grading the vice-presidential debate

Senator Biden: you were disciplined and didn't come off as condescending. Your task was pretty easy, but you didn't raise the bar. You can't coast at this level. Final Grade: B

*

Governor Palin: This debate was all about you. Unfortunately, even in the "unfiltered" format in which you could smile into the camera and address Joe Sixpack and Hockey Mom directly, you still appeared to be in test-prep mode. When your cue cards didn't address a question, you rambled on about something else you knew by heart, even when the answer had nothing to do with the question. Is that what it means to be a maverick? Where I come from, the refusal to answer a question that is asked politely is considered to be rude and evasive. Too often after giving an answer, it appeared you were waiting for a pat on the head. I'm afraid you're not in Alaska any more Governor Palin. Final Grade: C

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Is this the best the Republican Party has to offer?

it's a beautiful day

The waiting is over: number two on the Democratic ticket is Joe Biden. Obama played this safe. According to pundits, Biden will move Hillary's 'white working class' supporters into the Obama camp. Joe from Scranton, the Scranton scrapper, the poorest Senator, Catholic Joe: this will be the political detritus of the coming week. The code words don't really code anything: Biden is supposed to counteract the effects of race; i.e., Obama's melanin (dis)advantage.

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Of course, that's not all Biden will do. He is allegedly a foreign policy heavyweight. To his credit, after supporting the decision to invade Iraq, Biden has been a persistent critic of the conduct of the war. I remain convinced his suggestion that Iraq could be broken into three states (a suggestion that recognizes the thoroughly constructed nature of post-colonial states) is an idea worth pursuing. The pundits immediately jumped on this perceived strength, arguing that it shows Obama's weakness (in foreign policy). This sort of argumentative gibberish, which turns into a "damned if he does, damned if he doesn't" sackgasse, will also contribute to the political detritus of the coming week. 

*

I haven't taken to Biden in the past. He comes across as bombastic and shows too much attraction to his own rhetoric. However, the choice of Biden is probably the best possible among a weak pool of Democratic politicians. Of course, there was Hillary Clinton...

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Photo credit: A. Spencer Green (AP)