Monday, September 22, 2008

VP debate rules - Dumbing Down for Sarah?

Did you see the new rules the McCain camp has insisted on for the VP debate?

Shorter question-answer periods than for the Obama/McCain debate.

Less opportunity for Biden and Palin to address/question each other.

The McCain camp is afraid Sarah would be at a disadvantage if she actually had to fill any time? If she actually had to answer a question without resorting to memorized sound bites. (I wonder how many time she'll use these words - reform, change, shake things up, maverick.)

The McCain camp is worried Sarah wouldn't actually be able to respond to Biden's direct questions?

They are worried that she would not be able to respond if put in the position of having to think and explain what she thought?

they are worried that, as Gertrude Stein once said, "There's no there there."

A woman friend said to me this morning, "That's demeaning to women. It's saying we have to make things simpler for the woman on the ticket. How can she talk to world leaders if she can't even follow the same rules as men in a debate?"

Would Hillary be afraid to debate under the same format at Obama/McCain? Absolutely not.

How about other Republican women? Condeleeza Rice? Or even Elizabeth Dole? Of course not, you may not agree politcally with these women, but they certainly have the intelligence to discuss issues at length with anyone.

But for Sarah, we have to dumb it down. Maybe we should let her have flash cards? Hey here's an idea, let's make it a multiple-choice debate!

It IS demeaning to women. You can't say Palin is ready to be president, then insist she be held to a lesser standard because it's too hard for her to compete with the guys. What is revealed here is the true Republican attitude towards women. It's disgraceful.

2 comments:

Ralph said...

Not to worry. It will backfire. Biden told them he was fine with either format. So, now they can't complain about the debate format because they got it their way.

Biden doesn't need to be able to question her. All he has to do is answer his questions with the full knowledge and experience that he has, and let the obvious contrast be there in its stark reality.

Anonymous said...

I like Biden. Unfortunately, he doesn't get a lot of press (or maybe that's a good thing).

You can always tell a donkey by his brey.