Must See TV for Thursday Night

It's finally time for the vice presidential debate.

I guess I'll do the blog in more-or-less real time tonight, except the beginning. Can't get home until about 8:15, so I'm writing this ahead of time so I can start posting as soon as I get home. And I think I can get this live on a borrowed wifi connection where I am (now) sitting in my car.

Geez, the lengths I go to.

8:00 -- Starting out listening to NPR. I've heard that it's common for people who listen to debates vs. those who see them to come up with different answers when asked who won.

8:03 -- I'm pretty tired of the whole Wall Street vs Main Street metaphor.
Wonder how many times Main Street will be said tonight.

8:04 -- Soccer games already. But she sounds pretty real, I have to admit.

8:05 -- I heard my favorite linguist, William Labov, on NPR this afternoon discussing Palin's accent. I just noticed one thing about that -- she says "ditn't" for didn't.

8:07 -- A team of mavericks, huh. "We're on a team but we're not team players."

8:09 -- Predator lenders who are deceptive. Gee, sounds like they need some regulation.

8:10 -- I think Palin's call for Joe six pack and hockey moms to band together and say never again was pretty well put.

8:11 -- Good comeback from Biden, though -- we wouldn't have to band together on this if McCain and other hadn't deregulated everything.

[Quick, run into the house!]


Back at 8:14 -- Gee, now that I'm looking at their faces, Biden's eyes look kind of weird! Darn this high definition thing.

8:18 -- Palin's bangs are in her eyes. I keep wanting to help her out by brushing them back.

8:19 -- Now she tries to defend McCain's scary health care plan. Yeah, more competition and less regulation across state lines... that sounds like a plan.

8:21 -- Biden points out that McCain's $5,000 credit comes from taxing existing health benefits, and that many folks will get dropped from their plans, and therefore have to replace their existing plans that cost $12,000 with a $5,000 credit.

8:23 -- I just noticed Palin's giltzy flag pin. It's a bit over-the-top next to her sedate Alaska state flag. Maybe she could weigh her lapel pin down with a few ribbon pins, too.

8:27 -- It sounds like the oil companies have made just about enough profit in the last 7 years to pay for the bailout ($600 billion).

8:28 -- Palin: "Rear the head of abuse." "We have John McCain to thank." And two Main Streets for good measure.

8:29 -- The bankruptcy bill was clearly bad when it was passed (check out the work of Elizabeth Warren on this). Palin just skipped off bankruptcy onto energy somehow. Was that a nonsequitur?

8:32 -- "All of the above" "all of the above" "all of the above" on climate change.

8:34 -- She shut her eyes in an ecstatic way when she said "they are so hungry" for drilling. Creepy.

8:35 -- Biden just said same-sex marriage when he didn't mean marriage literally... whoops.

8:38 -- Palin tries to look tolerant. Well, that's news.

8:40 -- You know, it's a weird gender dynamic working here, but when she keeps saying adulatory things about McCain, it comes off as kind of like a groupie. Whereas when Biden talks about Obama, he sounds like a running mate. Is that me, and internalized sexism speaking?

8:43 -- Why is it a white flag of surrender if it's what the Iraqi prime minister wants?

8:47 -- The Castro Brothers... sounds like the name of a body shop.

8:49 -- Palin: "Diplomacy is hard work by serious people.... with your friends to back you up there. We've got a passion for diplomacy."

8:54 -- Biden is very strong on the Israel answer.

8:55 -- Palin responds by saying Biden is playing "the blame game, pointing fingers into the past.... you should be looking into the future!" Let's not talk about the actual question here, but instead go back to saying McCain is a maverick.

8:58 -- Three weeks of spending in Iraq = seven years in Afghanistan. I didn't know it was that disparate.

9:00 -- Good question by Gwen Ifill on Biden's record on interventionism.

9:05 -- Americans are cravin' that straight talk...

9:10 -- She just winked!

9:11 -- Another Main Street mention from Palin.

9:12 -- "Say it ain't so Joe, there you go again..." Do you get extra points for two catch phrases at once?

9:17 -- Oooh, the Cheney executive branch question. Is she aligning herself with Cheney? Biden's comeback is right on.

9:23 -- Biden breaks up.

9:24 -- Maverick, nah-nah-na-nah-nah. Maverick!

9:27 -- Interesting that Biden chose to address his history on Bork.

9:29 -- I do feel like I know Joe Biden a bit better after this.

9:30 -- What's a "national security freedom"?

9:32 -- Well it's over... I liked Biden's final use of his father's saying, "Champ, when you get knocked down, get back up!"