Opinions of Palin/Biden debate

I have a speech to do on the Palin/Biden debate of Oct. 2, and have to base it mostly on their communicative skills instead of their political standpoints. The assignment is to literally pick at every little thing each canditate did very well or very terribly.

Here's some of my notes, and I'd love to hear some of your opinions on the debate and their conduct:

Biden

Pros-
Made sure to address importance of where the economy's going, and he addressed it immediately (within the first 10 minutes of the debate)
He had good intonation, and though his hand gestures were excessive in my opinion, he did use them for good emphasis.
He addressed the middle class' concern about McCain being out of touch with middle class and below, which is a good point to win over their vote
He used many personal experiences throughout the debate, the most notable one being his reference to his wife and children, and how he coped as a single father for a long time before joining the Senate. He addressed the stuggles of the middle class in this aspect, which was a wonderful move to gain rapport.
He has some excellent rebuttals toward the middle and the end of the debate, many of which made Palin hesitate. He showed a lot of confidence with these rebuttals, which gave them more power.
On many occasions, he pointed out the middle class' imprtance to the economy, and showed concern for their well being much more than Palin did

Cons-
Could this guy have looked at his notes more? Were there even notes? Why was he looking at the podium so damn much? Look up, speak to the world!
He didn't talk quite as much as he usually does, but he did ramble and get off topic a few times.
He completely turned around on gay rights, right in the middle of the response. First, he claimed that he was all for giving rights to same sex marriages, then when Palin mentioned that she didn't want the definition of marriage to be changed, he agreed. What position will this leave homosexual couples in? Let's get married- no wait, we can't call it that!
He shaked his hands a LOT. Sometimes, his gestures were appropriate. Most of the time, though, it looked like he had Parkinson's or something.

Palin

Pros-
Whereas Biden, especially at the beginning, tried to speak very elaborately for some issues, she was very easy to understand through the debate. She used words that were very relatable and got the point across.
She had very good expressions when she was talking, at least towards the beginning.
She addressed the Wall St. issue more than Biden did, which was a good move, considering how big of an issue it is now.
Hand gestures were very appropriate.
She made very good points on troop funds, something that, in my opinion, Biden did not do so well.

Cons-
She could not stand up to many of Biden's rebuttals, especially towards the end.
When she wasn't talking, she looked pissed off, like she wanted nothing more than to give BIden the finger.
She hesitated WAY too much, especially on the touchy issues, and often used a degrading tone, like she was talking to a child.
She WINKED when asked about how she would conduct herself if McCain were to die in office. WINKED! You don't wink when asked about that question.
She looked at the ceiling a lot toward the end. She looked at her notes/podium/feet/whatever was there a lot, but not nearly as much as Biden, so I can't complain.
Very repetitive towards the beginning. She brought up the energy plans about 4 times, 3 out of these 4 times had almost nothing to do with the energy plan of either party. She used this technique (bringing up McCain's best political standpoints) many times to completely avoid some of the questions asked. She didn't even answer some of the questions because she kept trying to come back to the party's better points.

Might I add that, yes, I know I have a lot more pros for Biden than I do Palin. This is part of why I could use other's opinions- I feel I'm too biased as far as the policies go to step back and see how they held themselves as far as nonverbals, point arrangements, wit, etc goes. I tried, though!

maestrowork said:

Let's clarify: you want to know pros and cons on their communication skills and the tactics they used as far as the debate was concerned, but not necessarily the content (or substance) -- whether we agree with what they said or not.

For starter:

Biden:
pros:
- he speaks more from data points and anecdotes, referring more to his experiences and knowledge of the subject matters
- he actually answers the questions
- he refrains from being condescending and chooses, instead, to attack McCain's platforms instead of the man himself or Palin
- he speaks directly to the audiences and the moderators, as well as Palin when he gives his rebuttals
- he smiles a lot, which softens him
- he shows a lot of restraints when rebutting Palin

cons:
- he starts his sentences with "look" a lot
- too many hand gestures
- sometimes he uses too many jargons and words normal folks don't understand -- they show his knowledge but also alienates people sometimes... gives off the vibe that he IS a politician
- he speaks too fast sometimes
- he is very consistent throughout the debate, especially toward the end


Palin:
pros:
- she is articulate and very approachable
- she often looks directly to the camera/audience instead of looking at her notes; she speaks directly to her audiences
- she is poised and has good body language; appears very confident most of the time
- she is ON when she is referring to her party talking points -- in fact, she is so ON that it draws a distinct, stark comparison to her rambling at the media interviews
- she smiles a lot, which makes her even more approachable

cons:
- she doesn't answer the questions a lot of time; in fact, she is defiant right from the start, which shows disrespect to the moderator or Biden
- she is too folksy in her approach
- the winks; I think they are inappropriate during a national debate
- her attacks on Biden sometimes come off as disrespectful; if Biden had done that to her, he would be grilled for being sexist or an asshole
- she stumbles, especially when asked about a difficult topic or issue; which makes her rehearsed talking points -- where she appeared to be confident and well-versed -- a stark contrast, and more apparent. The disparity can be jarring
- comes back to topics such as energy when the questions have nothing to do with them

Click to expand...

This is exactly the type of input I was looking for! Thank you

Christine N. said:

The biggest thing I noticed, the thing that stuck with me, was that Biden spoke in specifics - a 16 month timeline for getting out of Iraq, a specific healthcare plan, a specific energy plan, etc...whereas all of Palin's remarks were very general. "We're gonna strengthen the job market (or whatever, this is just an example) and we're gonna make sure Americans are energy independent." But never HOW she and McCain planned on doing these things. She was energizing and charming, but said very little that was substative.

Biden was specific on what had caused the Wall Street collapse - deregulation. Palin sort of skirted the issue. She spoke well, but what she said didn't mean much to me. And though I don't plan on voting for Mc/P, I was listening carefully FOR specifics.

Click to expand...

This is an excellent point, too, and also plays in with her dancing about many issues. She did this an awful lot with her energy plan- she'd mention how detailed the plan was, and then completely skip the important details and just mention how, in her party's opinion, it would benefit America.

That's like saying, "Just trust me, we know what we're doing! If I talk like I mean something, you'll just take my word for it- and I know this because I'm the governor of Alaska, a big energy producing state!"

Snowstorm said:

Absolutely agree. A critique for you, TsukiRyoko, is that the candidate (Palin) failed to focus on the bigger picture of the debate (Biden's comment and emotion and reacting to it) but rather was only focused on the next talking point. (Personally if she's supposed to be so empathetic: Mom, mom of special needs kids, small business owner, etc., she missed an opportunity to prove it.)

Click to expand...

As far as her empathy goes, she not only failed to show it to Biden, but she failed to show sympathy towards the majority of the middle class throughout the debate. Watch the economic issues that are brought up- Biden gives a lot of stories of personal experience and insight as to how he plans on using his position to help. Palin just claims that she, too, is middle class (ahem), and knows where we're coming from- and that's all she really says about it. She doesn't give nearly as much insight as to how she's going to help, why she cares, or why her ideas and plans are better than Biden's.

Snowstorm said:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/03/debate.words/index.html

Click to expand...

This analysis is pretty cool- who would have they'd analyze this? I think stuff like this shows more into their character than what we hear, sometimes. In this case, it emphasizes a lot of what we've discussed so far in the thread- that Palin was dancing around issues and being very stereotypically politician-y. What surprised me, though, was Biden's speaking level. If someone were to ask me before I read that, I would have put him on a higher speaking level than Palin. He used much more business-like terms, particularly toward the beginning of the debate. I found that Palin was much more easy to understand and follow, as far as how she worded herself.

Lyv said:

This may be way too specific and I may be one of the only people bothered by it, but I hate the frequent use of "Joe Six Pack" and "hockey mom." I'm neither, and the frequent use of both and then Palin saying she could relate to them because that's who she is sort of made me feel that she can't relate to me because I'm neither. Also, I'm just not crazy about stereotypes, and "Joe Six Pack" hits me as negative. I've always thought of it as pejorative. And "hockey mom," eh. For me, those terms are a con, but perhaps they went over well and were a clever strategy.

Click to expand...

I think she tries to use those words to relate to the middle class. I agree, it's not the best strategy. If I were a politician and happened to be seeking the votes of underwear models, I wouldn't address the entirety of them as "Pole Dancing Sally". She uses inaccurate models and degrading terms to address those of a lower social class than her. She also does the same thing to Biden in the debate- she used very, very degrading language, and every time she got a little angry, started speaking to him like he was a little kid or like she knew better.

You don't look at a pack of teenagers and call them "confused individuals", and then expect them to like you. S'all I'm saying.

Snowstorm said:

Pretty cool, TsukiRyoko, and enlightening from a perspective I've never heard of. Like you, I never would have thought Palin would have come out higher in speech level. Glad you found it interesting. Hope it helps you. Good luck with your speech.

Click to expand...

Honestly, whenever they first introduced Biden and Palin and Obama and McCain's running mates, I was sure that Biden was an idiot. Palin was much more assertive about issues, and her seeming confidence initially gave a good atmosphere. But, now that I've heard Biden speak a few times, I think he's much more well informed than Palin is. Also, because of Palin's Achille's tendon towards unexpected questions, I think my suspicions as to why she was picked in the first place is confirmed- McCain saw the public reaction to Clinton, and knew getting an empowered woman on board would be a smart move. Many people will be voting on her just based on her anatomy.

Biden, despite his rambling, use of elaborate words, and having less of a "bite" than Palin does, is much better at handling unexpected situations. I wonder how this could play out in office?

Rolling Thunder said:

I'm tired of hearing McCain/Palin refer to themselves as 'Mavericks'. Maybe they could call themselves 'very angry ponies' once in awhile to mix things up.

Click to expand...

If they called themselves "very angry ponies"- even just once- they'd have my vote in a heartbeat.

Sweetlebee said:

I would love to see her have a Joe moment. I haven't yet gotten a sense of genuineness from her.

Click to expand...

Aye.