?" package to the psychopaths in Iran which he proposed as a good-faith gesture after 9/11.

    I'm stocking up on gold this fall. It's going to drop near-term but look out when Jo-Jo and SnObama get in.
    Reply
  •  
    Oct 03 09:16 AM
    Seriously, could anyone give two s***s what these two think? One's a proven liar and the other lives in a fairytale magic land where she can see Moscow from her bedroom window.

    If people are getting angry at Bernanke and Paulson they should really let loose on these guys.
    Reply
  •  
    Oct 03 09:25 AM
    Palin reiterated the facts; greed, corruption, predatory lending, and irresponsibility on the consumer side (spending more than you earn) are exactly what created the current lending crisis. That is a proactive thinkers perspective. I do not believe the traditional Washington politician (i.e. Biden/Obama) is going to do anything differently in the future. They will continue to dip back into the taxpayer's well to clean up their messes, and add pork to the bills to justify their votes. That's why we need a ticket like McCain / Palin in the Whitehouse, they have an established record of being proactive and shutting down corruption when they have the opportunity to do so.
    Reply
  •  
    Oct 03 09:26 AM
    I did not watch the same debate you did.

    Biden made at least 10 factual errors, which I would call lies. The most flagrant was his claim that Obama did not say he would negotiate directly with Iran. The YouTube video makes that one pretty hard to dismiss.

    I don't know any governor who became President (e.g. Carter, Regan, Clinton, Bush) that had significant foreign policy experience. Palin is the VP candidate. Her executive experience is greater than Obama and Biden combined.

    You would obviously rather embrace socialism and the nanny state than personal freedom and responsibility.

    Please don't let the facts in the electoral seanson confuse you or get in the way.

    Reply
  •  
    Oct 03 09:45 AM
    Mr. B: It is apparent that you weren't really listening to the debate, perhaps only to the things that you wanted to hear. Biden's comments about Obama were accurate, but the problem was that you interpreted them incorrectly.

    To set the record straight, former President Clinton did have considerable understanding of foreign policy as a Rhodes scholar before he entered office.

    Executive experience does not mean much unless one has good judgement and does not have "ideological blinders" on. I think one result of the debate is that the majority of Americans cringe at the though that Governor Palin would be only a heart beat away from the presidency.
    Reply
  •  
    Oct 03 09:54 AM
    Palin's accomplishments for her people beat Obama's hands down, Study this man's list of things he did for those he represented and it's a big fat zero. He knows how to give a speech, campaign and win an election. But as for doing anything.... The Chicago Sun Times last month published an investigation of state legislator Obama getting a $100,000 block grant for his comminity. He turned most of the money to one of his donors ($500) a contractor to do the community enhancement. Nothing was done excepting slapping up a Home Depot type Gazebo the community refers to as the Obamazebo. This guy does not get anything done except get elected. Palin got money back to her people from the oil companies
    Reply
  •  
    Oct 03 10:06 AM
    The Chicago Sun Times is not exactly the most unbiased newspaper in the United States. I think that people in the communities where Obama worked know the good that he did and have attested to it. Perhaps you should look at the cronyism that Governor Palin introduced to Alaskan state government, her tendency to fire anyone who did not agree with her, and the "Bridge to Nowhere" money she still has---you know the bill she supported and then opposed when she understood Congress was not going to pass it.
    Reply
  •  
    Oct 03 10:11 AM
    By the way, you right wing radicals make my day. I hope you like the mess your heroes have gotten the United States into.
    Reply
  •  
    Oct 03 10:13 AM
    Biden said this is the "most important election." He is right. Financial theory, markets and blame aside, do we really want our neighbors who happen to work for the government telling us how we should live our lives, invest our money and raise our kids when they can't take care of their own homes? This is the basic premise of Obama/Democratic thinking as the growing nanny state knows what is best for you and you don't.
    I commend Governor Palin's comments that government should, "get out of the way" and for Americans "to be responsible" in their personal lives, two ideas dangerous to any intrusive, government employee neighbor.
    There IS hard work ahead and Americans willing work should not have the unwilling telling them how to do it.
    Reply
  •  
    Oct 03 10:26 AM
    Only trouble is that Governor Palin really supports the people who have been the most irresponsible.

    Those who talk about the "Nanny State" are the ones who use simple notions to explain things they don't really understand or crises for which they don't want to take any responsibility. Normally those who ask for the government to get out of the way are the first to ask for help when they mess up or when tragedy strikes. Don't blame government for the mistakes of conservatives in Congress and the President and Vice President.
    Reply
  •  
    Oct 03 10:57 AM
    Tim Miles: I am not a right wing radical. I am an independent who voted for Clinton and Gore but don't ask me to vote for this puppet who was put in place by by extremely wealthy men who have already made their money and now want to shift money from those with higher than average incomes to those who have low or no incomes. Many people with high incomes have it because they chose to have more than one job or develop a business such as electrical contracting, plumbing, locksmithing etc. Take a look at Cuba. Those people were promised a sharing of the wealth. Is anyone fighting to get into Cuba?
    Reply
  •  
    Oct 03 11:03 AM
    More jarring was Senator Biden's comment that the courts should re-write the terms of loan contracts - resetting both the interest rate and the principal amount.

    Reply
  •  
    Oct 03 11:07 AM
    User -Unfortunately contracts and agreements are tweaked or renegotiated all the time. It's one of things that put lawyers' bread on their tables.
    Reply
  •  
    Oct 03 11:07 AM
    Why does anyone care what memorized, regurgitated, disconnected talking points Palin came up with? It's obvious she has pretty much no understanding of economics or the financial crisis. And today the McCain camp is running around trying to explain away the fact that she said they agree with the proposed bankruptcy workout provisions, when in actuality McCain opposes them. She made this silly mistake because she has no understanding of what she is talking about,
    Reply
  •  
    Oct 03 11:18 AM
    If the next president does the right thing, he will almost certainly have only one term. What is the right thing? Tell the truth about what needs to be changed in government. Expose the still obscured mess that financial firms have created. Define the medicine needed to start us on the right track.

    America is in a state of denial. Some say we have reached the anger stage of reaction. I disagree. The extent of our problems are still not recognized, even by the experts. This is denial. Once we reach recognition of the problems (might take a couple of years), then then the real anger will start and voters will shoot the messenger in 2012.

    The alternative is much worse. Imagine where we will be in four years if we are still in denial.

    The long term verdict if the next president comes clean and gets voted out - one of our greatest presidents.

    Can either of the 2008 candidates meet this challenge?
    Reply
  •  
    Oct 03 11:32 AM
    I think whoever gets elected will only serve one term. We are at the beginning of a very rough time here in the US and whoever sits in the Oval Office will be the target for lots and lots of anger unless they can start job creation big time.
    Reply
  •  
    Oct 03 11:50 AM
    John McCain got his money's worth last night with Sarah Palin's performance. She memorized her lines, delivered them with conviction, and offered the girlie winks and smiles people have come to appreciate. But to paraphrase Gertrude Stein, "there was no there there." Will the real Sarah Palin please stand up. Like Al Gore in 2000, she is afraid to be herself and this ultimately is a losing strategy.

    Reply
  •  
    Oct 03 11:55 AM
    oldfolkdance: I am glad that you are not a right wing radical, but I think you tend to take at face value a lot of what the right wing media is putting out about Obama. I would expect that you are not going to vote for anyone this year, based on your reasoning, since MCCain is more beholden to the extremely wealthy.

    By the way, two of my sons are small businessmen. They work as hard as you do and are concerned about the fortune the United States is spending on the Iraq War (not to mention the human cost), affordable health care, and the miserable state of the economy.
    Reply
  •  
    Oct 03 11:58 AM
    "there's no there there" - did you see the McCain Biden debate? All Obama did was recite his stump speeches. Couldn't even answer the question: What programs will you sacrice in light of our economic crisis? He just recited his programs which if initiated will put us in a hole we'll never get out of. We can't afford this guy. We need cost cutting not spending. We need long term job creation - not taking money from some people to hand to other people to spend so they can feel good temporarily. That's no way to do things.
    Reply
  •  
    Oct 03 12:03 PM
    Palin spent 2 weeks on McCant's ranch getting brainwashed and fed easy-to-remember lines that the base could naively eat up.

    Here's what that nitwit has to say when she's asked a simple question and her handlers aren't around to brainwash her:

    www.youtube.com/watch?...

    She's terrifying, pathetic, clueless...
    Reply
  •  
    Oct 03 12:08 PM
    Oldfolkdance: You have had cost cutting people in Congress. They came in with Newt and have succeeded in spending about $1 trillion on the Iraq War and in giving us an enormous national deficit. At least Obama would spend the money on supporting innovation, creating new industries and jobs, helping people who can't afford decent health care, and weaning us off our oil addiction. Please vote for McCain if you like what has happened over the past 8 years and don't care about the money that has been thrown away.
    Reply
  •  
    Oct 03 12:14 PM
    Good posts Tim... unfortunately, the crew who sit daily nodding at the subliminal suggestions on Faux news aren't capable of rational thought... they will continue to be conned by their heroes until the bitter end, ignoring reality as their masters tell them what to think.
    Reply
  •  
    Oct 03 12:20 PM
    Tim Miles -Is that why he was so opposed to offshore drilling which would create lots of jobs. We already have wind farms and factories that produce the stuff to make them. They don't create that many jobs. We need to produce more of the energy we use right here in the USA so our manufacturers and truckers can keep costs low and keep and create jobs here. Obama will do what his "advisors", Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi tell him to. He is extremely indoctrinated and I don't think he ever had an original thought in his life. Most of his ideas are those of his father who chose not to have much to do with him in his life. He is not a bad man but not really fit to be President of a country he doesn't care about. At the end of the first debate he couldn't help himself and put this country down again saying we've lost our standing in the world. This is the man who wants to lead us? It's not that I'm so crazy about McCain but Obama is not the answer. Too much has been projected onto him that he won't be able to deliver.
    Reply
  •  
    Oct 03 12:39 PM
    Tim, I rest my case.
    Reply
  •  
    Oct 03 12:48 PM
    Dragon - Where's the love? Where's the passion? It just isn't there. Except for winning an election. Like someone said this year we have a choice between a man who should have been elected eight years ago and a man who should be running eight years from now. He just isn't ready for the job. He'll be pushed around big time. Nancy , Harry and Barney Frank are drooling in anticipation.
    Reply
  •  
    Oct 03 12:51 PM
    wpdragon: I see your point. My in-laws are the same way. They and oldfolkdance don't understand that more drilling is expensive since the new oil is harder to reach, will take 5-10 years to come online, will go onto the international marketplace which means there is no assurance it will be used for domestic consumption, and will provide absolutely no relief for people at the pumps.
    Reply
  •  
    Oct 03 01:01 PM
    Tim Miles - In California the rigs are still in place and most of Santa Barbara want drilling to start up again because the the oil is seeping onto the beach. In Brazil Petrobras is willing to go through a mound of salt to get to oil. That's how important it still is. And why should we export it when we need it here?And it's not only oil. It's drilling offshore for nice clean gas which will play a bigger part in getting free from foreign oil.
    Reply
  •  
    Oct 03 01:02 PM
    - As usual - people listen - but they only hear what they agree with - The Democrats have built an entire campaign on hate and blame -- they have had two years to make the changes they want the the voters to believe they will make with a win to the White House - Without G.Bush as a whipping post the Democrats have no substance to their ability to deliver the promises they are throwing out as bait to the voters.-------------- America saw a smart - professional - successful - politically savvy woman that took on her own party and disposed of the corruption and offered the taxpayers a chance to get out from under the thumb of career politicians - All J.Biden offered was more of the blame game --- This is a man that is the epitomy of career politician that even among his own, his fellow party members, has never been considered executive leadership material. People want change -- but they also fear change ---
    Reply
  •  
    Oct 03 01:06 PM
    Obama, Biden and McCain have all been in congress. You can see the results.
    I would love to give Palin the chance. Now that is REAL change.
    Reply
  •  
    Oct 03 01:08 PM
    Foreign oil, foreign oil. Who cares where we get it from? If we drill here the price will not lower. OPEC will produce less and that is that.
    Reply
  •  
    Oct 03 01:10 PM
    I'm glad I'm not alone in my thinking. One last note to Obama supporters: You think you are getting another Jack Kennedy but you will get Adlai Stevenson. I'm voting for what I think is the best chance for REFORM. Time to get back to work Lunch hour is over.
    Reply
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