Yup, I am not analyzing the VP debate but the analysis of the VP debate.
I, like 70 million other Americans, watched the debate Thursday between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin. And I, like 70 million other Americans, was glad to see that Sarah could form complete sentences and not drool on herself. The problem is, since she exceeded everyone’s expectations, everyone thinks she has quashed any detractions she may have caused by being woefully unprepared to be Vice-President.
Underneath most of these analyses lies the belief that she did not actually prove she was ready to be Vice President. However, that subtle point gets lost in the praise everyone gives her for adequately reading off talking points from cue cards. And of course, most everyone loved her folksy, charming, winking demeanor.
This narrative of two bars does a disservice to the public since it confuses the issue. So Palin can recite a talking point. Big deal. The only bar she has to cross is whether she can be VP, and by extension, President. Did any non-partisan viewer think Palin can assume the Presidency after that performance? Hopefully not.
And yet to hear the MSM tell it (and today’s Sunday talk shows confirm this), she put to bed the question as to whether McCain screwed up by picking her. By extension, that means she has the qualifications and ability to be President. But that is not the case and the media knows it. They say it in so many words, but how they analyze the debate makes people think she passed the real bar – whether she can be President.
Someone in the media needs to say soon that Palin got crushed by Biden (the polls after the debate show this) and that she had no business being on the same stage with him. She deflected questions, had no depth to her answers, and simply recited talking points. Do not lead with ‘oh, she exceeded expectations and has put an end to questions about her being on the ticket,’ and then say she convinced no one of her qualifications.
Instead just say that her sole purpose was to reassure the public she had the wisdom, knowledge, and gravitas to be President, and on that account she failed. It was a pretty sad performance, and if the increased rise in the polls for Obama after the debate is any indication, the initial sheen of her performance has worn off pretty quickly and the ugly reality of it has emerged. Heck, even this week’s SNL skit picked up on the fact she was shallow and incompetent in the debate.
The media has treated her with kid gloves ever since she was picked to run with McCain. The post-debate analysis further proves this. They cannot come right out and say she blew it, but they sugar coat it with positives first, positives that confuse the public into thinking she did okay.
Democrats need to ignore this lame analysis and just repeat incessantly that McCain showed extremely poor and rash judgment picking someone so unqualified. Point to the debate as evidence she is out of her league. Ignore the media and drive home your own narrative.
The public seems to get it, but the Dems need to be sure they do. The narrative that Palin is daft and unserious still exists and is deeply embedded. As such, a surface level acceptable debate performance should not allow her to get a pass. If the Dems know what is good for them they can, and should, use her debate to further that narrative. Her debate should continue the narrative, not end it. But the media has to be pressured into staying with that narrative. They will, but only if forced.