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Analysis: Biden encounters a whirlwind

This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon: October 2, 2008 - Sarah Barracuda showed up for the vice presidential debate at Washington University Thursday night with Sen. Joseph Biden. Gov. Palin looked straight into the camera to appeal directly to "Joe Sixpack," promising to put the "government back on the side of the people and to stop the greed on Wall Street."

It was only during the last 30 minutes of the debate that Sen. Joe Biden, the Democratic nominee, seemed to find his voice. He argued effectively that it was Sen. Barack Obama who would help Americans pay the mortgage, send their children to college and pay for health care. Playing off Palin's frequent mention of Sen. John McCain as a maverick, Biden said, "McCain is no maverick when it comes to things that affect Americans lives'. ... He's not a maverick when it comes to providing health insurance for our people. John McCain has not supported tax cuts to pay college tuition."

Many of those who saw the debate in person thought that both candidates accomplished their goals. Palin rebounded from her recent difficulties in press interviews, while Biden's answers were disciplined, and he was not condescending.

Palin and Biden both wore dark suits and American flag lapels. Palin's flag was bigger. Biden opened his answer to the first question saying it was good to "meet" her, driving home her newness on the political stage. When Palin first shook hands with Biden, she asked, "Hey, can I call you Joe?" And she did, often referring to Biden and Obama as "you guys." For his part, Biden called Palin, "Governor."

Biden ran into a whirlwind. Palin was back to the confident, plain-spoken candidate who appealed to many Americans after McCain chose her as her running mate. Through much of first part of the debate, Biden spoke largely in the kind of policy language used in Washington, while Palin spoke in more down-to-earth terms. She touted her "connection with the heartland of America." At one point she said she would bring "a little bit of Main Street ... to Washington, D.C."

Palin constantly brought the debate back to energy policy, regardless of the question posed. "I may not answer the questions that either the moderator or you want to hear," she said, "but I'm going to talk straight to the American people."

Palin blamed Obama for giving oil companies big tax breaks by supporting the 2005 Energy Bill. She said she had taken on the oil companies in Alaska. "You know what I had to do in Alaska, I had to take on those big oil companies ... break the monopoly up there. Those huge tax breaks aren't going to those huge corporations. It was Barack Obama who voted for those tax breaks that we had to undo in my home state."

Biden pointed out that Obama had voted seven times to strip the oil tax breaks from the energy bill before final passage, while McCain had not voted to remove them.

Biden scored on health care. He pointed out that McCain's health plan would give people a $5,000 tax credit to make up for losing a $12,000 health plan. "I call that the Ultimate Bridge to Nowhere," he said to laughter.

Biden appeared to tear up at one point. It happened when the candidates were asked to address their weaknesses. Biden said he had been accused of having "excessive passion."

"Look, I understand what it's like to be a single parent," he said, pausing a split second to compose himself. "When my wife and daughter died and my two sons were gravely injured, I understand what it's like as a parent to wonder what it's like if your kid's going to make it."

One of Biden's strongest moments was when he recalled that McCain had said a few weeks ago that the American economy was essentially healthy -- before reversing himself two hours later. That shows how "out-of-touch" McCain is with the lives of regular Americans, he said.

But Palin managed to turn that around. When McCain said the economy was healthy, she said, "he was talking to and about the American workforce and the American workforce is the best in the world." She added a wink for the TV audience, conveying the message that she was talking straight.

On his strongest suit of foreign policy, Biden fell into a trap. He explained why he had authorized the war in Iraq before opposing it. The language was reminiscent of Sen. John Kerry's statement that he had voted for the war before he voted against it.

Palin was ready. "It's so obvious I'm a Washington outsider," she said in mock humility. "You say you were for the war and then you were against the war."

With 20 minutes left in the debate, Biden, almost out of frustration, said that people in his community whom he met in Home Depot and in his old hometown of Scranton, PA, know that they aren't better than they were eight years ago. "The people in my neighborhood get it," he said.

Just as Biden's line was reminiscent of a Ronald Reagan debate line, Palin responded with another chestnut from Reagan debate lore, saying, "Say it ain't so, Joe. There you go again, pointing backward to the Bush administration. Let's look forward." She accused Biden and Obama of "always looking back and playing the blame game." She acknowledged that there "have been huge blunders," during the Bush administration but said Americans want a ticket that will move forward, not look backward.

Palin continued the Reagan rhetoric touting "American exceptionalism" and calling America the "shining city on the hill."

Biden promised that he and Obama would "end this war in Iraq," prompting a sharp response from Palin: "Your plan is the white flag of surrender," she said. "You guys opposed the surge.... We are getting closer and closer to that victory that is within sight."

Biden responded that McCain had been wrong on going into Iraq. "John McCain has been dead wrong. God love him, he has been dead wrong about the fundamental issues involving the war."

Biden concluded the debate saying, "No one can deny that for the last eight years we have dug into a very big hole on our economy and credibility." He recalled his childhood in the steel town of Scranton. "In the neighborhood I grew up in it was all about dignity and respect....if they were honest and worked hard they could accomplish anything." Biden promised that he and Obama would "re-establish that certitude in our neighborhoods."

Palin, in her concluding statement, said she was glad she could "answer these tough questions without the filter of the mainstream media," a reference to her recent difficult interviews. Referring to her middle class roots, she said, "I know what the hurts are and what the joys are. I'm proud to be an American.... We have to fight for freedom....It was Ronald Reagan who said that freedom is just one generation away from extinction."

Debate transcript | CNN

Want factchecking:

wire.factcheck.org/

www.fair.org/

abcnews.go.com

www.miamiherald.com

William H. Freivogel is the director of the school of journalism at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. He also writes the Law Scoop blog for the Beacon.

William Freivogel special to the Beacon