Why Sarah Plain lost the debate

In the vice-presidential debate last night Gov. Palin lost for the following reasons:

The biggest reason is basically the same one why John McCain lost the presidential debate. Despite Republican efforts to lower the expectations for her performance, Gov. Palin needed to clearly demonstrate that she was presidential material, just as McCain needed to demonstrate his “presidential-ness.” Neither got there. Where McCain came across as angry and condescending, Palin was cute and folksy and down-to-earth, but neither was presidential by any stretch of the imagination.

Which brings me to my second point, her complete lack of real substance. First, it was clear that she was repeating --- and repeating and repeating --- canned talking points from memory. There was no clear demonstration that she actually had any understanding of the facts and issues behind the talking points. Second, there were many questions she simply did not answer, instead just changing the subject.

Finally, just as McCain’s non-verbals --- his sour look, his refusal to ever look at Obama --- ultimately hurt him, so will Palin’s hurt her. The “cutness” --- the slangy expressions, the coquettish smiles --- was way overplayed.