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Debate coaches give nod to Biden
Debate coaches not so pleased with veep standoff.Date published: 10/4/2008 BY EMILY BATTLE "Debate" might be a generous term for the Thursday night exchange between vice presidential candidates Joe Biden and Sarah Palin, according to two area coaches in the art. "It was very much a reiteration of the policies of the gentlemen at the top of the two tickets," said Peter Pober, director of the forensics program at George Mason University. Tim O'Donnell, director of debate at the University of Mary Washington, said it was a little worrisome for him to listen to media analysts such as MSNBC's Chuck Todd suggest that Palin had done well to duck questions she wasn't prepared to answer. "That's fair strategy," he said. "You can say that someone has successfully engaged in gamesmanship but that doesn't make one a good debater." O'Donnell also thought moderator Gwen Ifill should have done more to demand direct answers to her questions--particularly after Palin declared, "I may not answer the questions that either the moderator or you want to hear, but I'm going to talk straight to the American people." Pober said there's not that much Ifill and presidential debate moderator Jim Lehrer can do to combat politicians who have been coached to stick strictly to their campaign talking points. "If these candidates are being coached in a very specific way to answer things, no matter what Ifill and Lehrer say, they're going to go their own way." Pober and O'Donnell gave the edge Thursday night to Biden. O'Donnell thought Biden struck the right tone in engaging Palin. "He was respectful, but he was willing to identify clear areas of disagreement and do so in a civil tone free of ad hominem attacks," he said. One of Palin's strengths, he thought, was in drawing separation between Biden and Barack Obama, particularly in going back to previous comments by Biden that Obama wasn't ready to be president. Pober said the candidates took two different approaches to speaking directly to middle-class America. He was struck by what he termed the "down-home" expressions like "Joe Sixpack" and "doggone it" that Palin threw into her speech. He did point out, though, that she seemed to turn her folksy mode of speech on and off throughout the debate.
Date published: 10/4/2008
Nothing wrong with notes
(posted by
hvnlbrn
, Oct. 5, 2008 7:32 pm)
I heard those other sources too, life. Renny should have mentioned them, it would give his/her argument more substance. It would be like someone on the other side citing the NYT as their only source to back up their point. Does anyone else see a possibility that these politicians have small transmitters in their ears during debates? I'm not pointing to one side here, I just think it would make it a little easier to make a counterpoint if a campaign manager is whispering in the ear. Agree? Disagree?
What the hell is wrong with having some notes?
(posted by
lifeisbeautiful
, Oct. 5, 2008 2:04 pm)
Have you never seen two attorneys arguing in court? Isn't that
just another form of debating? I think it would be a good ting if
they all had notes so they wouldn't have to bllsht their way out
of a corner. Hvnlbrn - I saw some on the other side
mentioning Bidens "mistakes."
The debate coaches gave the nod to Biden?
(posted by
lifeisbeautiful
, Oct. 5, 2008 1:57 pm)
I'm shocked!!!!!
Renny...
(posted by
hvnlbrn
, Oct. 4, 2008 8:54 pm)
Those three sources you mention are really just 1 source! None of them have an agenda, right?
If Only Biden
(posted by
Renny
, Oct. 4, 2008 6:17 pm)
could not have lied about 15 times (acording to Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity) in his answers, I might think he had done better. I thought Palin won on personality and probably gained votes that way. More people will trust her and McCain if they know what a liar Biden is/was. Or should.
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