Debates of all ilk

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by Ghoulish Delight

I do expect the McCain ticket to get a boost in the polls from this. She more than met the rock-bottom bar of lowered expectations.

Case in point, the current lead headline at evil liberal tool msnbc.com is For Palin, mission accomplished

[Alex]

On the misspoken words front (which I don't consider very relevant to anything), Biden also referred to Bosniacs instead of Bosnians.

As far as "nukular" I wrote this on my LJ earlier:

Sorry people. The lamest criticism anybody ever makes about a politician is bitching if they say nukular instead of nuclear.

This battle has been lost, language is the way it is used. As Mirriam Webster says:

"Though disapproved of by many, pronunciations ending in \\-kyə-lər\\ have been found in widespread use among educated speakers including scientists, lawyers, professors, congressmen, United States cabinet members, and at least two United States presidents and one vice president. While most common in the United States, these pronunciations have also been heard from British and Canadian speakers."

Bitching about it just looks equally stupid (in my opinion, of course). And I say this as someone who says nuclear right properly. Saying nukular is not a sign of ignorance or stupidity, it is simply the way the word is said in broad swaths of America (and beyond). It is time to get over it.

[bewitched]

Originally Posted by Alex

On the misspoken words front (which I don't consider very relevant to anything), Biden also referred to Bosniacs instead of Bosnians.

Apparently, Bosniacs is correct. Bosnians refers to the citizens of Bosnia as a whole. Bosniacs are one of 3 major ethnic groups (to whom Biden also referred):

Bosnia and Herzegovina is a multi-ethnic state with Bosniacs (40%), Serbs (33%), and Croats (20%) as the largest ethnic groups. Their separate ethnic identities partly stem from different religious affiliations. Bosniacs belong to the Islamic, Croats to the Roman Catholic, and Serbs to the Orthodox tradition. The Bosnian war (1992-1995) was one of the most devastating wars in Europe since World War II. The most recent figures indicate that about 100 000 out of a population of 4.4 million were killed and at least as many were injured

Full article (about war experience/distress 8 years after war)

[scaeagles]

Originally Posted by bewitched

Apparently, Bosniacs is correct. Bosnians refers to the citizens of Bosnia as a whole. Bosniacs are one of 3 major ethnic groups:

I learned something new today. Thanks.

[Gemini Cricket]

I picked up on the nervousness. Someone can perfect memorizing a script but truly selling it while not understanding what is being said can be really hard. I appeared to me that she hoped that she wouldn't have to stray from her script. When she did, we heard more "betchas" and "hecks".

"Ms. Palin, we have identified a 747 heading on a collision course with the Empire State Building. Do our Air Force pilots have authorization to bring it down?"

"Oh, you betcha." She said with a wink.

[bewitched]

Originally Posted by Gemini Cricket

"Ms. Palin, we have identified a 747 heading on a collision course with the Empire State Building. Do our Air Force pilots have authorization to bring it down?"

"Oh, you betcha." She said with a wink.

"Pew, pew, pew"

[Ghoulish Delight]

I know it doesn't matter. But it's my gut reaction, much the same as my gut reaction to McCain's smile, but I have a far easier time looking past that gut reaction with McCain because it's entirely physiological.

[wendybeth]

I had to laugh when she said 'leave' instead of 'lead' when referring to McCain- she quickly corrected it, but one can't help if it was Freudian in nature.

She was much better in a dumbed down debate format, but she didn't answer many of the questions and instead just seized on the opportunity to cheer lead for her team, which I suppose was her prerogative but damned annoying to me as a viewer. I kept thinking "just answer the damned question already!" Very evasive, and very vague.

[Snowflake]

Originally Posted by wendybeth

She was much better in a dumbed down debate format, but she didn't answer many of the questions and instead just seized on the opportunity to cheer lead for her team, which I suppose was her prerogative but damned annoying to me as a viewer. I kept thinking "just answer the damned question already!" Very evasive, and very vague.

I fell the same as you WB. I felt she was adept at what she was coached to say, but I found her arrogance about not answering questions as posed very annoying.

That colored my judgement of her performance since she was unwilling or unable to even answer a question about what, given the current economic state, would the McPalin have to give up or bend (my words I'm paraphrasing) on what promises from the campaign not be kept. No politician has ever kept campaign promises, not all of them, not that I can recall. It's a small, niggling point, but it is this kind of crap that bugs me and illustrates that she is really not ready to make the jump from Gov-ner sx-pack to VP Hockey Mom (and alarmingly, Prez Palin if McCain drops over 2 days after election day)

She proved quite able to recite what she was coached on and evade, bait and switch and attack to deflect. The folksy manner and talk just irritated me. Let's face it, being a Main Street type person does not mean you hang out at the country store swilling beer and playin checkers with your buddies as she seems to illustrate. She has personality, but it's not one that apeals to me. Afterwards, I watched about 10 minutes of spin, and howled when I saw someone holding up a sigh that said Tina Fey '08, that I would vote for.

She exceeded my low expectations of her performance given the disasterous TV interviews. The right I am sure will feel great relief. She did nothing to sway me to consider my vote. Biden only strengthened my resolve that, for me, the Obama ticket is the one to cast my vote for. McCain and his platform do not speak to me or for me, so to me, McCain = no choice.

Of course, I am anxious for the next Obama-McCain debate on Tuesday.

[Morrigoon]

Any suggestions on where I can go for unedited debate footage?