Debate: Joe Biden Takes the Advantage Over Sarah Palin

Debate: Joe Biden takes the advantage over Sarah Palin by Philippe Gélie

Combative and seductress, Sarah Palin never even lowered her guard facing an impeccable Joe Biden in his role as the Democratic running mate.

A candidate for the United States vice presidency has two missions: don’t create problems for the candidate at the head, and convince public opinion that he would be capable to take over for the future president at any moment. At this juncture, Joe Biden without a doubt hit a bull’s eye Thursday night. Sarah Palin, while showing deftness and mastery of the issues above and beyond expectations placed on her, without a doubt only fulfilled half of the deal.

All telegenic winks and smiles, part mechanical doll and part iron lady, John McCain’s running mate never lowered her guard facing her Democratic rival. Using vocabulary as close as possible to that of a man of the streets, punctuated by “gotcha” and “damn right,”* the governor of Alaska showed that nothing disturbed her. She valiantly defended John McCain’s positions, flaunting herself as a mother anchored in small-town America and determined to “change Washington.” Without abandoning his seriousness, Joe Biden concentrated his attacks on the Arizona senator, treating his opponent to an evening of respect. But, more than once, he looked at her dumfounded, almost in admiration of her composure.

“Hey, can I call you Joe?” started the Republican even before the microphones were turned on. Denouncing “the greed and corruption of Wall Street,” she called “all the country’s Joe-Six-Packs and hockey moms to band together and say: never again. It could be a sacrifice for the good of the country.” The rest followed in the same vein: “Darn right we need tax relief for Americans. It wouldn’t be bad for Washington to bring a little bit of reality from Wasilla,” her Alaska hometown. “Thank God, John McCain is a reformist. We are a team of mavericks.” And when Biden made the point that she was sidetracking, “I may not be responding to the questions as you would like, but I’ll speak directly to the American people.”

On Barack Obama’s side, his running mate projected an image of austerity rarely associated with his legendary volubility. While Palin reeled off catch phrases with a toothpaste smile and winks to the auditorium, he aligned the numbers and tirelessly recalled the positions defended by McCain and Obama. “We spend in three weeks in Iraq what we have invested in seven years in Afghanistan. I haven’t heard anything that distinguishes the politics of John McCain from those of George Bush on Iran, Iraq, Israel, or Afghanistan.” “Joe, there you go again,” replied the young woman. “Pointing backwards. Let’s look ahead and tell Americans what we have to plan to do for them in the future.” And, with a radiant smile aimed straight at the camera, “John McCain knows how to win a war!”

On this point, however, the authenticity was on Biden’s side instead. He himself also had his projections: “We have a different value set.” On the Republican health insurance plan: “I call that the ultimate bridge to nowhere,” an allusion to a controversial project in Alaska. When Palin described climate change as a cyclic phenomenon: “If you don’t understand what the cause is, it’s virtually impossible to come up with a solution.” The Senate veteran also granted himself the only emotional moment of the debate when he brought up, in a choked up voice, his son about to leave for Iraq. But the governor of Alaska gave a guarded response: “Your plan is a white flag of surrender. I have great respect for your family. Barack Obama though, another story there.”

After a series of disappointing interviews, Sarah Palin clearly regurgitated John McCain’s program and the positions of his opponents. Neither of the two candidates stumbled, which was their primary objective. In the case of the Republican running mate, a serious mistake could have sunk a campaign that is already trailing in the polls. Following the debate, each camp could proclaim victory. “She is talented in front of the camera but for answering questions,” said David Axelrod, the strategist for Obama. “We are no longer going to judge her on fifteen-second quotes,” asserted Senator Lindsey Graham, a close friend of McCain. “If we don’t use her to our advantage more starting now, it’s because we’re crazy.”

American political history shows that the running mate rarely makes the difference in the voters’ final choice. But, “since Walter Mondale, and even more these last 8 years with Dick Cheney, the vice presidency has ceased to be a position of neither power nor objective. Historically, a quarter of American presidents don’t complete their term,” reminds Joel Goldstein, political science professor at Washington University in St. Louis. It is there that Sarah Palin’s performance without a doubt found its limits: two instant polls from CNN and CBS Thursday night named Joe Biden as the winner of the duel with more than a ten point advantage.

*Translator’s Note: According to the New York Times debate transcript, these words were not used in the original debate.