Vice Presidential Debate 2008

William March is the Chief Political Reporter for the Tampa Tribune. The day he came to speak with us was the same night of the Vice Presidential debate between Sarah Palin, the Republican governor of Alaska, and Joe Biden, the Democrat senator from Delaware. The debate was held in St. Louis, Missouri. According to the Nielsen Media Research, 69.9 million people watched as Palin and Biden went face to face for the first time.

Both Palin and Biden shared their views of the presidential candidates, but they did not attach one another. Surprisingly to me, they both kept a smile on their faces almost the entire time. I was concerned that Palin wasn’t going to perform very well, because of her previous on air interviews earlier in the week. For Biden, there were also some concerns of how he would perform. I believe that each vice presidential candidates spent the entire week preparing for the debate, and that each candidate presented themselves and their presidential running mate very well. For Palin and McCain, I believe the VP debate helped bring confidence back to the Republican voters.

The financial market was a hot topic in the early exchanges between Palin and Biden. Palin used the word “maverick” to describe John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, multiple times during the debate. Biden laughed as Palin described McCain as a “maverick,” and he criticized McCain as being out of touch. One thing that Palin stressed was how the Democrats are supposed to be for the middle class American’s and give tax breaks, but it was “Senator Obama that voted 94 times for higher taxes.

Comparing the debate between the vice presidential candidates and the presidential candidates, I was surprised at the professionalism and knowledge that both groups had. I thought the VP candidates did just as well as the presidential candidates, and I did not expect for that outcome. The VP candidates discuss the war issues, while their biggest topic seemed to be on the financial market. On the other hand, the presidential candidates’ biggest topic was the war issues.