Biden and Palin Face Off for VP Debates

admin |

by Lisette Livingston

All eyes will be on the two vicepresidential candidates, U.S. SenatorJoe Biden and Sarah Palin, onThursday, October 2 when they meetto debate at Washington University inSt. Louis, MO., at 8 p.m. CentralDaylight Time.

Palin, who has been mostlysequestered from reporters, has onlyappeared in a handful of interviewswhile Biden has been interviewed atleast 100 times since being picked asObama's running mate in August.Palin has been criticized by conservatives,including Kathleen Parker, acolumnist for the National ReviewMagazine, who said interviews withCharles Gibson, Sean Hannity andKaty Couric reveal Palin "is clearlyout of her league." However, campaignsgenerally try to lower expectationsof their candidate, while raisingthe expectations of their opponents.The challenge for Biden will be torefrain from impetuous and brutallyhonest remarks that have become hiscalling card during his long tenure inthe U.S. Senate. Meanwhile, Palin isreportedly attending "boot camp" atMcCain's ranch near Sedona,Arizona as she gears up forThursday's debate.

Presidential Candidate and U.S.Senator Barack Obama has alreadyconvinced voters that he's up to thetask of taking on some of the country'stop challenges: the financialmeltdown and the crisis in the MiddleEast, according to the latestBloomberg/LA Times poll. Obamaextended his advantage to 49 to 44percent, compared with last week,when the same respondents gave hima 48 to 45 percent edge. These pollnumbers were in response to lastFriday's debate where the two candidatessquared off at the University ofMississippi at Oxford in the first ofthree presidential debates.Lower ratings for McCain couldhave been the result of his negativebody language and sarcastic tone.Overall, McCain appeared angry anddismissive, while admitting he hadnot won the "Miss Congeniality,"contest in the Senate. His refusal tolook Obama in the eye drew sharpcriticism from observers. "Becausenon-verbal communication speaksjust as loud as verbal communication,it gives others an opportunity to decipherhow a person thinks and feelsabout himself and others," said AddieAnderson, a licensed clinical professionalcounselor and life coach.Anderson said by extending his handfor a handshake and giving McCain afriendly pat to his arm or shoulder,the gesture relayed a message offriendliness and a sense of warmth.On the other hand, Senator McCainappeared very stern and stiff. Helooked angry. Eye contact withSenator Obama was minimal," shesaid.

A new ad just released where SenatorObama attacks McCain for not mentioningthe middle class once in thedebate, could be an indication of howthe campaign believes he performed.McCain, also recently released a newad where he highlights the number oftimes Obama agreed with him in lastFriday's debate. Throughout theevening, McCain repeatedly accusedhis opponent of not understanding theissues, but Obama won praise forhaving a strong grasp on foreignaffairs, an area which is supposed tobe McCain's strong suit.

Days before the debate, McCainannounced he was "suspending" hispresidential campaign in order to rescuethe $700 billion bailout planwhich kept lawmakers working overtime throughout the weekend. But byMonday, McCain was unable tomuster up enough support in his ownparty and the bill failed to pass, withDemocrats voting overwhelmingly insupport of the bill and Republicansvoting overwhelmingly against it.Earlier last week, David Lettermanchastised McCain for using the economiccrisis as a reason to bailout onLetterman's show and then showingup later to do an interview with CBS'Katie Couric instead.

Lesley R. Chinn also contributed tothis story.

Latest Stories

Latest Podcast

STARR Community Services International, Inc.