It Was Just a Flesh Wound

In tonight's debate, Sarah Palin showed that her interview, dubbed by even some conservative pundits as one of the worst interviews ever with the ever-insolent, always self-indulgent Katie Couric made infamous by Tina Fey's comedically brilliant portrayal of her was merely a flesh wound.

Palin performed well. Better than anyone planned, which isn't saying much, but a solid performance as Vice-Presidential-hockey-mom-hopeful. Biden is good. He's very good. Polished, good-looking, well-spoken and articulate, he's got credibility as a single father who raised his two sons alone after a tragic car accident that took his wife and daughter.

However, we also have to remember that Biden is part of a group of people with an approval rating that ranges from a truly pathetic 9% to a not-too-much-better dismal 25%, depending on which poll you read. He's been in the Senate for almost thirty years. In this climate, I don't see how that could do anything but harm his candidacy. Palin, on the other hand, is, as she puts it, a "fresh face" with new ideas - at least until Randy Scheunmann finishes force feeding her the Kool-Aid of Neo-Conservatism.

As a point for point, and on a more superficial level, Palin looked phenomenal, and spoke like a mom, which I believe is her strength. Biden scored points talking about his family, and I admit I almost got a little choked up as he did so. Overall, even though I disagree with most of what Biden believes in, I'd have to say that Biden was slightly more convincing, although his statements about Obama not being ready to be Commander in Chief during the primaries came back to haunt him in this debate - well played on the part of Palin. I do think Palin came across as more populist, which is what the country is looking for right now in the wake of all of this financial mess.

At this point, I actually think McCain is dragging Palin down. I think she could probably do a better job of being convincing as a candidate than McCain. Biden only adds to Obama's charisma. His eloquence and ability to tell a story is stellar.

Both candidates spent a significant amount of time bragging about their principal's record on economic matters. With respect to the economy, neither Obama nor McCain knows anything about worth speaking of. McCain has even admitted to this. After almost thirty years in the Senate, and having voted on hundreds of bills that affect the economy, this is shameful, even criminal in my opinion. Why would the people of this country allow an elected official who admits "I don't know as much about the economy as I should" to vote on bills that define economic policy for the nation? That would certainly explain his absurd immigration bill he authored with Kennedy. Neither Obama and McCain have spent any amount of their career in the private sector, and have instead worked for government or quasi-governmental groups, and both have surrounded themselves with people who are financial criminals. Neither candidate understands the challenges of running a business or operating anything on a fixed budget or the devastating effects of illegal immigration on this country. Neither could stand on his own for a week without his government paycheck.

Taxation came up briefly, though not enough time was allotted to the subject. Palin actually has a decent personal record on taxes, from property taxes in Wasilla, Alaska, to the windfall profits tax on oil companies, the suspension of the state fuel tax in Alaska, and the elimination of the inventory tax on small business. It doesn't matter that she did some of that work in a town of 8,000 or in a state of less than 700,000. Its tax reform, its the right thing to do and its a start. I think that of all the candidates, she's the single bright light there with what appears to be a solid understanding of how the economy works and the basic effects of taxation upon an economy. I'm still not voting for her, but at least she is the lesser of the four evils.

Biden's tax mantra is fairness. Fairness? What's fair? What would be fair is if government would stop squandering billions of dollars, devaluing our currency and commiting us to billions each year in useless foreign aid that study after study shows has little or no effect, and in some cases, a negative effect upon the way nations react to us. Biden and Obama want to raise taxes on incomes over $250,000 per year, and regardless of what Obama wants to tell Bill O'Reilly on his show while they play softball with one another, Obama supports raising the capital gains tax to 35%. The reality of the tax issue is that raising taxes on people who make $250k per year is the same as raising taxes on small business. That will most certainly equate to the loss of jobs. That's not what we need right now.

I do believe that McCain probably has a better energy plan on paper, but I don't know that I trust him to implement it or do as much with alternative energy as Obama would. Most Republicans are, in fact, for some reason, married to big oil, which does everything it can do to quash alternative energy. "Competition is bad, mmmkay?" On the other hand, I'm certain Obama won't drill off shore because of his marriage to lunatic-fringe environmental groups, and I'm almost positive that clean coal and nuclear power wouldn't see a significant expansion under Obama, no matter what he says on the stump. I do believe John McCain would do more for nuclear energy, which I support, and I think that clean coal would be pushed. McCain's close ties with big oil will lead to $4 billion in government welfare for oil companies, which I find absurd. They don't need it.

On healthcare, McCain's plan to tax smployer provided health care plans is a disaster waiting to happen, and Obama's plan to mandate health care is a bad idea as well. McCain has it right on allowing insurance companies to cross state lines in competing with one another (insurance companies are currently not allowed to compete with one another in a different state, reducing competition and driving prices up), but he has it wrong on a measley $5000 tax credit for families to pay for that health care. Subsidies only drive the price of items up, and attempts by government to price-fix only lead to poor service, reduction in choices and inflated profits for corporations. Oil companies are a great examples of what subsidies do.

I was disappointed that neither candidate mentioned the Pickens Plan. Very disappointed. Its such a failure of both of them to ignore Pickens as the founder of a swelling greass-roots movement that I wanted to throw rotten fruit at the both. I wasn't surprised, though.

On foreign policy, Biden wiped the floor with Palin's cute hair-do. The Bush administration's foreign policy has made Jimmy Carter look like a Nobel Prize Winner - oh wait. He is. Bush the Younger has alienated most of the world, most notably Russia with an unbridled, unwise and unnecessary expansion of NATO to nations bordering Russia who have zero ability to provide any assistance to any other member nation. the Ukraine can't even heat its own homes, much less honor the spirit of reciprocity of a NATO agreement.

We heard from Palin that John McCain knows how to win a war. From whom did he learn this? His time in the Senate? In Vietnam while he was a prisoner of war and appeared in propaganda films for the Communist regime? Because he was a pilot he knows how to win a war? If memory serves me, we hired a pilot eight years ago, and look how that turned out. No, Biden and Obama are the clear front runners on foreign policy in my opinion. I'd really prefer not to go to war against Iran, and there are ways to prevent Ahmadinejad and the rest of his handlers from acquiring nukes without going to war on behalf of Isreal. Just because we have 300 million people here in this country doesn't mean we have spare military personnel to throw into the grinder on behalf of the corrupt and bullying state of Isreal, a state who has made a tidy little cottage industry by stealing nuclear (pronounced "nuke-ular" is you're George the Younger) secrets and selling them to our dear friends the Chinese. If McCain is elected, we will not probably go to war with Iran. We will most certainly go to war with Iran.

All in all, I actually enjoyed the debate. I thought both Vice Presidential candidates did a fine job expressing the platforms of their bosses. I wish the two of them had slugged it out a bit more, but that's the Libertarian in me desiring to see permanent damage done to both the Republican and Democrat Party. Any time I get to see blood, whether its blue or red, I'm happy.