VP Debate 2008

Vice Presidential Debate 2008

There was a lot of anticipation for this year’s first Vice Presidential debate. Some satirical, some one sided, but all seemed to be in anticipation of some disappointment. In fact, most people that I have encountered were watching the debates to see just how badly each candidate would make a fool of him/herself during the debate. After the debate, I am surprised to say that I was not as disappointed as I thought I would be in each of the candidates and in the debate itself. Overall, the moderator kept a decent structure of the direction of the debates while still giving the candidates a chance to respond. The moderator also did a good job making the candidates aware of the fact that they did not answer many of the questions asked of them at the point in time when it occurred during the debate. Sarah Palin, I am surprised to say did a good job at engaging with the audience and from time to time directing her speech toward Joe Biden. I am also glad that Joe Biden managed to only stick a few toes as apposed to his whole foot in his mouth during the debates and generally stayed on task. However, I am very disappointed in the fact that we as a country are forced to settle for mediocrity from the potential leaders of our country. Although the “debate” (and I use the term loosely) was more structured than the presidential debate, it still seemed like more of an informational that anything else. In a debate, all questions should be directly addressed and responded to be each of the candidates. In terms of media coverage, there was more of a bias found depending on whether you were looking at a conservative or liberal channel. Most liberal coverage said that Biden “won” the debate and provided polls to prove it, whereas the conservative channels described the complete opposite. Overall, I expect a lot more from the candidtates form each party. I hope that the next presidential debate is an actual debate and provides the answers to questions that we as a country deserve to hear from out potential leaders.

Presidential Debate 2008

Presidential Debate

Overall, I feel a strong sense of disappointment after watching the first presidential debate of the year. There was a complete lack of organization on the part of the moderator, which probably was the root of all the problems in the debate itself. Throughout the debate, you could see the pattern of how each question was addressed. John McCain would speak only to the camera or the moderator himself, never looking at or responding directly to any point that Obama would make. One problem of the debates that both candidates were guilty of is dancing around certain questions (i.e. the question of how to fix the financial dilemma our country is facing). This problem should have been addressed and fixed at the debate by the moderator as soon as it occurred. The moderator should have done a better job controlling the direction of the debate and keeping the responding candidates on task. When looking at media coverage of the debates, I, like many of my classmates, was surprised to find little to no coverage that was particularly biased to one side or the other. With the exception of polls from different news broadcasters saying who they thought won the debates, most media coverage just simply said that they both did a good job. I found more coverage saying the McCain may have won simply because he began to sort of “bully” Obama and speak over him (not directly of course). I believe that this lack of biased media coverage is due to the fact that this debate was barely a debate at all. It was just two presidential candidates answering whatever questions that are asked and barely interacting with each other. I am hoping for a better outcome for the next presidential debate.