Veep Veep

9:17 P.M.: And we are coming to you live from the new and improved Battling the Current world headquarters surrounded by a cast of…yep it is still just me. Actually, there are even less people around me now (in terms of a social circle sense) than there was before. Better environment, less comfort. Sigh.

9:19 P.M.: For those of you who haven’t experienced one of these before I am going to be watching the vice presidential debate and providing my comments in real time. No tricks or gimmicks, I comment on what I see. So sit back, relax, and join me in waving a little pennant that reads “politics”.

9:20 P.M.: Yes, I know based on the timestamp on these entries this can’t be exactly called a live review. I worked out this evening and didn’t get back until the debate was about to start. As a result, I had to choose between writing while very sweaty or reviewing things in tape delay. Please don’t call me and ruin the ending. Ok, let’s start.

9:24 P.M.: As required by law, the debate is coming to us from St. Louis. All debates are held in St. Louis mainly because there are apparently a large number of cheap hotel rooms in the area. Washington University is still a confusion of names as it is neither in Washington nor a University (or at least not a real one).

9:25 P.M.: The rules of the debate. One fall with a 30 minute time limit. Managers are banned from ringside. (You know what I miss from pro wrestling? Time limits. They never announce those anymore. Sure, they aren’t really necessary but they added to the whole drama of the event).

9:27 P.M.: Sarah Palin speaks in a complete sentence, thus outperforming expectations. Of course, that sentence involves the mention of a child’s soccer game, which is not the main source of governmental policy that I am aware of.

9:30 P.M.: Joe Biden is actually sounding good and on topic. Not a bad start for him at all.

9:32 P.M.: Is it me or does Sarah Palin have a deer in the headlights look about her? She just looks stiff and scared. Also, I don’t want a vice president who uses the words “Darn it” in a debate. And did she lecture me about the way out of this economic crisis is by not running up my credit card bills? Seriously? We’re a good ten minutes in and Palin has yet to say a single policy standpoint.

9:36 P.M.: Biden looks good wearing a democratic blue tie. Palin is now talking about her experience as mayor in a 2,000 person town. I never expected to see a character from Northern Exposure taking the national political stage.

9:41 P.M.: Here is the natural problem with the Republican point of view at the moment. They are proposing a ….woo hoo, Wilmington just got a shout out from Biden! Represent! Anyway, the Republicans are arguing that the government is screwed up and only they can fix it. However since the Republicans have been the government it is essentially an argument that goes by “Just because we screwed everything up royally doesn’t mean that we can’t fix it.”

9:43 P.M.: Biden is more than a bit of a policy wonk apparently. I’m a detail guy and even I am getting lost. He trips over his words a little too much as else. We also got a Bridge to Nowhere joke, which provides us a bit of levity.

9:46 P.M.: You know why Palin could take on the oil companies? Because where else are they going to drill? Oh, and she just admitted that she has only been doing this five weeks and hasn’t promised anything to anyone.

9:47 P.M.: Earlier tonight I watched CBS news and they had done something interesting. They asked Biden and Palin the exact same question and put the answers side by side. When asked “What was the worst thing the Dick Cheney did while vice president” Biden answered “Destroying the constitution and supporting torture and executive privilege.” Palin’s answer? “Shooting a guy.” Not only does that show the difference in the candidates it gives a wonderful picture of where Cheney will go down in history.

9:52 P.M.: I’m always up to hearing about energy policy. It’s always nice to know that your job is part of the national debate.

9:53 P.M.: Well, at least Palin vaguely addressed that climate change might be result of human activities. That is an improvement over some of her earlier statement. I still haven’t heard a single policy statement from Palin or anything more than a generality. Yes, she looks perky talking about it but she is not saying anything.

9:55 P.M.: Here is a fun thing from work. Being on a trade floor I am surrounded by TV monitors showing the news all day. Today I saw on the closed captioning someone asking “Who are the democrats using to fill in for Palin in the practice debates?” I wanted to see that the answer was “We got that girl from Little Miss Sunshine. She might not know policy but she sure is cute.”

10:00 P.M.: I love how we have both candidates trying to say that “We don’t support gay marriage but that doesn’t mean I have any problem with them” and boy did Palin have to squirm around that issue.

10:07 P.M.: Down to the Middle East and the foreign threats portion of the debate. I did like the reference to “The Castro Brothers”. Makes them sound like a mafia organization. Like, “The west side docks were run by the Castro Brothers.” And when did Kissinger become the go to person for foreign policy? Aren’t people still trying to put him on trial for war crimes?

10:12 P.M.: I’ll give Palin credit. She actually has sounded rather good in the foreign policy section. She hasn’t said anything substantial yet but she has sounded more comfortable than she has throughout the entire debate.

10:13 P.M.: Hey, I wouldn’t sit down with the government of Spain either. Bunch of jerks, all of them.

10:16 P.M.: We all agree that Israel is important. Palin is happy to hear that even though it has been a backbone of foreign policy since, well, the country existed.

10:18 P.M.: If we were scoring on points, Biden would be walking away with this debate. Palin hasn’t made any glaring errors but I haven’t seen her launch any meaningful attacks. She just doesn’t sound believable (or at least strong) when talking about any policy. Just compare her to Biden. Who would you want in the room providing you guidance? On the plus side, her voice has been much less annoying than one would anticipate.

10:23 P.M.: Bosniacs? Biden just made up a word. Whenever people talk about Bosnia and Kosovo I always go back to something I read from P. J. O’Rourke. “Kosovo shows the classic American view of foreign struggle. We show up years late and bomb the country next door.”

10:29 P.M.: John McCain knows how to win a war. Ok, outside of Gulf War 1 which one did we win? Grenada and Panama. I’ll grant us a tie in Vietnam. I have about as much history of winning a war through my expertise at Risk than either of the candidates.

10:32 P.M.: Hey, I walk down Union Street in Wilmington! See, this is the difference between the Midwest and the East Coast. Here I get to see a vice president candidate when I go to dinner. Also, the Republicans can’t say that the Bush administration doesn’t count. I’m sorry but there is guilt by association.

10:35 P.M.: Did a third grade class just get a shout out? Is this a debate or a bad awards speech?

10:38 P.M.: Note to Palin: Agreeing with Dick Cheney is not precisely a good thing. That is essentially agreeing that the Constitution is optional. I am very glad that Biden called her out on that. That was a huge gaffe showing her mistake.

10:40 P.M.: See, here is the huge issue with Palin. She is asked about the big question around her experience and she replies by talking about her family and her world view. That is essentially saying that I deserve the job because I’m a good person not that I have any of the skills. For a starting job that is fine. I’ve been hired under that same logic. But no one made me COO as a result.

10:43 P.M.: Wow, Biden got choked up talking about his family. That was possibly the first moment of real emotion that I have ever seen in a debate. It was only for five seconds but it was noticeable.

10:45 P.M.: I love Palin saying that the Republicans have done poorly. She is essentially trying to sell Royals season tickets. Sure, we suck but why should we change?

10:48 P.M.: If you say that you have not compromised your positions you are not a politician. Never trust a politician who states anything differently. They are either lying or naïve.

10:50 P.M.: Sarah Palin is about to set a record. Ninety minute debate and not one meaningful statement. Well, she has done a better job than Perot’s running mate in 1992 but that is about it.

10:54 P.M.: That is it. Biden wins solidly on points but no real knockdown blow. Off to the spin room.