Debate Reactions Thread

Oh, and Tushar wanted open blog for some reason. So, okay: Open Blog until 10am tomorrow.

LUNTZ FOCUS GROUP: Overwhelmingly believe Palin won. One holdout says that's it's too close to call.

More reax, sent from the McCain camp, below.

“Those who have seen Palin debate in Alaska say she is very efficient, and you're seeing that now. She's taking Biden on directly, speaking at him and then turning to the camera to make her points.” (Berger, MSNBC, 8:18 pm CT)

“She's sticking to her broader message, not getting caught up in a back-and-forth on policy that she can't win with Biden. It's all about energy, energy, energy.” (Martin, Politico, 8:28 pm CT)

“In a bit of an upset, Biden so far is the less loquacious debater.” (Alarkon, Hill, 8:31 pm CT)

“Nearly halfway in -- where has this Sarah Palin been? She's articulate, quick, detail-oriented tonight. Sometimes less is more.” (Klein, ABC, 8:38 pm CT)

“We knew this was coming -- attacking Obama by using Biden's own words. And the rest of the answer – ‘we're getting closer and closer to victory, and it would be a travesty’ to quit now -- was very well put. ‘Your plan is a white flag of surrender in Iraq,’ she said.” (Klein, ABC, 8:40 pm CT)

“She knows all the wedges between Biden and Obama, including their votes on troop funding, and even drops in a reference to that Jon Stewart interview where the Delaware senator said he'd be honored to run with his colleague from Arizona.” (Martin, Politico, 8:45 pm CT)

“Biden: ‘We will end this war. That's a fundamental difference. We will end this war.’ Palin: ‘Your plan is a white flag of surrender in Iraq."...notes Biden said that BO ‘was not ready to be commander in chief.’” (Ambinder, Atlantic, 8:47 pm CT)

“Palin is adept at keeping Biden on the offensive... she answers (or doesn't answer) the question asked of her in a sentence and then shifts to a talking point against Obama.” (Ambinder, Atlantic, 8:48 pm CT)

“Palin says Obama's vow to meet with foreign enemies goes ‘beyond naivate, beyond poor judgment.’ ‘Diplomacy is hard work by serious people’ with guidelines and sanctions ‘before any kind of presidential summit would take place.’” (Carpenter, Townhall, 8:49 pm CT)

“The Palin response to Biden's Bush-bashing: Too much looking backwards. But she acknowledges that there have been ‘huge blunders throughout this administration as there have in every adminnistartion [sic].’” (Martin, Politico, 8:55 pm CT)

“’It's so obvious that I'm a Washington outsider,’ Palin says. Again, better done than said, but undeniable. This line of attack, driving a wedge between Biden and Obama, is legit, though it can seem forced at times.” (Klein, ABC, 9:03 pm CT)

“One theme Palin keeps hitting tonight is the idea that Biden and Obama are looking backward. After a riff by Biden on how McCain's policies are the same as President Bush's, Palin pounces. ‘Say it ain't so, Joe,’ she said. ‘There you go again, pointing backwards. Now doggone it, let's look again and tell Americans what we plan to do for Americans in the future.’” (Alarkon, Hill, 9:13 pm CT)

Transcript of Luntz focus group:

BRIT HUME: let's see if we can get empirical evidence. our friend, frank luntz, watched with special focus groups and he joins us now from st. louis with reaction. hi, frank.

FRANK LUNTZ: hi, we're at anheuser-busch headquarters. we had a very interesting reaction. when i started talking to these undecided voters, split evenly between bush and kerry people from 2004, when we started they were split evenly about sarah palin. let me ask you now. how many of you thought she won the debate. raise your hands. almost everybody. what was it about her performance that stood out to you?

PERSON 1: i think she just spoke to the people, the american people, and she was direct.

PERSON 2: very energetic, and with a really positive message.

PERSON 3: sounded smart, intelligent, knew what she was talking about.

PERSON 4: she was main street america. she came across like everybody.

LUNTZ: richard, you don't agree.

PERSON 5: no, i really don't. i think that she came out better than was expected from everybody, but i don't think there was a clear-cut winner tonight.

LUNTZ: how many of you think, whether she won, that she was better than expected, raise your hands.

CROWD: absolutely.

LUNTZ: example pain to me why you thought she was -- explain to me why you thought she was so good.

PERSON 6: she had a presentation about her, but that also annoyed me, too. she catered to kind of an adoreability and lacked substance.

PERSON 7: well, you know, we've seen her interviews that have been edited, edited interviews with katie couric. i was expecting her to lose it. it was hers to win or lose, and she won it, i thought.

PERSON 8: she did very well. she exceeded expectations.

LUNTZ: do you think she's qualified?

CROWD: i think she is. i think she is.

PERSON: yes.

PERSON: i don't.

PERSON: as a governor, of course she's qualified. she's been down the road.

PERSON: she's been there, she's done that, and she's ready to do it again.

LUNTZ: now, we showed a clip. if someone can hand me a dial, please. we were using these dials to have them react on a second-by-second basis. there was one moment when both leaning democrats and leaning republicans responded so favorably to governor palin, and that was the issue of personal responsibility. if we can roll that clip, it's remarkable the dial scores. let's take a look.

GOV. SARAH PALIN: we need to make sure that as individuals we're tacking personal responsibility through all this. it's not the american people's fault that the economy is hurting like it is, but we an opportunity to learn a heck of a lot of good lessons through this and say never again will we be taken advantage of.

LUNTZ: so what was it, when she talked about personal responsibility and used the words ""never again will he get taken advantage of,"" why did that stand out to you? what was it?

PERSON: because we all very angry about what's going on right now in this country, particularly regarding the economic situation.

PERSON: i felt like it was a 9/11 moment. it was a patriotic thing. we're not going to take this anymore. not just the republicans or the democrats, america.

PERSON: i think everybody's fed up.

LUNTZ: fed up.

PERSON: fed up with the politicians, fed up with the whole thing.

LUNTZ: how many of you feel we're fed up and we're not going to take it anymore. how many of you changed your minds because of tonight's debate, raise your hands the one, two, three. did you all move towards john mccain?

PERSON: no.

LUNTZ: who moved -- we've got one person moved away. brit, this debate is going to have a significance, this debate is going to stand out. watch the polling data over the next 48 hours, because you're going to see a shift.

HUME: all right, frank, very interesting. thanks very much. now,

posted by Ace at 10:40 PM

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