Can I call ya Joe?: immediate thoughts on the VP debate

(Written before the overwhelming weight of media opinion distorts my perceptions)

1. Palin has a watchable quality; Biden doesn't.

2. Palin is like Reagan: charming, folksy in delivery, charismatic, at their best when delivering the words of others.

3. You can almost hear a click when Palin switches from pre-prepared answers to spontaneous formulations, which tend to the incoherent. In this mode she also has a reluctance to put a full-stop on a sentence, which is responsible for some of their rambling quality.

4. Her manner of speaking suggests to me that she doesn't have a very good ability to mentally work through the arguments of an issue.

5. The qualities that make Palin watchable don't qualify her for the presidency. However, like Reagan, she would be a good mouthpiece for idealogues. One senses that advisors could bring her to any position they wanted. George W, while a puppet, never had Palin and Reagan's abilities to sell a message.

5. If McCain wins and drops dead after one year, could we then have a further two full terms from Palin in addition to her finishing McCain's term? Dan?

6. I imagine that a narrow win will be given to Palin, mostly on the grounds of personal style.

posted by Nicholas @ 1:19 PM