Twitting The 2008 Vice Presidential Debate
The debate between Senator Joe Biden (D) and Governor Sarah Palin (R) was moderated by Gwen Ifill of PBS.
Thanks to everyone that followed along. You can look back through our Twitter archives to view Tweets made during the debate by visiting the official matthewgood.org Twitter page.
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This entry was posted on Thursday, October 2nd, 2008 at 5:29 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
October 2nd, 2008 at 5:30 pm
Yeah…I don’t think I’m going to touch twitter. I tend t agree with your original assessment of it.
October 2nd, 2008 at 5:48 pm
Oh now Michael- we’re trying to make good use of the service : )
October 2nd, 2008 at 5:54 pm
Ah good, because the entire Twitter election stream makes me go cross-eyed!
October 2nd, 2008 at 6:15 pm
SARAH PALIN!
JUST ANSWER THE DAMNED QUESTIONS!!!
October 2nd, 2008 at 6:25 pm
She doesn’t ever answer the direct questions, she just says she has an issue with something Biden said, then goes on to explain how awesome she and Alaska is.
Sarah Palin doesn’t know what she is talking about.
October 2nd, 2008 at 6:31 pm
Well, she is great at one thing.
Wasting time to avoid answers.
October 2nd, 2008 at 7:08 pm
She is the laziest speaker I’ve ever heard in such a formal setting. Nevermind that she can’t pronounce the word ‘nuclear’, or a proper ‘ing’ ending though, I haven’t heard an answer yet that isn’t anything but rhetoric and red herrings. She should strip down to the swimsuit portion of the show already and move on.
October 2nd, 2008 at 7:17 pm
I really like her “shout out” to the grade 3 class that her brother teaches.
October 2nd, 2008 at 7:18 pm
[quote comment="67406"] She should strip down to the swimsuit portion of the show already and move on.[/quote]
LOL My apologies to all women out there - but that is the best comment of the night!! LOL
P.S. She should keep the red fuck-me stilettos on though for the full effect.
October 2nd, 2008 at 7:20 pm
If she mentions Alaska one more time…
-sigh-
October 2nd, 2008 at 7:27 pm
Quoting Matt on Twitter: “I have to say it folks, she’s holding her own, in her own way.”
Aren’t you dumming it down in making that comment? On what basis are you saying she is holding her own Because she reads her Crib notes effectively? Or were you thinking “considering she is a woman….she is doing OK”.
She sucks PERIOD. She does not represent the best of women in politics. She is a pretty puppet - that’s all. Palin may have been the most “affective” with her down-home speak, but she has not been the most effective.
October 2nd, 2008 at 7:29 pm
You’re doing a great job by the way giving us the highlights of this debate. Quick mind, warm heart.
October 2nd, 2008 at 7:41 pm
Great updates! Wish I caught it.
October 2nd, 2008 at 7:45 pm
I’m watching the Canadian political debate and was reading your comments on the vice presidential debate on Twitter…very entertaining and I feel I know pretty much what they talked about from your comments, thanks, Matt.
I can’t wait to hear what you think about the english language Canadian debate once you see it; I’m going to have some questions as to your opinions on many of the questions touched upon.
October 2nd, 2008 at 7:45 pm
Agreed!
The twitter highlights were a great touch Matt.
Well done.
October 2nd, 2008 at 7:51 pm
*subjects touched upon, not questions
October 2nd, 2008 at 8:04 pm
That was actually kind of cool that both Matt and Dale took a debate. I actually got up to watch the last quarter of ours after reading Dale’s comments on the beginning. Thanks. May really was excellent, I’m glad she got to be at the table.
October 2nd, 2008 at 8:16 pm
There should be a limit on how many times you can wink at the camera during a debate.
October 2nd, 2008 at 8:17 pm
i was worried for the first 20-30 minutes that she was charming people by looking directly into the camera, winking at times, being “folksy”, etc. After the first 30 minutes though, she ran out of her charm and slowly started the slide down farther and farther into rehearsed answers, avoidance, “rah rah rah America” type statements, etc. Biden is very experienced and I think his knowledge and command of the issues came through well. no knock out’s but then again, I wouldn’t really expect one in this kind of format.
October 2nd, 2008 at 8:32 pm
Blast, the post changed when I wasn’t looking. Okay, US debate…Palin started to sweat a bit whenever they started getting into territory she hadn’t rehearsed, but she didn’t dig her grave the way that I’d hoped. Of course, they made sure she wouldn’t - “Don’t let them get you off track. Just keep remembering your lines…don’t forget to smile…oh, and that wink thing you do, make sure you throw in one or two of those.”
October 2nd, 2008 at 8:33 pm
[quote comment="67402"]SARAH PALIN!
JUST ANSWER THE DAMNED QUESTIONS!!![/quote]
That is EXACTLY what I was yelling at the TV.
October 2nd, 2008 at 8:35 pm
I feel as out of touch as Sarah Palin cuz I don’t even know what a Twiiter is.
October 2nd, 2008 at 8:35 pm
Thanks for keeping track of the debate on Twitter, Matt … I had to miss the first hour of it because of a school assignment, but I think I got a good idea of that part from your comments. I grinned at your “hopefully I can pull this off :)” Tweet–I think you did a great job! If you start using Twitter more regularly I just might have to get an account. Dangit.
October 2nd, 2008 at 8:39 pm
As for the debate itself, from what I saw, I think your comment that people will think Biden underperformed and Palin kept herself alive is depressingly accurate. Why can’t they just take out the moderator entirely and let the candidates question each other? Palin wouldn’t stand a chance then.
October 2nd, 2008 at 8:43 pm
[quote comment="67421"][quote comment="67402"]SARAH PALIN!
JUST ANSWER THE DAMNED QUESTIONS!!![/quote]
That is EXACTLY what I was yelling at the TV.[/quote]
I was getting frusterated at this too and found myself saying the same damn thing.
Getting tired of hearing about how she “managed Alaska so well” and how she dotes herself as an Energy Queen…I can’t believe they want to give a 4 billion dollar tax break to an effin oil company. Pat yourself on the back asshat.
October 2nd, 2008 at 8:52 pm
[quote comment="67424"]As for the debate itself, from what I saw, I think your comment that people will think Biden underperformed and Palin kept herself alive is depressingly accurate. Why can’t they just take out the moderator entirely and let the candidates question each other? Palin wouldn’t stand a chance then.[/quote]
Or at least have a few more rounds of back and forth on the same issues. It’s not really a debate in my mind if they only address each issue once and move on.
October 2nd, 2008 at 9:07 pm
I honestly don’t think Palin did a hideous job…of course that is based on my original expectations which I invisioned as somewhere between “Funniest Home Videos” and “The Girls Next Door”. (Just kidding…kinda.) I think she managed to spout out enough words in a decent fashion in order to present doubt over what Biden said which you have to give her some credit for. For my taste she was WAY too folksy and “Joe America” but isn’t that exactly why McCain picked her? In the end, I think she appealied to those who she already appeals to but I doubt this debate will have changed anyones mind. If Biden was a bit more impressive I think he could have swayed more votes.
October 2nd, 2008 at 9:40 pm
Well, the Canadian leaders debate was excellent.
October 2nd, 2008 at 9:56 pm
I personally think that Palin did a pretty awful job tonight, but people are praising her because she didn’t COMPLETELY fuck up as everyone thought she would. She didn’t answer the questions and kept trying to make everything about Alaska, because that’s the only thing she seems to know anything about. My girlfriend and I joked that we should take a drink every time that she mentioned Alaska, but it’s a damn good thing we didn’t (I wouldn’t have been able to make my meeting in the morning). I’m glad that CNN would post the question on the screen, because by the time that Palin was done talking, I’d completely forgotten what she was supposed to be talking about.
Bottom line: Lots of people will think she did wonderful because she managed to refrain from saying “War against Russia will be God’s will.” My girlfriend got pissed off at the hypocrisy of every time she mentioned women’s rights though. I completely agree.
October 2nd, 2008 at 10:09 pm
[quote comment="67426"][quote comment="67424"]As for the debate itself, from what I saw, I think your comment that people will think Biden underperformed and Palin kept herself alive is depressingly accurate. Why can’t they just take out the moderator entirely and let the candidates question each other? Palin wouldn’t stand a chance then.[/quote]
Or at least have a few more rounds of back and forth on the same issues. It’s not really a debate in my mind if they only address each issue once and move on.[/quote]
Here’s a headline from sympatico.ca:
“Palin exceeds expectations, but Biden razor sharp
The vice-presidential debate wasn’t the political car wreck that many had expected. “
October 2nd, 2008 at 10:20 pm
Well that was my first twitting (twittering?) experience…I thank you, as well, for the play by play. Although I watched the US debate, I also flitted back and forth between the Canadian one and wished I’d just stayed there. Palin stayed afloat but, at times, she reminded me of a pageant contestant answering the random questions…a cutesy little head tilt smile, followed by a general “I love this wonderful country and my Alaska” answer. Although at times she surprised me, she also veered off course on several occasions.
I know you feel Biden missed the boat here to some degree, I felt that, for the most part, he was believable. Now, maybe it’s just that these guys get good at acting, but when he spoke he seemed to be heartfelt and sincere. I just don’t buy Palin’s act.
October 2nd, 2008 at 10:34 pm
DOG GONE IT, …………DOG GONE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Is that how a vice presidential hopeful should speak in front of millions to show intelligence???? The way she said it too, with that back woods swagger, and Alaskan accent to cap one of her points. Sorry, but I don’t want soccer mom representing my country on the world stage. Really, both party’s have nothing I’m looking to buy. What happened to the days when we had a slew of candidates to choose from.
October 2nd, 2008 at 10:40 pm
It was boring and I learned nothing new.
Except I was wondering when was the last time I thought of “Dating” the Vice President? If you get my drift?….nudge…nudge….wink….wink.
October 2nd, 2008 at 10:49 pm
OOOOoooooh I love to dance a little side step…
October 2nd, 2008 at 10:53 pm
[quote comment="67438"]It was boring and I learned nothing new.
Except I was wondering when was the last time I thought of “Dating” the Vice President? If you get my drift?….nudge…nudge….wink….wink.[/quote]
Yes Robert, we get it, Joe Biden is a handsome man.
October 2nd, 2008 at 11:12 pm
[quote comment="67440"][quote comment="67438"]It was boring and I learned nothing new.
Except I was wondering when was the last time I thought of “Dating” the Vice President? If you get my drift?….nudge…nudge….wink….wink.[/quote]
Yes Robert, we get it, Joe Biden is a handsome man.[/quote]
Indubitably so. Handsome and liberated.
October 2nd, 2008 at 11:59 pm
Busted!!!!!!!!!!
October 3rd, 2008 at 12:54 am
” On climate change, Palin was quick to say that she isn’t one to “attribute every activity of man to the changes in the climate.”
“There is something to be said also for man’s activities, but also for the cyclical temperature changes on our planet,” she said. ”
…yeah, that’s a clear indication that she’d do nothing on climate change…and the main reason that her train wreck candidacy needs to stay out of any leadership position.
October 3rd, 2008 at 2:51 am
she makes my skin crawl
October 3rd, 2008 at 3:36 am
Yeah, as much as I enjoy looking at Palin and think she’s pretty charming… when you watch her for more than 5 or 10 minutes you realize her whole way of speaking is an act that she’s trained herself in with the winking and the smiling. She’s so used to using charisma that she’s using it instead of actually answering straight forward questions.
I only watched a bit of it before (honestly surprisingly to myself), I became more interested in the Canadian English debate. In the little bit I saw, I did honestly think she was very well spoken and to some people, she would appear to have done quite well. But when you really look at the questions and her responses, you realize that she is too afraid to say anything against her party, ‘Maverick’ or their policies that may come back to bite her in the ass.
The only honest opinion I’ve heard her express is the pro life one.
October 3rd, 2008 at 3:54 am
[quote comment="67396"]Yeah…I don’t think I’m going to touch twitter. I tend t agree with your original assessment of it.[/quote]
Since I am a complete null regarding computer issues, I haven’t quite figured what this twitter-thing is about, how it works and so on.
I just see a lot of people telling what they’re doing right now. I can’t really believe that they create online-networks for exactly and only that…
I just signed up there and - wooops - am ‘following Matthew Good’ automatically??
Confusing little toy that …
October 3rd, 2008 at 4:33 am
Ok, on topic:
Having successfully forced myself to stay up til 3 a.m. after I just didn’t make it for the Obama-McCain-debate, I watched the performance of Palin and Biden right until they reached the Israel-Palestine issue, then I couldn’t stand it any longer, turned down the volume and indulged into a loud and angry monologue on how there should any significant change be made to the situation of palestinians and thus the political climate in the whole middle east, when there are 2 candidates on the run that both view a regime that is forced on the palestinian people without asking them for their wishes, hopes and needs, as an ultimate and expedient solution to palestinian problems. And this is exactly happening when Obama and too McCain remain on that so far point of view of the Bush administration that there was absolutely no reason to respect the democratic choice of the palestinian people in any way that lead to Hamas coming into power.
What the US ( allies including my own home country) are doing in Palestine is nothing less than flawless interest policy, no matter the needs and the will of the people that have to live there. Witnessing all this pseudo morality that coloured a country like Iran a 2nd Nazi-Germany that was up for a “second Holocaust” on Israelis while the state of Israel was called “a close friend”, almost made me cry. No words lost about the terrible crimes against humanity this country remains committing every day for more than 60 years now.
On March 22nd 1979, UN resolution 446 was passed, calling on Israel to adhere to the 4th Geneva Convention on the safety of civilians at times of war. It was the 10th resolution to my knowledge that passed both SC or the GA, condemning Israel’s aggressive and inhumane behavior in Palestine until that day, none of them would ever be obeyed by the state of Israel.
I was born on that day.
October 3rd, 2008 at 4:41 am
Palin was embarrassing, I could only watch for a few minutes at a time before switching back to the Canadian debate, which was far more intelligent.
Biden wasn’t very impressive either.
October 3rd, 2008 at 5:41 am
I have to saw, if I was just going to vote based on Likability, then it would be hard.
I think that her and Biden did well last night. But like another poster commented, I really didnt learn anything.
I did do some fact checking on some of what they went back and forth on, and I saw errors on both of them. So accurate fact speaking was a draw.
Most comment on her *folksy* speak. But frankly, I actually like that. She has the ability to talk to the people with a simple way, but still use intelligent words. And thats a whole hell of a lot better then being talked. With that said, Biden also has a way of speaking and capturing your attention as well. I was very refreashed to see some emotion come out of him, its a beautiful thing. And frankly, if most *politicians* spoke with their heart instead of their party affliations talking points, it would be recieved well. At least thats what I believe. Either way, I dont think their is a political figure head who is always honest and factual. In truth, you really dont get that far with out the ability to BS your way out of something.
October 3rd, 2008 at 5:43 am
err..
I dont think there is a…
Thats better.
I need more coffee.
October 3rd, 2008 at 9:04 am
I thought Biden held back too much. I’m aware of what the perception or reaction might have been if he’d just bare-knuckled his way through it - but she threw her hat in the ring and if that means you take a beating because you don’t know your ass from a hole in the ground then so be it.
On Palin - I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. I yelled at the TV. Her comments on ANWR - the Arctic Natiional Wildlife Refuge are scary and hit very close to home for me being a Yukoner. I was recently at a meeting for the Porcupine Caribou Herd Management Board (PCHMB) that concerns itself with the declining numbers of this herd (173,000 down to 100,000 in about 10 years) and the impact this will have on First Nations Groups in the NWT, Yukon, and Alaska. You might have heard of this situation with the ‘Being Caribou” documentary done by husband & wife team Karsten Heuer and Leanne Allison (here’s a link if you have not: http://www.beingcaribou.com/
If she think opening up that area of ANWR (area 1002) is going to solve the energy crisis in the US - she is misinformed and for her to say that this can be done in an environmentally sound way - well that makes about as much sense as the rest of the shit she said last night.
Gotta go home now and steam clean the carpet in the TV room (I barfed when she said “Say it ain’t so Joe’ like she was talking to Buck Owens and Roy Clark on Hee Haw.
October 3rd, 2008 at 10:08 am
One of my friends summed it up very nicely by saying “Joey the Shark eats bigger pieces of shit for breakfast”.
October 3rd, 2008 at 1:09 pm
I only managed to listen to the Iraq policy section - I could not follow her thought process (?) at all. Gave me a headache. Saying something about waving a White Flag… Her winks and the smirk are quite incredible though but wear off soon.
I don’t think she is misinformed, she is as informed as she ever will be, in her own very very special way. I think I actually envy that, to stand there and speak with such confidence and in such convoluted ways - impressive, but hard to Bear.
Canadian debate was so much more interesting.