“Speak seldom, but to important subjects, except such as particularly relate to your constituents, and, in the former case, make yourself perfectly master of the subject.” —George Washington
CAMPAIGN WATCH
“[Sarah Palin] killed. She had [Joe Biden] at ‘Nice to meet you. Hey, can I call you Joe?’ She was the star. He was the second male lead, the good-natured best friend of the leading man. She was not petrified but peppy. The whole debate was about Sarah Palin. She is not a person of thought but of action. Interviews are about thinking, about reflecting, marshaling data and integrating it into an answer. Debates are more active, more propelled—they are thrust and parry. They are for campaigners. She is a campaigner. Her syntax did not hold, but her magnetism did. At one point she literally winked at the nation. As far as Mrs. Palin was concerned, Gwen Ifill was not there, and Joe Biden was not there. Sarah and the camera were there. This was classic ‘talk over the heads of the media straight to the people,’ and it is a long time since I’ve seen it done so well...” —Peggy Noonan
OPINION IN BRIEF
“Joe Biden won most of the questions based on debating points. He drove home a series of specific attacks on John McCain’s record that often went unanswered by [Sarah] Palin. But Biden generally adopts the charmless manner of the Senate floor debate. And his habit of exaggeration is wearing. It is not enough for an election to be important; it must be the most important election of our lifetime. Failures are always abject, absolute, historic, astounding or unprecedented. Vice President Cheney is not merely wrong but the most dangerous vice president in history (including Aaron Burr?). After a while, one begins to wonder whether all of Biden’s arguments, facts and figures might be stretched and exaggerated. At one point, he admitted, ‘I’m paraphrasing.’ I suspect that is often true... People who deal with words for a living will probably find Biden’s performance more professional. But the most consistent goal of the candidates tonight was clearly to be seen as the Main Street populist. And here Biden simply cannot compete. For all his talk of Scranton and Home Depot, he is a senator playing at being an average person. Palin—on the evidence of ‘Yah,’ ‘Doggonnit!’ and ‘Darn right!’ —is an average person. That may not be the best qualification for high office. But I suspect that many Americans find it attractive.” —Michael Gerson

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