Larry Sabato analyzes last night’s Biden-Palin debate

By JR Hoeft | Friday, October 3rd, 2008 | Catch-All

I was contemplating titling this post “Why you don’t need a Ph.D. in order to be a pundit”, but I’ll just let the excerpts below do the commentary for me.

Here’s Dr. Larry Sabato’s post-debate analysis from CNN:

Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, also said [Palin] helped herself Thursday night.

“Expectations were very low for Palin, and she exceeded them,” Sabato said. “She didn’t win, but she didn’t lose. People tuned in to see a car crash, and there wasn’t one — on either side.”
….
“This debate will be forgotten by next week,” Sabato said. “As usual, the VP candidates won’t matter much in the final result. The status quo (that favors Obama since he’s ahead) has been preserved.”

Here’s my analysis from BEFORE the debate:

There is only one reason we’re all watching tonight, right? It’s for the train wreck.

We’re either hopeful Joe Biden pulls a “Joe Biden” that even Joe Biden would be proud of. In other words — we’re looking for the gaffe of the century.

Or, we’re wondering whether Sarah Palin’s mastery of Stare Decisis equates to other policy measures.

Or, we’re contemplating if Gwen Ifill, in the middle of the debate, responds to a Biden rebuttal with an emphatic “Yes we can!”

Somehow, despite my fingers being crossed, I suspect we will see none of the above.

Ergo, tonight won’t matter. As it hasn’t for any vice presidential debate in more than forty years.

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