Biden, Palin, McCain, Obama: A Media Overview

This may be the only time I'll rank Biden as the highlight of this race but his latest remarks at a town hall event were the most honest and newsworthy in the last news cycle. Joe addressed what we all have been thinking since the Democratic Convention, Democrats and Republicans alike. Hillary would have been a better pick for V.P. if the Democrats wanted a sure win. Joe took it even further by declaring Hillary is more than qualified to be president. Granted, Biden was bringing all of this up in order to defend his dear friend Hillary against some disparaging remarks made by an audience member but he easily could have stuck up for Hillary without declaring her superiority to himself as a V.P. pick. and reviving the idea that Hillary is without a doubt qualified to be number one. Biden's remarks speak to the inner thoughts of all moderate Democrats. Having said that, I can see why Obama's hands were tied where Hillary was concerned. Though he and she would have been an unstoppable ticket, there is no way Obama could have her as his running mate and remain his own man. Having Hillary as V.P. would have made Obama forever beholden to her. His ability to run the country would be at the mercy of the Clinton's throughout his presidency. The power Hillary would wield over Obama would make Cheney's sway over Bush look like a muse. Had Obama wanted to put his party's interests first he would have fallen on his sword and taken Hillary as his V.P. but Obama had been reading the press, he was the Messiah, he needed no one else to secure victory. Biden seemed a logical solution. Had Palin not been McCain's choice Joe would have been a solid pick. Those sneaky Republicans!

Palin ranks as the second most interesting media subject. Her premiere interview with Charlie Gibson was not a comfortable sit-down to say the least. No warm up questions to put Sarah at ease, right off the mark Gibson goes for the jugular. Was that fair? Sure it was. And though Palin was not at all at ease she managed to stay on track answering the questions clearly and forcefully. She gave no rambling undecipherable answers though it seems most of her responses were edited and clipped by ABC. I kept thinking while watching, Gibson would never dream of looking over his glasses and glare skeptically at Obama the way he did to Palin but that too is par for the course. She looked him in the eye and called him by name. Granted, Charlie had the pressure of redeeming himself after the weak performance he gave during the primary debates. He had to push the limits of fair journalistic practices. Push, he did but I do not believe he went over the line (by today's partisan media standards). All in all Palin did a great job and Gibson did too. What I am most interested in is the dynamic between Palin and Biden during the V.P. debates. There are so many wild cards in that deck, no telling what will spill out!

McCain had a good day all around. He looked presidential during his visit to Ground Zero and he was wonderful at the Columbia Forum. I loved the way Judy and what's his name tried to drum up a rich taking advantage of the poor issue when stating mostly sons and daughters of minorities and poor sign up for the military (excluding McCain's own sons, of course). McCain made an excellent point, highlighting the fact that the sons and daughters of the wealthy may well serve more often in the military if elitist institutions such as Columbia would allow ROTC to have a presence on campus. A combination of gasps and claps could be heard in the audience. McCain also pretended to fall asleep for a second, making fun of his own advanced age status. His self-deprecation was a much needed chuckle in an otherwise bore-a-thon. McCain was straightforward with all of his answers and never let the phrasing of the questions color his message. He is a seasoned pro and knows exactly where he stands on the issues. Though the moderators were polite to McCain, their poker-faced demeanor noticeably changed to gushing and eye-batting when The One hit the stage.

Speaking of Boy Wonder, he did a fine job in the O'Reilly interview. O'Reilly served up tough questions but to O'Reilly's credit he conducted the interview as mano y mano. There was no condescending tone to any of the questions like Gibson's grilling of Palin. The entire intereview was left unedited which was not the case with Palin's interview. Obama smiled and cracked some jokes. The two men were open and respectful to what each other's "job" was during the interview. One notable weak spot was when Obama's answers to O'Reilly's military probes did not line up to answers Obama gave several months ago. Now Obama claims he is for a bigger more robust military, even reiterating last night, McCain's call for ROTC on college campuses. I'm not convinced which answer Obama is married to but he sounded sensible in front of the academia crowd. The most entertaining moment of the Snorum at Columbia came when an earlier answer of McCain's was referenced in which McCain said he would appoint Obama to head up a Service team in a McCain administration. Obama answered the same question by jokingly offering a deal with McCain making Obama the president on the spot if McCain were guaranteed the Service post in an Obama administration. The crowd chuckled along, Obama grinned, lapping up the vision of his immediate coronation, ending this whole Palin nightmare once and for all. Then out of no where yet another female served to burst his moment of glory. Judy Woodruff, of all people, (I suppose only in an attempt at being cute), piped in asking Obama if he would accept the Service position in a McCain cabinet? Knives shot from Obama's eyes, all oxygen leaving the auditorium in one instant giant suck. Obama exhaled, steam bursting from his nostrils, mumbling some sort of response about having "to work on that one some more", translating into, Judy, you better get your girdle on straight before I whip your bottle blonde *%#, you %@*! ^$&@!!!

As of today, after this last flurry of press, the mojo is squarely in McCain's favor if only for the moment because make no mistake, the competition is far from over. The next month and a half will be a street fight up to the end. We Americans yearn for non-partisanship, a government that works together for the benefit of the nation but we also demand our leader be steely strong, a deft diplomat and fierce fighter all in one. This campaign will serve to reveal what the next president is truly made of.