The Vice Presidential Debate

Here is my bottom line with respect to last night’s debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin:  it was irrelevant.   I was impressed with both Biden and Palin.   Many in the media were predicting and hoping the debate would be a disaster for Palin.  It was not.   I thought she handled herself well, but I doubt if the debate will make any difference in who gets elected as our next President. 

Does it make me nervous that Sarah Palin could be a heartbeat away from being President of the United States?   Yes, it does.    But it makes me even more nervous that Barak Obama could be President of the United States and that Nancy Pelosi is currently and will probably continue to be two heartbeats away from being President of the United States.    

As I have previously said on this blog, I don’t think either Obama or Palin is qualified to be President of the United States.   If you agree with me, this is the question:  Would you rather have an unqualified President or an unqualified Vice President?   To me, the answer to that question is a no-brainer.    

Now some of you will disagree with the way I have framed the question because you think Obama is qualified to be President.    If you favor Obama because you think he is qualified, then your analysis of Obama’s background and experience is totally different from mine, and I will probably never understand the way you think.   On the other hand, if you favor Obama because he is attractive, articulate, charismatic, and the most liberal member of the United States Senate, there is nothing I can say to change your mind because I agree he is all of those things.  If those are the things that are important to you, then you should vote for Obama.   For me, I place more importance on the candidates’ experience, political philosophies and voting records.   For more information on my views, see my post dated September 10, 2008 entitled “Experience and Achievements” and my post dated September 14, 2008 entitled “The Importance of Personalities and Charisma”. 

The reason I think last night’s debate was irrelevant is because I think most people, including me, will be voting for the candidate they think is most qualified to be President.  It’s a package deal.   We don’t have the opportunity to split the ticket and vote for the most qualified candidate for President and the most qualified candidate for Vice President.   Accordingly, most people, including me, will base their decision on the top of the ticket rather than the bottom of the ticket.  

Even though I view last night’s debate as irrelevant, I enjoyed it, and I thought it was more interesting than the first debate between McCain and Obama.   Biden was the typical old-time Washington politician.    By contrast, Palin was like a breath of fresh air.   She comes across as being genuine and folksy and as someone I would like to have as my next-door neighbor.   Palin connects well with people because she is like the people you and I know and interact with on a daily basis.   Of the four candidates, McCain, Obama, Palin and Biden, Palin is the only one who comes across to me as being a normal person.    This is her appeal.   But I don’t think she will be able to swing enough voters to McCain to make a difference.    If McCain is going to win this race, he will have to do it on his own.    At the present time, his prospects are not very good.