BlogHer's live-blog of tonight's VP Debate: Gov. Sarah Palin, Sen. Joe Biden and Moderator Gwen Ifill

We have had eight years of stupidity in the White House. Yeah, I said it! I'm thinking you might disagree. Fine. That is a feature of this great land of ours that we disagree.

No matter who gets elected president that person is going to face incredible challenges. There will be no honeymoon period. This person will face international and national issues and will have to speak to the nation and the world.

We are in deep debt. We have soldiers fighting in multiple situations We have rush to commit a fiscal act that liberals, conservatives and everybody in between agree should not have happened and most of us do not know or understand the full ramifications of this act.

Now if a candidate for VP wants to talk directly to the American people I see nothing that is standing in his or her way.

If her respective staff has not heard of web video and alternative forms of presenting a message directly to Americans that is not my problem.

M$M cannot be blamed for the perception that she is being prohibited from speaking directly to the American people. Palin understood that the nature of the debate was to respond to question and provide an answer somewhere in the neighborhood of the question.

She openly refuse to do that. I don't have a six pack either anatomically on in the refrigerator. Palin needed to talk to all Americans not just the ones she sat in the bleachers with on Saturday afternoon.

If we hate educated people so much why do we ask our children to become educated? Why do we want the best and the brightest to come work for our companies? Do you really want a dumbass doctor when you go to surgery? You want a correspondence school lawyer who cheated on an open book exam? Being smart is not evil and we need smart people in the White House.

Gena - Out On The Stoop ( http://outonthestoop.blogspot.com )

I would say more, but I'm tired of talking about Palin too.  She bores me and if she ever comes to real power in this country, God help us all.

Nordette ( http://blogher.org/blog/nordette ) is a Contributing Editor with BlogHer.com whose personal blog is hosted on another site at this link ( http://bigsole.blogspot.com ).

( http://blogher.org/blog/nordette )

The range of reactions that he incited among black intellectuals was fascinating. There was a great special issue ( http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Court-of-Appeal/B... ) of Black Scholar that captured a lot of the debate. Your reaction reminds me of the late Judge Leon Higginbotham's stunning "An Open Letter to Justice Clarence Thomas from a Federal Judicial Colleague ( http://www.rbvincent.com/pdf.files/Thomas_Higginbo... )." (.pdf) A stinging piece of argument if there ever was one. I find this part of his letter particularly relevant at the moment:

Black Ivy League alumni in particular should never be too impressed by the educational edigree of Supreme Court Justices. The most wretched decision ever rendered against black people in the past century was Plessy v. Ferguson.11 It was written in 1896 by Justice Henry
Billings Brown, who had attended both Yale and Harvard Law Schools. The opinion was joined by Justice George Shiras, a graduate of Yale Law School, as well as by Chief Justice Melville Fuller and Justice Horace Gray, both alumni of Harvard Law School.If those four Ivy League alumni on the Supreme Court in 1896 had been as faithful in their
interpretation of the Constitution as Justice John Harlan, a graduate of Transylvania, a small law school in Kentucky, then the venal precedent of Plessy v. Ferguson, which established the federal "separate but equal" doctrine and legitimized the worst forms of race discrimination, would not have been the law of our nation for sixty years. The separate but equal doctrine, also known as Jim Crow, created the foundations of separate and unequal allocation of resources, and oppression of the human rights of Blacks.
During your confirmation hearing I heard you refer frequently to your grandparents and your experiences in Georgia. Perhaps now is the time to recognize that if the four Ivy League alumni--
all northerners--of the Plessy majority had been as sensitive to the plight of black people as was ustice John Harlan, a former slave holder from Kentucky,12 the American statutes that sanctioned racism might not have been on the books--and many of the racial injustices that your grandfather, Myers Anderson, and my grandfather, Moses Higginbotham, endured would never have occurred.
The tragedy with Plessy v. Ferguson, is not that the Justices had the "wrong" education, or that they attended the "wrong" law schools. The tragedy is that the Justices had the wrong values,
and that these values poisoned this society for decades. Even worse, millions of Blacks today still suffer from the tragic sequelae of Plessy--a case which Chief Justice Rehnquist.13 Justice
Kennedy,14 and most scholars now say was wrongly decided.15

Kim
BlogHer Contributing Editor ( http://blogher.org/blog/kim-pearson )|Professor Kim ( http://professorkim.blogspot.com/ )|

I think I am getting a girl crush on you and Maria.  It is a blessing to be able to dialog with such intelligent and informed women.  When Thomas was announced I was the only person in my circle that had ever heard of him.  One guy I worked with told me that only I would know this kind of stuff.  I had to read some of his peices for my debate on affirmative action in college.  He gave me such a headache and heartache.  I read whatever I could find on him after that because he fasinated me in a morbid sort of way.  Going to an HBCU you get that we are all so very differnt but he was too different for me.  Then I also grew up in the town where the first of the Brown cases was brought.  My family still attends the church those meetings were held in.  Justice Marshall has a place in my history and my heart.  Without him and others my education would have been sorely lacking. Seeing him replaced by Thomas was a bit much for me.

Michelle

I blog at http://www.mommycan.blogspot.com/

It was the American Bar Association that initially raised questions ( http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O184-AmrcnBrssctn... ) about Justice Thomas' qualifications. Two  of the 15 reviewers said that he was not qualified --something that was unprecedented up to that point, and since. Some committee members thought Thomas' answers to questions about natural law and separation of powers displayed questionable logic. Even before the Anita Hill episode, the vote on the Judiciary Committee was divided. Obviously, the Senate decided he was qualified.

As for seeing Palin's nomination as a sign of progress for women, clearly women are divided on that, as are men. Personally, I am still not sure why McCain didn't go for someone like Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison ( http://www.senate.gov/~hutchison/ ).She is 65, but that is the same age as Biden, and only five years older than Hillary Clinton. No one would have questioned her qualifications or conservative cred. And Katie Couric would have had a harder time.

I'm not sure what Michelle Obama has to do with this conversation, but by your logic, I suppose that you want Todd Palin to explain his relationship to the Alaska Independent Party over and over too.  

Kim
BlogHer Contributing Editor ( http://blogher.org/blog/kim-pearson )|Professor Kim ( http://professorkim.blogspot.com/ )|

I thought Palin held her own. The bar was set so low, that if she got her facts straight, she'd come out the winner. That merely requires memorization, not experience, or thoughtfulness, or analytical skills.

I am a Soccer Mom, literally and figuratively ( http://www.thesoccermomvote.com/ ). She was certainly not speaking for, or even to, me. Most of the people I know are not that vapid and chatty, and if they are, I avoid them. What some people are calling "real"  and "genuine" is striking me as contrived and shallow. 

While it's common for politicians to avoid or skirt around some questions in debate, for her to announce that she was going to do so seemed arrogant and dismissive, as was her travel comment with Couric. She's been on the ticket for five weeks or so, she's had plenty of time to talk to the American people, but her campaign has been keeping her away from the microphones.

Personally, I want the candidates and leaders to be smarter than me, Palin isn't. Condoleeza Rice would have made a fine VP candidate. And she's at least been to Russia.

I'm getting really tired of this elite vs. normal or real Americans. It strikes me as a cover for intellectual laziness and a disinterest in bettering oneself, and it speaks poorly for our future. No, not everybody gets to Harvard, not everyone even gets to college, but that doesn't mean they are not smart.

Sadly, one is left with the impression that "real Americans" don't value learning, have no curiousity about the world beyond their own sphere, and don't wish their worldview to be challenged by people with different experiences.

Millions of real Chinese, Indians, and Russians do value learning and do wish to better themselves. They outpace us in academic acheivement, are more informed about the world than most Americans, and they'd like, or in some cases already have, our jobs.

Resentment of the "elites" is misplaced.  Turn off FOX News and do your homework. Maybe Palin will grant you extra credit.

-Lisse

@ Home in the World ( http://homeintheworld.typepad.com/ )

Sorry to dissapoint you but Thomas DOES have a degree from Yale.  I can tell you that I do not share Clarence Thomas nor Sarah Palin's veiws but do I think they are qualified?  Thomas...yes.  I do not in any way shape or form share his circular logic that your bias of me has to do with affirmitive action and not the fact that you may just simply be a racist.  Sarah Palin as Gov of Alaska has done a good job apperantly.  As mayor not so much.  But as VP not by a long shot.  If this was Hutchingson, Rice or any of the other VERY qualified women whose veiws I do not agree with I would be OK.  The thing is she is just not qulified not because she does not have a law degree but becuse she does not have a knowledge base from which to draw.   As a woman it saddens me.  I have VERY high standards for my daughter.  When she reads sbout this in American history it will not be kind.  We have a non-intellectual in the White House now, how is that working for you?  Look I get that Obama is very smart but my goodness that should be what we want in our leaders.  Smarts not to have a beer with them. 

Michelle Obama was born in America just like you.  You, nor anyone else gets to decide who is a REAL american. This is our country not my country but OUR country.  No she should not have to explain it and she is being waaaaaaay nicer than me about it.  I would flat out say to hell with all of you, and never answer that question again.  Because I suspect that those like you have already decided she is not worthy to be American.  After all the chick worth 100mill can definitly feel your pain.

Michelle

I blog at http://www.mommycan.blogspot.com/

it is sooooooooooo easy to attack folks like clarence thomas and
sarah palin. both are very qualified individuals, but because you don't
share their views on many issues, they are somehow mindless or not
qualified. 

if someone doesn't have 3 degrees from harvard,
yale and oxford, they are somehow dumb and not qualified to run the
country. i guess we all should have aced our SAT's and left school with
perfect 4.0 GPA's to make anything out of our lives. 

as a
pro-choice republican, i obviously disagree with my party on abortion.
i do, however, find more than enough in common with mc cain and palin
to vote for them.

whether you agree with her on the issues or
not, the fact that a woman has made it this far should make most women
happy. it is progress any way you cut it. if mc cain had picked a white
guy who had been in the beltway for 20 or 30 years, those on the left
would have screamed that the GOP knows nothing else. 

and
michelle obama should explain time after time why she said that for the
first time in her adult life she was proud to be an american. i'm not
always happy with what my country does, but it didn't take me getting
into my 40s to finally be proud to be an american.  

we must have watched two different debates....

i heard palin say what a
mc cain/palin ticket would do in regards to iraq, taxes, health care,
energy, dealing with dictators, israel, etc. you may not have liked the
way she framed it, but she hit those areas.

the problem with the
"crowds" in san francisco and the like is that many of them already
made up their minds before palin even uttered a word.

not all, but many
on the left won't give you the time of day unless you had a 4.0 GPA,
have a master's, doctorate, went to harvard, spent time at oxford, etc.

while i certainly don't think everyone in the united states is "joe
six-pack" by any means, there are a lot more of us "everyday" people
who do not want to be lectured by an elitist president who would rather
run the u.s. like europe.

I remember having to read Clarence Thomas' position papers for debate class in college.  I thought is this man really Black?  This has got to be a joke.  Then when he was annouced as a replacement for Marshall I actually cried.  I knew he is the ultimate angry Balck man.  Many people have it in their minds that is the kids with his pants hanging and hip hop blaring from his tricked out ride.  This kid has no power but Clarence Thomas is the one we should all be afraid of.  The thing with freedom is that each has his right to exsit and prosper no matter what the rest of us think. 

Dang isn't the word I'm thinking but I feel you.

Michelle

I blog at http://www.mommycan.blogspot.com/

What does that mean -she appeals to the normal person??  You're only normal if you're a white soccer mom?  I'm from Asian descent and I'm not a soccer mom yet so I'm not normal?  One time I went to a wine tasting (!), and, hey, I am also looking hard for a job to support my family.  What's with the boxes?  

...is that we were apt to get a Clarence Thomas on the Supreme Court and a Sarah Palin on a Vice Presidential ticket.

It makes you wonder as a black woman whether it was worth it all.

Of course, it was. But it makes you shake your head and say, Dang, Dang, Dang.

Read Renita's Blog Since She Spends Way More Time on It Than She Should: http://www.somethingwithin.com/blog.

So, I went to visit my friend in Florida yesterday. My itinerary put me at a 6:30 arrival - plenty of time to grab a bite then watch the debate with my pal. It was extremely frustrating, then, when I missed my connecting flight by 10 stinking minutes, then the next flight, which was supposed to arrive in FL at 9:00, was delayed by 90 hours. Soooooooo mad. This better be somewhere online.

Suzanne Reisman ( http://www.blogher.com/member/suzanne-reisman ), Contributing Editor - Feminism & Gender ( http://blogher.org/topic/feminism-gender )
Campaign for Unshaved Snatch (CUSS) & Othetr Rants ( http://cussandotherrants.com/ )

I don't think I am angry anymore.  I admit when all of the stories about her first broke I was damn angry.  Now mostly my head and heart just hurts.  I was one of those people during the primaries that even though I did not like Hillary and wasn't supporting her I could not bring myself to do the Obama yard sign or bumper sticker.  I would have been more than Ok with Hillary being the nominee.  She is an intelligent articulate woman.  I did get a bit polarized after the primaries were over because of her behavior.  She was a girl and I was happy and proud of that.  I am sad becuse the bar seems to be set soo low for the top jobs in our country that we would elect her becuse she is just like us.  Here is the thing she would be great in the cabinet or even as a Senator but a VP no way.  She not only does not have the knowledge base to draw from she doesn't even seem to want to get it.  Honestly I think I have read more than she has.  I know of several supreme court cases even if not by name but by what they dealt with.  This woman has a journalism degree and could not even name a magazine or newspaper she reads. As a woman she makes my head hurt that we want a level playing field but then we pick someone who should not even be on the field to represent us?

Then there is the thing of race.  I used to be of the mindset that your racism or bais is not my problem, its yours.  This election is proof to me that others biases can effect me and big time.  If these 2 are elected ....  I can't even finish that.  I will just say that I will be praying for McCain's health and strenght daily. If Barack's daughter were pregnat it would still find a way to loop enlessly through the news.  Michelle Obama has given hundreds of speeches and one phrase has been looped over and over thoughout the news.  She can't be interveiwed without still having to explain that comment.  They somehow have to prove their patrotism. This current administration is proof positive that we do not need someone like us in office.  But here we go with this mess again.  If Condi Rice had come out on that stage and acted like Palin last night it would be lights out!

Michelle

I blog at http://www.mommycan.blogspot.com/

BlogHer does have its share of McCain/Palin supporters. Oddly enough, I'm still one of them.

Nice to see you and hope you continue to share your thoughts. about the election.

~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager

Flamingo House Happenings ( http://www.flamingohouse.net/ )

I'm with madeintaiwan about Gwen Ifill -- "only the dead are neutral."   So working with her views, she did great!  As good as anyone could ever do.  She seems a true professional.

If I could (damn I wish I could) I'd put Obama/Palin on my 'ticket.'

I REALLY enjoyed the fact that neither of them got mean and nasty.  My "score" for all goes down when that happens. 

I thought Biden did well.  He's a great dude.

But I LOVE Sarah Palin, and thought she did superb. 

Scary thing to write here in this blog that has so many folks so angry about Sarah Palin or anyone like me who supports her....

I've just encountered 'well trained parrot' elsewhere.

Um, if we are taking this from the fact she is promoting McCain's policies, so too is Biden promoting Obama policy.

Folks, this is part of their duties - promote the primary candidate. Please knock off the bimbo, parrot, and brainless stuff, it doesn't add a thing to this election - or help women be taken seriously when running for office.  

nelle ( http://refractivethoughts.org/ )

/

llhaesa ( http://llhaesa.org/ )

First, Palin demonstrated that the comments I've seen tossed around over the last two weeks - 'mindless,' 'bimbo,' 'without an original thought,' are exactly what they appear to be.

That stuff was totally unproductive, lowering her expectations such that any sort of reasonable performance would leave those making such comments look silly.

The left - where I reside - calling out a woman running for higher office a 'bimbo' and as mindless. This made me so incredibly sad - and also pissed me off.

Biden did well, and watching the CNN tracker of the small group of Ohio undecideds they assembled, the war discussions especially spiked positive when Biden commented, particularly amongst undecided women - right to the top of the approve end of the scale, while Palin registered below neutral on some of it. I came away with the sense the war, amongst this small sample size, was still very important.

All in all both probably accomplished what they minimally wished to accomplish. The right will have renewed vigour in coming days, though I don't see polls shifting much.

Biden needs to work on speaking plain language. When he rambled, you could see the tracker slide downward a bit. When clear and concise, he scored higher.

You can see an example of tracking during the comments on the war here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjEMVwWZpl8

nelle ( http://refractivethoughts.org/ )

/

llhaesa ( http://llhaesa.org/ )

I am a "normal everday person" and Palin did not appeal to me tonight. First, the cutesy winks and language were a turn off. In all the discussions that have occurred over the past several weeks about sexism, I found it ironic that she'd trot out the "I'm just a girl..." routine. She didn't reach out, she pandered.

She didn't answer many questions with specifics. That's what I want to hear about. I wanted to hear her thoughts, but instead, she decided which topics she would speak on and then did a circular discussion for the rest.

I'm a registered Independent and want to hear all sides of the story -- Palin made that quite difficult this evening.  

The "normal everyday person" doesn't have to deal with the changing foreign affairs, global economies, or being up to speed on other state affairs. If elected, Palin would, and because of that, it's time for her to stop the folksy act. That may be fine "up there in Alaska," but on the national level, she needs to reach both the crowds in San Francisco as well as the crowds in Tulsa.

A. L. Venable is a Random Citizen. She primarily writes at Dimple and a Smirk (dot) com ( http://www.dimpleandasmirk.com/ ) and Our PDX Network ( http://ourpdx.net/ ).

L16,

it was actually refreshing to hear someone who the
liberal media has obvious dislike for say that they may not hear what
they want to hear.

this debate tonight was not to please or
talk to gwen ifill, katie couric, charlie gibson, brian williams,
rachel maddow, etc. it was to talk to the american people and say what
you will do for them if elected. in that respect, palin got the job
done.

palin may not have been appealing to the wine tasting
crowds in san francisco or georgetown or the professors at harvard and
princeton, but she reached out to your normal everyday person. 

I don't know if it's Ifill's fault but I didn't like this from Palin, and wish Ifill would have pressed her:

"And I may not answer the questions that either the moderator or you want to hear, but I'm going to talk straight to the American people and let them know my track record also. "

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/02/debate.tran...

Her refusal to address tough questions doesn't instill confidence that she can address tough problems if called upon by McCain, or worse as a president herself.  And at the end she used her closing arguments to grind an axe with the liberal media, as opposed to talking to the American people at the proverbial kitchen table, which she claimed she would do above in exchange for not answering Ifill's actual questions.  You can't have your cake and eat it too.  She seemed to think tonight was an infomercial and not a debate.  And that approach was only successful for the first part of the debate. 

I see a lot of pundits saying Sarah Palin helped Sarah Palin tonight, not the McCain campaign.  I agree.  Biden helped the Obama campaign.

Hmmm, I have no idea how she could have responded to his talking about his family.  What could she have done, other than what she did which was change the topic.  Sarah Palin changing the topic is Sarah Palin admitting, you got me, point well made.  I saw video footage of her face when he was choking up and saw nothing offensive in any way (comments on other sites said she was inappropriate at that moment and I absolutely disagree)

 I will admit I had an element of shadenfreude (sp?) coming in to this and was looking for her to look like she did with Couric.  She looked a lot better than she did with Couric and that initially got me down.  Which is stupid, I know, I am just being honest.  I am letting what I think of her politics taint how I wanted her to perform.  I still think she had no substance to her answers but debate wise thought she did well the first 3o minutes, and although she had me momentarily worried I think Biden smashed overall and finished amazing.  But, there was something very positive about this debate that I got unexpectedly:

I am very encouraged by Joe Biden.  I loved his answer when Palin went on about the Veep getting more power.  He made it clear he understands and respects that the vp role is not at legislative branch of government.  This is a man who respects the constitution.  I liked when he spoke about taking action in Darfur, recognizing the responsibility of the US to act charitably against genocide around the world and not just imperialistically, when it has something to gain.  I thought he did as good a job as you can do to rebut the notion that Obama will tax middle class Americans out of a job, especially when he clarified that the majority of small businesses don't earn more than 250K so won't be subject to higher rate taxes.  When she said that Obama voted to increase tax 40 times he said McCain did so 400 times and called that a bogus measuring stick.  Most importantly as I am craving unity in America, I thought he treated her as an equal (as he damn well should) and carried himself in a way that makes a person believe he would put partisan politics aside for the sake of the country.  To her credit Palin did the same, but her cracks on Obama's community organizing still ring in my ears.

Biden was an example of Obama's good judgment tonight.  I am even more encouraged by the Democratic ticket than I was before.

gena,

it was actually refreshing for palin to talk to the
american people instead of caving into the liberal media elites. not
everyone needs a master's from harvard and another degree from oxford
to talk to the american people.

i would much rather have someone
come across as genuine and one of us, then someone who thinks law
degrees and being professorial is the answer.

in all honesty, i
think the dems have their ticket backwards. i'd be much more
comfortable with biden as president than mr. elitist who currently sits
on the top of the ticket. 

nordette,

probably not such a bad thing to mention the man
that saved us from 4 more years of jimmy carter, then defeated fritz
mondale in 49 out of 50 states. the man must have done something
right. 

so you think palin's talking about her little boy with down's syndrome is glib and rehearsed??

the thought of listening to obama and biden for the next four years
apologize to the entire world every other week for everything the
united states does makes me wonder if i can survive.

we were wondering the same thing about biden.... when will he answer a
question without harping over the last eight years? when you and your
running mate have no solutions, you stand there and criticize those in
power because it is the easy thing to do. republicans did that in '96
with dole and kemp and it didn't exactly get them very far.

sarah,

just what record does barack have?? he's been running
for president for well over a year now. and voting 'present' half the
time while in the u.s. senate is not exactly constituting having a
record. i could vote 'present' half the time i'd show up at work, but i
bet my boss wouldn't like that either. in this case, obama's boss is
the taxpayers. 

erin,

i think most of middle america can relate to going to
their kid's soccer games over some wine tasting party in san francisco
or georgetown. like the woman or not, she comes across as real and not
an elitist. 

bookworm,

you can honestly say that if the moderator had
written a book about john mc cain the war hero or john mc cain the
maverick, etc. you don't think the left would have been crying foul??
while i thought ifill did a good job of being down the middle, IT WAS
an issue going into the debate. i have no doubt that with all eyes on
her, she did what she had to do and that was be fair and balanced. 

I think she has definitely established herself as a soccer mom and non-elitist.  That includes a large part of the American population.  Now what?  Now she needs to show how she can be a good vice-president and potential president.  

http://watermelonmama.wordpress.com/

only the dead are neutral. one can only ask for openness and fairness. she was fair and her views were known.

http://watermelonmama.wordpress.com/

Let me know if you find a good route into BC .. I will be right behind you!  :-)

Welcome to the reality show which will soon be known as Sarez Pilton.

Sarah Palin aced it tonight. Every person who watches reality TV (and that a lot of 'persons') wants Sarez Pilton to go on to national elective office.

She's in favor of cutting taxes but raising teacher salaries and money for education. She might or might not unleash nuclear bombs. She hates big oil even though her husband works for big oil.

McCain and Barack Obama are just the same people in different masks. They will continue the same old, same old. (When have you ever heard an earth-shattering, or even courageous idea from either of these two long-entrenched politicians?).

On the other hand, Sarez Pilton will open Pandora's chest. She'll be unleashing the dogs of war, mothers, breast-fed babies, and paying teachers higher salaries while cutting taxes. She'll probably insist on moose meat at her next state dinner.

As a person not long for this world, I say unleash Sarez Pilton on the world. Paraphrasing Franklin Delano Roosevelt: "Try something. If it doesn't work, try something else."

This should be delicious reality TV. How evah: if I had to actually wear her design: OH, Deer. (sic) 

Here, ( http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/02/debate.tran... ) from CNN

Kim
BlogHer Contributing Editor ( http://blogher.org/blog/kim-pearson )|Professor Kim ( http://professorkim.blogspot.com/ )|

I'm pretty certain I heard Obama refer to McCain as John during their debate. 

http://watermelonmama.wordpress.com/

I can't believe that any redblooded American is buyig the Obama/Biden "stuff".   I am neither a Democrat nor a Republican, but I am an American.  Unlike Michelle Obama, I am proud of American and proud to be an American.  

I am first and foremost, a Christian.  I don't believe any Christian is falling for this "change" that is being tooted.  American was founded on the basis of Christianity and will continue to do well if they follow the lead of our forefathers.

The Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae proble began years ago.  Those blaming the Bush administration are just "Bush Beaters"! 

I think most of us agree that our current financial collapse/crisis is a result of the housing/mortgage failure. I am tired of all the lies, finger pointing and bashing of our President. While I might not agree with George on everything this started before him and is just a product of greed. It is time for change in Washington, let your senators and representative know how you feel. Remember, you will never get this information from our liberal media.  It was revealed to me twice last week by my financial advisor and while watching Bill O'Reilly (FOX News) that the mortgageproblem may have started in 1995 during the Clinton Administration and revisions to the "Community Reinvestment Act" which made it easy for low income families to get into a house. Take note of the oversight placed on the CRA in 1989 by H.W. Bush;Changes by Clinton 1995;Attempted changes by W. Bush in 2005, rejected by congress. Check it out at the sight below, a good place to start. For more information do a search on "Community Reinvestment Act", you can read well into the night. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_Reinvestmen... ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_Reinvestmen... )

Palin's response about being a maverick seemed crass after that.

Kim
BlogHer Contributing Editor ( http://blogher.org/blog/kim-pearson )|Professor Kim ( http://professorkim.blogspot.com/ )|

Ifill was a pro, and with a throbbing ankle, no less.

Megan

Megan Smith ( http://www.blogher.com/haystackprofile/viewprofile... )
BlogHer Contributing Editor, TV/YouTube ( http://www.blogher.com/blog/megan-smith )
Megan's Minute: Quirky Commentary Around ( http://www.megansminute.com/ )

The National Association of Black Journalists agrees ( http://professorkim.blogspot.com/2008/10/nabj-cong... ) as well.

Kim
BlogHer Contributing Editor ( http://blogher.org/blog/kim-pearson )|Professor Kim ( http://professorkim.blogspot.com/ )|

Pro:
Ok. Palin can talk in full sentences. My expectations were so low she did better than I thought. She looked confident.
She looked happy. Good move on the black suit.

Con:

Palin refuse to answer the questions put to her! Told the moderator that she wouldn't do it but talk to the American people. Tangents away!

Not everyone is a Hockey Mom. No disrespect to those that are. We are talking about the VP of the U.S. and gosh darn it you have to respond as if you are talking to the entire nation. Palin talked to the women who looked and acts like her. That ain't me.

I can't type. My head hurts. There will be people that will vote for this woman and I can't afford to go to New Zealand. I don't know if I can sneak into British Columbia.

I'm not saying Biden didn't make mistakes. They both did. But I, I need to play music or something.

Wrong. This is wrong.

Gena - Out On The Stoop ( http://outonthestoop.blogspot.com )

She did a great job. 

Nordette ( http://blogher.org/blog/nordette ) is a Contributing Editor with BlogHer.com whose personal blog is hosted on another site at this link ( http://bigsole.blogspot.com ).

( http://blogher.org/blog/nordette )

I think she did a terrific, respectful, clear job. What does everyone else think? And thanks for the link digitalsista!

Lisa Stone
BlogHer Co-founder ( http://www.blogher.com/member/lisa-stone )
Surfette ( http://surfette.typepad.com )

BlogHer is non-partisan but our bloggers aren't! Follow our coverage of Politics & News ( http://www.blogher.com/topic/politics-news ).

I know everyone has their perspective but here is my issue with the expected bias with Ifill

http://www.womenwiredin.com/2008/10/gwen-ifill-vs-...

Her style reminds me of Ronald Reagan's style, and then she said it, "There you go again,"  something he said often during his debate.  Finally, she actually mentioned him outright.  She's done it twice now.

New topic 

And then there's that word "reform." McCain/Palin's switch from out-and-out stealing Obama's campaign theme, something people blasted them on during the RNC, to simply using a different word that they hope people will think has a close enough meaning.

Nordette ( http://blogher.org/blog/nordette ) is a Contributing Editor with BlogHer.com whose personal blog is hosted on another site at this link ( http://bigsole.blogspot.com ).

( http://blogher.org/blog/nordette )

That must have been difficult for him. He's a good man.

Sarah Granger, at Sairy ( http://www.sairy.com/ )

Biden choked up a tad speaking about his family. While I think it would not be in Sarah's interest to choke up as a woman (we know people would slam her for that), I do think that her answers, even her stories about her children, sound glib and rehearsed. Biden sounds more sincere.

Nordette ( http://blogher.org/blog/nordette ) is a Contributing Editor with BlogHer.com whose personal blog is hosted on another site at this link ( http://bigsole.blogspot.com ).

( http://blogher.org/blog/nordette )

ok, now I"m shocked.

Real, heartfelt.

WOW.

Politics & News Contributing Editor
Queen of Spain ( http://queenofspainblog.com/ )

And right now I'm not sure she knows what Achilles heel means either. 

Nordette ( http://blogher.org/blog/nordette ) is a Contributing Editor with BlogHer.com whose personal blog is hosted on another site at this link ( http://bigsole.blogspot.com ).

( http://blogher.org/blog/nordette )

 i.e.don't go where Dick Cheney went...

Sarah Granger, at Sairy ( http://www.sairy.com/ ) ( http://www.svmoms.com/ )