So I don’t want to turn PopWatch into a political blog — you can visitour corporate cousin at Time.com to weigh in on Joe Biden and SarahPalin’s performances in Thursday night’s vice presidential debates –but seeing that this is a place where we talk about what happened on TVlast night, I figured I’d post a quick item asking how and where (orif) you watched last night’s face-off, and whether you viewed thetelecast as vital political theater, good old-fashioned entertainment,or a mixture of both. (Please do not grumble something like "Where thehell were my fresh eps of Grey’s Anatomy/The Office?" It will make mefeel woeful.)
Despite a big glass of Three-Buck Chuck (Trader Joe’s house-brandShiraz…respeck) and a plate of "Most Delicious Meat Cubes" fromMadhur Jaffrey’s Quick & Easy Indian Cooking (a manual so reliableI think folks from both sides of the aisle can get behind it!), I wasgenerally anxious when I sat down to watch the pre-show (on MSNBC) andactual debate (CBS in high-def) with my hubby and our friend Drew (whocould not resist the siren call of our massive screen and home-cookedeats). My stress level wasn’t really a surprise, though, consideringthat I’m someone who gets emotional watching American Idol’sresults shows, and the stakes of the Palin-Biden showdown arearguably obviously even more serious than a Cook-Archuletasing-off. But I have friends who tingled with anticipation over thedebate, telling me they couldn’t think of a more entertaining block ofprogramming — fictitious or otherwise.
How about you, PopWatchers? Did the political drama that unfolded lastnight trump what might otherwise have been offered up by the networks?Did you watch at home or away? Alone or with friends and family? Withalcohol or without? And if you (gasp) tuned out, how did youfill those 90 minutes instead? Let’s hear about your debateexperience…and let’s keep the discussion respectful and polite. (Hey,Gwen Ifill may not be here to moderate, but if our potential veeps cando it, so can you!)
Oh, and this just in via e-mail from my pal Annie Barrett: "I actuallywatched part of the debate in a Brooklyn pizza place and had to trudge out whenthe pizza guys flipped the channel to baseball on TBS." Wonder how those dudes would answer our poll question:
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Watched with a bottle of Tequila and Poptarts! Everytime Palin mentioned energy I took a swig of Tequila and a bite of my Brown Sugar Poptart. And everytime Biden looked old, I took 2 swigs of Tequila.
It’s moments like these when I wish I could partake in drinking games – it would’ve been awesome tonight! I watched it in the student union building on my more-conservative college (being a liberal myself), but it was rather enjoyable because we all got to laugh at a few different Palin-isms, mostly the comments regarding middle scholers getting extra credit for watching the debate, whenever she said “heck,” and when she went, “Oh, Joe, there ya go again!” Oh, and when she said “McCain is the man you want to leave…lead this country!”
Palin thinks that she lost the VP debate.
Watch this interview here: http://tubedirects.net/index.php?q=Palin-Fox-interview
I watch the debate at home with the family then watched CNN commentary. A drinking game would have suffice for this event. Seriously, I would be drunk with the number of times Sarah Palin used the word maverick! I couldn’t help but notice how great Joe Biden’s teeth are. They could be dentures but who knows. Both candidates did better than I thought they would so kudos to them!
i’m watching it on hulu, thank you very much! http://www.hulu.com/watch/37531/msnbc-decision-08-palin-and-biden-debate
I’m actually a sophomore at Wash U, and there was a lottery where they picked about 300 students to watch the debate live in the Athletic Complex…and I was picked right at the last minute. It was pretty unreal.
All classes after 3pm were canceled today (I didn’t go to any of them anyway) so I pretty much hung around the MSNBC stage all day watching Chris Matthews and trying to get on TV. Really amazing experience.
Palin doesn’t sound like a politician. She sounds like a character in a Disney cartoon film.
I watched it in intervals- I was trying to study for a test tomorrow. But my boyfriend, who is normally not political, tuned in and shouted out for me to listen in on some choice sound bites. He was enthralled by the debates. Wish I could have watched it with good food.
A friend and I played PALIN bingo. I lost. Like i needed another reason to hate Caribou Barbie.
I went to a bar in the east village, drank a lot, and played Palin Bingo (I lost). The bar was packed – they had to stop letting people in. It was raucous and amazing. A lot of people were yelling at the tv. I can’t imagine there’s been anything like it before for a vp debate.
Nucular.
That is all.
I just wanted to say that I am not going to answer anyones questions anymore but I will continue to talk straight about my track record.
I had to work, but since no customers came in, I set the tv to CNBC and watched it with giddy delight.
After running around after work (getting my hair did, to be specific), I got home in time to watch, but was also on the phone with AT&T trying to get my computer to work – missed some of it, but (geek that I am) I recorded it. And Sara, I’m with you. Nucular. Gah!
I was hoping for a train wreck, and all I got was a smooth ride to no where. Both did well, but Palin does sound like a Disney cartoon character. Biden had chances to tear her apart, but he held back. They kept that old dog on a leash.
It was like watching a female Ned Flanders (oak-ally doak-ally!) try to spout memorized sound bites against — an actual politician who knows what he’s talking about. And I don’t want you winking any more at me either, Palin. It makes me uncomfortable.
“Can I talk instead about my views on energy”? Sure, Palin exceeded (wayyyy) expectations, since those expectations envisioned crash and burn. But we still only got sound bites thrown out with that grating folksly delivery. Mr Smith Goes to Washington she is not.
Shouldn’t have made a drinking game out of it. I got stuck with “George Bush.” I was doing okay till the end there when Biden went on that stuttering streak. Jose is NOT my friend.
The debate did nothing to sway the already committed voters to switch to the other side. If you like Palin, you like her still. If you like Biden, you like him still. But for the people in between, I think they would view last night as a Biden victory. He answered questions, was measured in his responses, and he wasn’t condescending or dismissive towards Palin. Palin on the other hand stuck to her talking points and answered the questions she wanted to answer and ignored others with random talking points. I thought her response to Biden talking about being a father lacked tact. And Palin showed that while she has this enthusiasm that we haven’t seen since the convention, she lacks the knowledge to make it all a complete package. Had Obama/Biden said the names of a US General wrong on 2 occassions or avoided questions alltogether and responded with random talking points, GOP people would be lighting the blogs on fire. Finally, thinking that she needs MORE power when elected is wrong.
I watched till they both affirmed their biased “agreement” against same sex marriage – I was too infuriated to hear anything else they said, so I popped in the 2nd season DVD of Torchwood and kicked back w/ a glass of cognac to watch Captain Jack snog James Marsters. Infinitely more satisfying.
Their agreement on “Same Sex Marraige” was really a non-agreement. I think it came out correct on Biden’s end, but then Palin piggybacked on what he said while she STILL had a different view. Barack Obama and Joe Biden favor civil unions that allow for partners to have the full benefits under state law that married people would have. Sarah Palin and John McCain DO NOT favor any Same Sex anything. So to be infuriated about that one point is foolish. Also, who cares what it is called? Marraige, Civil Union, whatever. At least Obama/Biden are looking out for the interests of the gay community even though they don’t favor calling Same Sex Marraige, Marraige.
Obama on LGBT issues: http : // tinyurl . com / 4zmvvf
http://tinyurl.com/4zmvvf
Watched for about an hour, that’s about all I could take. I’m Canadian and we had a (party leaders) debate here of our own, however a lot of Canadians (according to an unscientific pole of “people-I-asked-at-work-this-morning”) watched the American debate for one big reason: entertainment value (I personally watch more American TV than Canadian. Shout out to The Office/30 Rock!)
PS: Tina Fey rules all
PPS: Stewart/Colbert 2012
Palin is a joke. She is a slap in the face to America (particularly to women) and the idea of her being in such a high ranking position, is quite frankly, terrifying. She doesn’t believe global warming is man-made!!! But why would she care about the environment, when she likes shooting at it so much?
She played to this ‘good ol’ boy’ Joe Six Pack and soccer mom mentality and it is so manipulative and forgets about a MAJOR part of this country that isn’t like that. AT ALL.
Hey, you know who else couldn’t pronounce nuclear? George W. Bush. ‘Nuff said.
I don’t have the patience to listen to the typical bullsh*t that comes out of any politician’s mouth! I’ve been watching Paul Newman films all week. Last night I watched THE VERDICT.
I sat on my bed and watched the debate, while eating ice cream. I agree that a drinking game should be established. I should have taken a shot every time Palin said nuclear as “nucular”. I might be a little extra toasty right now if I had. There was a run of about 10 minutes where she pronounced the word wrong about 7 times. I also texted my friends and fam every 2 minutes. I had an influx of messages from people exclaiming Palin as strong, but thoroughly ineffective.
Watched most of it (missed the first ten minutes or so putting my daughter to bed) at home, on the couch with Hubby. PBS was our coverage of choice. Even watched the post-game wrap-up. Managed to not throw things at the television (at Palin in particular). And then flipped to TBS and groaned.
I learned a Long Time Ago to not watch debates but listen to them on the radio instead. I don’t get distracted by winking, not blinking, eye rolling or head shaking. It’s much easier to tell someone’s comfort level in a response by the tone, pitch and speed of their voices. Much as I hate to turn off my beloved tv buddy, politics are better when you concentrate on what’s being said instead of how it’s visually presented.
I didn’t watch, but I wanted to. We have a weekly supernatural viewing party which interfered. And what an AWESOME episode it was – definitely worth missing the debates. I’ll catch them this weekend online. But Supernatural comes first.