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St. Louisans debate the vice presidential debate

This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon: October 2, 2008 - The leaders of Washington University's College Republicans and College Democrats spoke to the Beacon last night about their expectations heading into tonight's debate. Here's what each had to say following the event:

Charis Fischer, president of the College Republicans:

On overall performance: "I thought [Sarah Palin] did a great job. She exceeded expectations. She was authentic and showed people she is ready to work for them. What's clear is that she sympathizes with Americans. She isn't a super-wealthy billionaire. Joe Biden is too entrenched in Washington."

On substance: "She clearly has an understanding of the issues and articulated herself well. I thought that on the question about energy policy she showed she was knowledgeable. And I was surprised by her knowledge of foreign policy. She was aware of the problems and clearly gets that Iraq has been identified as a central front on the war on terror."

On lasting impression of the debate: "[Palin] did well, and Joe Biden did well, too. If anything I think people will be more confident in a McCain-Palin ticket. But this won't decide votes. The attention will go back to Obama and McCain."

Benjamin Guthorn, president of the College Democrats:

On overall performance: "I think Biden did a strong job. He expressed the policies of the Obama-Biden platform in a concise fashion."

On substance: Americans can benefit from learning that Biden isn't just a showpiece candidate. He has a true grasp of policy issues and is ready to be a spokesman. If you eliminate Palin's use of regional colloquialisms, what's really there? She bounced around her stump speech and tried to stay in her comfort zone. She's someone to show around the country, but she isn't as accepted on the world stage. Regardless of what Palin can see from her window, Biden has a grasp of foreign policy issues - his previous work in Kosovo shows he understands how to negotiate with foreign leaders.

On lasting impression of the debate: "[Palin] was coached well and expectations were set so low by the campaign that stringing together sentences made her look like a winner because Biden didn't put her to the floor. I don't think people will be necessarily changing their opinion, and the buildup probably had more of an effect on the campaign than the debate. But this shows that Palin isn't the show in town - it's Obama-Biden.

At the Touhill Center, with NPR

Before the vice-presidential debate Thursday night, NPR host Neal Conan told a crowd at the University of Missouri - St. Louis campus that "I don't think, even if it's boring, it's going to be boring."

Judging by the crowd's reaction, his prediction was right on target.

The 350 people in the Des Lee Theater in the Touhill Center showed a definite preference for Democrat Joe Biden over Republican Sarah Palin, but the reaction was more muted than you might expect.

And afterward, members of the audience who favored Biden showed a grudging respect for his Republican opponent.

"There weren't any big mistakes, but Biden was more articulate," said Ellen Koucky, 27, of St. Louis.

"I didn't feel the debate went the people thought it would. It wasn't as polarized. I don't think anybody made any major mistakes."

In general, the crowd's reactions favored the senator from Delaware over the governor of Alaska. The first laugh of the night came when Palin said she may not answer the questions that moderator Gwen Ifill asked, but "I'm going to talk straight to the American people."

A louder outburst of laughter and applause came when Biden called the John McCain health plan "the ultimate bridge to nowhere."

Palin's comments about her conversation with Henry Kissinger brought light laughter, but the response was more prounounced when she said later that "doggone it," a teacher's reward would be in heaven -- and she gave a shout out to her brother's third-grade class.

The comment that got the most positive response may have been Biden's calling Dick Cheney "the most dangerous vice president ever" and calling Cheney's concept of his office's role in Congress "a bizarre notion."

So while the debate wasn't boring, it didn't qualify as high drama either.

"I went into it leaning to the left myself, and that opinion hasn't changed any," said Mark Robertson, 42, of Warrenton.

"Palin did a tiny bit better than I expected, compared to some in the past like Quayle. I think she could have done a lot better than she did."

On Biden, Robertson said:

"I was actually pretty impressed, overall. He kept to topics really well. One complaint I had with (John) Edwards in the last election was he used the debate to play politics. It seemed like Biden really answered the questions."

Biden also was the clear winner for Emily Silverman, 31, of St. Louis. She felt Palin was "using kind of folksy language to cover up the fact she didn't have a real good grasp of the issues.

"She really played up her small-town roots. It was a little bit much."

To Koucky, the problem with Palin's performance was that her "scope seemed more limited. She was more rooted in Alaska than national or international policies."

Murray Weidenbaum Talks with McDonnell Scholars

After the debate ended, international graduate students at Washington University quizzed Murray Weidenbaum pretty directly. The students are McDonnell Scholars, graduate students who have been identified as potential leaders in their home countries. Weidenbaum chaired the Council of Economic Advisers under Ronald Reagan and founded an institute at Washington University.

One of the scholars said she was wondering about how, in the debate, Gov. Palin kept talking about her goal to put the government aside but then in the next breath she said she wanted to punish Wall Street. How, the student asked, can you punish Wall Street without the government?

Weidenbaum said, that, of course, you can't.

Weidenbam said he's disturbed by the fact that both of the camps point to Wall Street and blame all the ills on this tiny portion of lower Manhattan. The genesis, however, according to the economist is the housing and mortgage industry.

And he noted the big deregulation bill had been signed not by George Bush but by Bill Clinton.

Another student said that Barack Obama has a big budget and he wants to cut taxes on the middle class. On the other hand, McCain wants to leave the tax cuts in place and cut spending in other ways.

Weidenbaum said that neither candidate has come up with any way to get a balanced budget.

He said that Obama was going to raise the revenue with taxes on the top bracket and will use that money on health care. And he would use that same money to cut the budget deficit -- nice if you can spend the money twice.

A presidential campaign, however, is not the time for general exploration of serious issues. Neither said anything useful about the economy.

Another student said he regarded Palin's performance as amateurish, that her judgment seems to be unsophisticated. From outside the U.S., the student noted, people believe that Americans don't value the past and learn from mistakes. He wondered if the superficiality of her responses might reflect poorly on her.

On balance, Weidenbaum said, it probably won't hurt her. Palin, he felt came off as vigorous and alert, whereas Biden at first came off as old and tired. I wouldn't be surprised if there's an educational divide. She'll do better with Joe Sixpack, Weidenbaum said; Biden with the college crowd.

Weidenbaum came back to the idea he expressed before the debate that it probably wouldn't take up serious issues. This is a game, he said, and playing the game is different from providing serious answer to difficult questions. The average American voters do not follow serious issues. Talking about sitting around the kitchen table may be the way to reach them.

She looked fresh and that may be the way to success. A serious demeanor and answers drawn from a vast well of experience don't get you as far.

Beacon staff members Dale Singer and Robert Duffy contributed to this report.