Biden Palin Debate

Biden Gave us an Album, Palin Sang a Single



The fairest take I've seen on the VP debate comes from Jonathan Singer at MyDD:

"She sounded like a moderately effective surrogate -- a little better than a Carly Fiorina, not as good as a Mitt Romney -- but not as an able partner to John McCain, and certainly not as one who could step in as President should God forbid anything happen to McCain."

The endless repetition of platitudes, catch phrases and bullet points might have worked in a five minute talk show guest slot--because Palin had about five minutes of material, endlessly shuffled.

Back before iPods, we had CD singles, and us really old guys had 12 inch vinyl singles, which often had multiple remixes of the same song. Each individual version may be interesting for its minor variations, might work by itself on the dance floor. But stretching the five minute single out too long could get really dull after a while, especially in that extended middle break that repeats and repeats and repeats the beats. And you'd certainly never play all six versions of the remix back to back.

But that's what Sarah Palin, the one-hit wonder gave us last night: the 90 minute remix version.

Joe Biden gave us an album. (Joe Biden would have given us a boxed set if the moderator had given him the time.) Biden presented a veteran's performance based on a long body of work, not just the greatest hits but full of the subtle album tracks that you don't always hear on classic rock radio.

Biden's solo album fizzled on caucus night, but he's integrated himself seamlessly into the new guy's band, keeping his style but never forgetting his role as a backing player, rhythm guitar to Barack Obama's lead.

In contrast, at least one observer thinks Palin is already looking to cut a solo album. "Sarah Palin was looking out for Sarah Palin tonight," said Democrat Paul Begala on CNN. "She thinks it's over and is looking toward 2012." But if she wants to do that, Palin needs to take some time after she gets off the road and develop a bigger back catalog of material than the one heavily produced hit she has now.