Comments on: Argh

By: Peter Orvetti

Peter Orvetti — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 10:04:52 +0000

I had thought going in that it would be like the Bush-Gore debates — the bar was so low for one candidate that the other, known for being a long-winded wonk, was in peril. That’s kinda what happened.

By: Gil

Gil — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 19:43:21 +0000

That’s true. But, every politician does that (non-responsive answering) to some extent. I was surprised that she came out and declared that she was going to do that.

It could be that they’re afraid she’ll say embarrassing things, because she’s ignorant. Or, it could be that her authentic answers aren’t perfectly aligned with McCain’s policies.

I don’t know the exact reason. And, I can understand the campaign wanting to play it safe even if she would give great authentic responses 99% of the time. It’s the 1% that would end up on YouTube, and exaggerated on SNL.

By: Alex

Alex — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 19:38:03 +0000

I don’t think she did much to help the McCain campaign last night. What I think she did do was keep her own career from ending – meaning that she can now run for the GOP nomination 2012 without it being an automatic joke. In fact, it will be fascinating to see what happens when she does do this and to see how many of her current eager apologists end up nitpicking everything she says when she’s competing head-to-head with Romney or Thompson or some other darling of the conservative punditocracy.

By: Julian Sanchez

Julian Sanchez — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 17:05:41 +0000

Well, put it this way Gil, I think it’s at least suggestive that the campaign doesn’t seem to *trust* her to just answer questions naturally, since they pretty clearly gave her a series of canned talking points to deliver with little regard for whether they were responsive to the questions posed.

By: Gil

Gil — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 16:55:57 +0000

You’re right that the debate wasn’t an example of “Let[ting] Sarah be Sarah.”

But, she did demonstrate some competence at executing the prepared strategy, and showed that she isn’t quite the fool that many enjoy believing.

We’re still in the position of not having much of an idea what it would be like if she gave authentic responses. And, I doubt we’ll get to see that before the election.

By: Franklin Harris

Franklin Harris — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 08:25:54 +0000

Kathryn Jean Lopez. The Corner. Insane. Redundant.