Patriotic?

I guess I feel it my patriotic duty to blog, the day after, about the debate last night. I'll leave in depth analysis to those who actually know what they're talking about but for the record I'll just give a few simple impressions.

I thought it was a beautiful night of damage control. I think Joe Biden did what he needed to do and Sarah Palin did what she needed to do. This was my favorite quote I read this morning (From Newsweek:

"It really was the Tale of Two Debates," writes Andrew Romano. "In one ring was Sarah Palin battling Tina Fey's impression of Sarah Palin. In the other was Joe Biden battling John McCain."

I have two major criticisms what I will put out there. I don't understand in a debate how someone can simply say (I paraphrase) "I wont be answering the questions the way you want me to." As Brian Williams said "That is really the only rule of the game, that you answer the questions asked of you." That being said, I also fault Gwen Ifill for simply not calling her to task on that. There were also never any follow up questions, which I found to be terribly frustrating, but Ifill had something to prove to as she is in the midst of writing a book about Barack Obama.

Overall, Ms. Palin did a wonderful job at what she I assume was instructed to do and that was communicate with "the American people" even if it meant ignoring the moderator and Senator Biden. It reminded me uncannily of the ways in which President Bush has dealt with these situations in the past.

All this being said, you can't help but respect Joe Biden for the ways in which he conducted himself. He certainly took the high road, being the more experienced debator/politician, as he certainly could have eaten Ms. Palin. If he would have gone for blood, he could have done so, but he shot right above her to Senator McCain and that was the respectful thing to do. I don't think once he even addressed her record (maybe because it is nonexistant.) In fact, she seems to be the only person talking about it.

Will last night change the election? I think not! In fact, the most important part of the debate to me was when Senator Biden explained so clearly the role of the Vice President. The Vice President is not the President. Our vote is for commander-in-chief and it is important that we (me) keep that in perspective.

OMG. NO MORE POLITICS FOR LIKE, THE WHOLE WEEKEND, OK? FREALZ.

In more important news, I won a $25 gift card to Best Buy yesterday at a vendor fair here at work. Can I just tell you that it used to be I didn't win things. I never did. Since childhood I've never won games or contests or raffles or anything like that... but now! *knock on wood* I win! It is a very bizarre shift in my life and a welcome one at that. Maybe now is my time to finally go on Wheel of Fortune?

It is freezing outside this morning. While on my bike I even contemplated how I wish I had gloves on as my little fingers were quite cold, but I resist as I'm in no hurry to pull out the winter duds.