Like many others, I watched the debate with interest. I'm not partisan, but I am well read (both in history and in current politics) and vote my values.
Specific to the question of this thread, I think both performed well in the debate. Joe Biden, who I've watched for years, had the challenge of not saying too much and rattling on. For those of you who find him boring, he did pretty well in this regard, for Joe. He's a smart guy and knows a LOT about how this country is run. He has firm ideas about what needs to be fixed and has been a staple on the Sunday morning news programs about these issues over the years. I've come to really like him because he's a regular guy with a really good brain and ideas to be implemented.
Sarah Palin, as many of you have found, is a likeable gal. She's folksy and smart. But what she isn't is well informed. Yes, she could learn these things, but considering the HUGE issues facing our country right now (War, Economy) we need someone who has the knowledge to be ready on Day One. We don't have time for a learning curve. It has pained me to watch her fail to answer questions that I could answer. I don't want someone with less knowledge than I have a heartbeat away from the presidency! However, for those of you who already like her, she did her job tonight, as I knew she would. She was well practiced and when she didn't know the answer, like a good debater, she just answered the questions with what she wanted to talk about instead. But, if you watch her carefully, you can see the "Oh NO!" look on her face the few seconds before answering.
This year, I will be voting the democratic ticket. Here's why:
For those of you who are middle or working class, please do a little reading about what the various parties stand for. For 6000 years, class issues have followed a standard form. The rich stay rich, the rest stay down. (except for years following devastating plagues, but that's a different discussion). This was true of our country as well, until the changes that came about after the crash in '29. Hoover tried some of the same things we're trying now - like bailing out the banks and it didn't work then. Our middle class is came about thanks to the government instituted policies of the FDR administration. Do any of you know what people in this country did before unemployment and Social Security when tragedy struck? They lived in poor farms. 80 years ago, it wasn't uncommon for strangers to board in the homes of others, just to make ends meet. Do we really want to unravel the benefits that we've all grown up with and enjoyed?
Think that the Republican party doesn't want to do that? Many do. They hate the FDR policies, and they convince you that government in your business is a bad thing.
McCain is opposed to the minimum wage.
McCain is opposed to equal pay for equal work for women.
McCain wants your Social Security to be privatized.
McCain's economic adviser (former - he helped write the policy but then had to leave the campaign after calling Americans a bunch of whiners for boo-hooing about the economy), Phil Gramm, is responsible for instituting the deregulation of the very policies that kept banks from being able to invest the way that has led us to our current economic situation).
I would argue that we need regulation. Why? Because people are greedy. When people have money, they don't want you to have it. It gives them the power.
But, back to Palin and why she's a dangerous choice. Palin is a blank slate - they can put upon her exactly what they want her to know. Perhaps that wouldn't be that big of an issue, but as any one of you who was a Republican before Reagan knows is that the Republican party has lost its way. It's now bigger government than the Democratic party. Reagan, Bush1, and Bush2, all ran deficits. Clinton did not. In fact, Palin herself ran a deficit in Wasilla.
But, more than that, this Neo conservative takeover for the Republican Party (including many advising John McCain) in the past 8 years is the thing most of concern to me. Until this is removed from the party, I will not be voting for it. If you like pre-emptive war and nation building at the cost of the American taxpayer, by all means, vote for it. Just know that along with that, you can kiss goodbye a lot of the middle class things you've come to enjoy.
See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoconservatism
See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_for_the_New_American_Century
