There's been a lot of discussion about whether Sarah Palin answered the questions in the VP Debate. I was curious and so examined the debate transcript to see whether both candidates answered all the questions.
I did not check whether their answers were factual or whether I agreed with them but only whether I thought the candidates answered the question.
I found the moderator's questions confusing at times. There were also questions where I couldn't determine whether the question was really answered or not.
I also noticed several interesting issues which I point out in the analysis below. For example, does Biden support Sharia marriage law? Where does he contradict himself? Why didn't Palin say she agreed with Biden on gay marriage?
My comments are in red throughout the text.
I did not check whether their answers were factual or whether I agreed with them but only whether I thought the candidates answered the question.
I found the moderator's questions confusing at times. There were also questions where I couldn't determine whether the question was really answered or not.
I also noticed several interesting issues which I point out in the analysis below. For example, does Biden support Sharia marriage law? Where does he contradict himself? Why didn't Palin say she agreed with Biden on gay marriage?
My comments are in red throughout the text.
1. Bailout - As America watches these things happen on Capitol Hill, Senator Biden, was this the worst of Washington or the best of Washington that we saw play out?
Biden: Neither, it's the polices which are bad. [answer]
Palin: Bad economic times. [no answer]
2. How would you work to shrink this gap of polarization which has sprung up in Washington, which you both have spoken about here tonight?
Biden: I've done so my whole career [no answer]
Palin: My experience is reform [no answer]
3. Sub-prime lending meltdown - Who do you think was at fault? Was it the greedy lenders? Was it the risky home-buyers who shouldn't have been buying a home in the first place? And what should you be doing about it?
Palin: Predatory lending is at fault, Americans should take responsibility [partial answer]
Biden: Deregulation is at fault, Obama would bring relief [partial answer]
4. Taxes/class warfare - Senator Biden, we want to talk about taxes, let's talk about taxes. You proposed raising taxes on people who earn over $250,000 a year. The question for you is, why is that not class warfare and the same question for you, Governor Palin, is you have proposed a tax employer health benefits which some studies say would actually throw five million more people onto the roles of the uninsured. I want to know why that isn't taking things out on the poor
Biden: It's fairness [answer]
Palin: Explained McCain's health plan (after prompting) [no answer]
5. What promises -- given the events of the week, the bailout plan, all of this, what promises have you and your campaigns made to the American people that you're not going to be able to keep?
Biden: Lists commitments he won't be able to uphold. [Ed: Unclear whether these are Obama's or Bush's] [unclear answer]
Palin: None (after prompting) [answer]
6. Last year, Congress passed a bill that would make it more difficult for debt-strapped mortgage-holders to declare bankruptcy, to get out from under that debt. This is something that John McCain supported. Would you have?
Palin: Yes, but things are different now. [answer]
Q: you voted for this bankruptcy bill. Senator Obama voted against it. Some people have said that mortgage- holders really paid the price.
[Ed: This is a statement, not a question]
Biden: We disagreed, it's complicated. We should allow adjusting the principal that you owe. McCain/Palin oppose this. [unclear answer]
Q: Is that so?
Palin: That is not so, returning to energy issues. [answer]
7. What is true and what is false about what we have heard, read, discussed, debated about the causes of climate change?
Palin: It's real, but not only man-made [answer]
Biden: It's man made [answer]
8. Senator McCain has said he supports caps on carbon emissions. Senator Obama has said he supports clean coal technology, which I don't believe you've always supported. .. clear it up for us, both of you, and start with Governor Palin.
Biden: We support clean coal [answer]
Palin: Says McCain supports it, but then talks about drilling. Answers 'yes' to question after prompting. [answer]
9. Do you support, as they do in Alaska, granting same-sex benefits to couples?
Biden: Yes [answer]
Palin: Not if it leads to nontraditional marriage [answer]
10. Do you support gay marriage?
Biden: No [answer]
[ed: Notice what Biden says:
No. Barack Obama nor I support redefining from a civil side what constitutes marriage. We do not support that. That is basically the decision to be able to be able to be left to faiths and people who practice their faiths the determination what you call it.
Is he supporting Sharia or Mormon polygamous marriage?]
Palin: No [answer]
[Ed: Several people have noted that Palin did not want to say that she 'agreed' with Biden, but I think she answered this way for a completely different reason. Note what both Biden and Palin say:
BIDEN: (..) The bottom line though is, and I'm glad to hear the governor, I take her at her word, obviously, that she think there should be no civil rights distinction, none whatsoever, between a committed gay couple and a committed heterosexual couple. If that's the case, we really don't have a difference.
IFILL: Is that what your said?
PALIN: Your question to him was whether he supported gay marriage and my answer is the same as his and it is that I do not.
Palin did not answer whether there should be no civil rights distinction. In other words, she did not want to elaborate on her first answe.]
11. You both have sons who are in Iraq or on their way to Iraq. You, Governor Palin, have said that you would like to see a real clear plan for an exit strategy. What should that be, Governor?
Palin: We have a plan, the surge [answer]
Biden: Leave within 16 months [answer]
12. I'm curious about what you think starting with you Senator Biden. What's the greater threat, a nuclear Iran or an unstable Afghanistan? Explain why.
Biden: They're both dangerous, attacks McCain on Iraq [answer]
Palin: They're both dangerous, defends McCain on Iraq, focuses on Iran [answer]
13. Secretaries of state Baker, Kissinger, Powell, they have all advocated some level of engagement with enemies. Do you think these former secretaries of state are wrong on that?
Palin: No, but it should be done on lower levels. [answer]
Biden: Obama didn't say he'd sit down with Ahmadinejad, attacks McCain. [no answer]
14. What has this administration done right or wrong -- this is the great, lingering, unresolved issue, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict -- what have they done? And is a two-state solution the solution?
Palin: Supports two state solution. [partial answer]
Biden: Rephrases the question 'you asked a question about whether or not this administration's policy had made sense or something to that effect' and answers that [no answer]
Q: Repeats Biden's new question
Palin: It's not been a failure. [answer]
15. Interventionism, nuclear weapons. What should be the trigger, or should there be a trigger, when nuclear weapons use is ever put into play?
[Ed: I understood the question to mean: when should America use nuclear weapons?]
Palin: Nuclear weaponry is used as a deterrant, brings up surge in Afghanistan [partial answer]
Biden: Answers Afghanistan, we need nuclear arms control regime, test-ban treaty [no answer]
(Both then argue about the surge option in Afghanistan)
16. Senator, you have quite a record, this is the next question here, of being an interventionist. You argued for intervention in Bosnia and Kosovo, initially in Iraq and Pakistan and now in Darfur, putting U.S. troops on the ground. Boots on the ground. Is this something the American public has the stomach for?
Biden: They have stomach for success. [unclear answer]
[Ed: Note that Biden contradicts himself. He ridicules McCain for expecting Sunnis and Shiites to work together after being enemries for 700 years, but then brings Bosnia as an example where he was told intervention wouldn't work because Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats have been at war for 1000 years, and despite that, he achieved peace.
Note also that Sunnis and Shiites have been at war for almost 1400 years.]
Palin: American should help, talks about funds in Alaska. [unclear answer]
Q: Is there a line that should be drawn about when we decide to go in?
Biden: Yes, whether we have ability to help, genocide is always reason to intervene [answer]
[Ed: Note that Biden contradicts himself - should American intervene in genocide even if it might not be successful?]
Palin: counters Biden's statements on what he supported. [no answer]
17: How would a Biden administration be different from an Obama administration if that were to happen.
Biden: Will continue Obama policies [answer]
Palin: Will continue McCain policies [answer]
18: Governor, you said in July that someone would have to explain to you exactly what it is the vice president does every day. You, senator, said, you would not be vice president under any circumstances. Now maybe this was just what was going on at the time. But tell us now, looking forward, what it is you think the vice presidency is worth now.
Palin: It was a joke, lists constitutional rights of vice president and what she would focus on specifically. [answer]
Biden: Would give advice [answer]
19: (follow up) Governor, you mentioned a moment ago the constitution might give the vice president more power than it has in the past. Do you believe as Vice President Cheney does, that the Executive Branch does not hold complete sway over the office of the vice presidency, that it it is also a member of the Legislative Branch?
Palin: There is a lot of flexibility in job description [answer]
Biden: Cheney is dangerous, VP is executive branch [answer]
20: The conventional wisdom, Governor Palin with you, is that your Achilles heel is that you lack experience. Your conventional wisdom against you is that your Achilles heel is that you lack discipline, Senator Biden. What id it really for you, Governor Palin? What is it really for you, Senator Biden? Start with you, governor.
[Ed: I think the question is phrased poorly. Was she talking about 'what is your real Achilles heel?' or 'do you really have that Achilles heel?']
Palin: I have experience, I also have connection to heartland [answer]
Biden: Another Achilles heel is excessive passion, I also understand the 'common people' [answer]
(They then attack each other back and forth)
21: (final question) Can you think of a single issue -- and this is to cast light for people who are just trying to get to know you in your final debate, your only debate of this year -- can you think of a single issue, policy issue, in which you were forced to change a long-held view in order to accommodate changed circumstances?
Biden: Appointing judges [answer]
Palin: No, but there were things she wanted to do but couldn't [answer]
22: (2nd final question) You both want to bring both sides together. You both talk about bipartisanship. Once again, we saw what happened this week in Washington. How do you change the tone, as vice president, as number-two?
Biden: Don't question motives [answer]
Palin: Appoint people regardless of affiliation [answer]
Summary:
This analysis is subjective, and I'm aware that what is unclear to me might be crystal clear to others. Given that, I found the following:
Biden didn't answer 4 questions, gave one partial answer, and three answers where it was unclear whether he answered or not.
In summary, there were 8 questions where he didn't give a full answer.
Palin didn't answer 4 questions, gave three partial answers and one answer where it was unclear whether she answered or not. In several cases Palin answered only after more prompting. In one case she refused to elaborate further.
In summary, there were 8 questions where she didn't give a full answer.
Several times the moderator let both sides discuss issues, but I found three times where she asked one candidate to answer another question on the topic based on what the other candidate had said. In all three cases she turned to Palin to verify what Biden had said. In one case, Palin refused to answer and elaborate further.
Biden: Neither, it's the polices which are bad. [answer]
Palin: Bad economic times. [no answer]
2. How would you work to shrink this gap of polarization which has sprung up in Washington, which you both have spoken about here tonight?
Biden: I've done so my whole career [no answer]
Palin: My experience is reform [no answer]
3. Sub-prime lending meltdown - Who do you think was at fault? Was it the greedy lenders? Was it the risky home-buyers who shouldn't have been buying a home in the first place? And what should you be doing about it?
Palin: Predatory lending is at fault, Americans should take responsibility [partial answer]
Biden: Deregulation is at fault, Obama would bring relief [partial answer]
4. Taxes/class warfare - Senator Biden, we want to talk about taxes, let's talk about taxes. You proposed raising taxes on people who earn over $250,000 a year. The question for you is, why is that not class warfare and the same question for you, Governor Palin, is you have proposed a tax employer health benefits which some studies say would actually throw five million more people onto the roles of the uninsured. I want to know why that isn't taking things out on the poor
Biden: It's fairness [answer]
Palin: Explained McCain's health plan (after prompting) [no answer]
5. What promises -- given the events of the week, the bailout plan, all of this, what promises have you and your campaigns made to the American people that you're not going to be able to keep?
Biden: Lists commitments he won't be able to uphold. [Ed: Unclear whether these are Obama's or Bush's] [unclear answer]
Palin: None (after prompting) [answer]
6. Last year, Congress passed a bill that would make it more difficult for debt-strapped mortgage-holders to declare bankruptcy, to get out from under that debt. This is something that John McCain supported. Would you have?
Palin: Yes, but things are different now. [answer]
Q: you voted for this bankruptcy bill. Senator Obama voted against it. Some people have said that mortgage- holders really paid the price.
[Ed: This is a statement, not a question]
Biden: We disagreed, it's complicated. We should allow adjusting the principal that you owe. McCain/Palin oppose this. [unclear answer]
Q: Is that so?
Palin: That is not so, returning to energy issues. [answer]
7. What is true and what is false about what we have heard, read, discussed, debated about the causes of climate change?
Palin: It's real, but not only man-made [answer]
Biden: It's man made [answer]
8. Senator McCain has said he supports caps on carbon emissions. Senator Obama has said he supports clean coal technology, which I don't believe you've always supported. .. clear it up for us, both of you, and start with Governor Palin.
Biden: We support clean coal [answer]
Palin: Says McCain supports it, but then talks about drilling. Answers 'yes' to question after prompting. [answer]
9. Do you support, as they do in Alaska, granting same-sex benefits to couples?
Biden: Yes [answer]
Palin: Not if it leads to nontraditional marriage [answer]
10. Do you support gay marriage?
Biden: No [answer]
[ed: Notice what Biden says:
No. Barack Obama nor I support redefining from a civil side what constitutes marriage. We do not support that. That is basically the decision to be able to be able to be left to faiths and people who practice their faiths the determination what you call it.
Is he supporting Sharia or Mormon polygamous marriage?]
Palin: No [answer]
[Ed: Several people have noted that Palin did not want to say that she 'agreed' with Biden, but I think she answered this way for a completely different reason. Note what both Biden and Palin say:
BIDEN: (..) The bottom line though is, and I'm glad to hear the governor, I take her at her word, obviously, that she think there should be no civil rights distinction, none whatsoever, between a committed gay couple and a committed heterosexual couple. If that's the case, we really don't have a difference.
IFILL: Is that what your said?
PALIN: Your question to him was whether he supported gay marriage and my answer is the same as his and it is that I do not.
Palin did not answer whether there should be no civil rights distinction. In other words, she did not want to elaborate on her first answe.]
11. You both have sons who are in Iraq or on their way to Iraq. You, Governor Palin, have said that you would like to see a real clear plan for an exit strategy. What should that be, Governor?
Palin: We have a plan, the surge [answer]
Biden: Leave within 16 months [answer]
12. I'm curious about what you think starting with you Senator Biden. What's the greater threat, a nuclear Iran or an unstable Afghanistan? Explain why.
Biden: They're both dangerous, attacks McCain on Iraq [answer]
Palin: They're both dangerous, defends McCain on Iraq, focuses on Iran [answer]
13. Secretaries of state Baker, Kissinger, Powell, they have all advocated some level of engagement with enemies. Do you think these former secretaries of state are wrong on that?
Palin: No, but it should be done on lower levels. [answer]
Biden: Obama didn't say he'd sit down with Ahmadinejad, attacks McCain. [no answer]
14. What has this administration done right or wrong -- this is the great, lingering, unresolved issue, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict -- what have they done? And is a two-state solution the solution?
Palin: Supports two state solution. [partial answer]
Biden: Rephrases the question 'you asked a question about whether or not this administration's policy had made sense or something to that effect' and answers that [no answer]
Q: Repeats Biden's new question
Palin: It's not been a failure. [answer]
15. Interventionism, nuclear weapons. What should be the trigger, or should there be a trigger, when nuclear weapons use is ever put into play?
[Ed: I understood the question to mean: when should America use nuclear weapons?]
Palin: Nuclear weaponry is used as a deterrant, brings up surge in Afghanistan [partial answer]
Biden: Answers Afghanistan, we need nuclear arms control regime, test-ban treaty [no answer]
(Both then argue about the surge option in Afghanistan)
16. Senator, you have quite a record, this is the next question here, of being an interventionist. You argued for intervention in Bosnia and Kosovo, initially in Iraq and Pakistan and now in Darfur, putting U.S. troops on the ground. Boots on the ground. Is this something the American public has the stomach for?
Biden: They have stomach for success. [unclear answer]
[Ed: Note that Biden contradicts himself. He ridicules McCain for expecting Sunnis and Shiites to work together after being enemries for 700 years, but then brings Bosnia as an example where he was told intervention wouldn't work because Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats have been at war for 1000 years, and despite that, he achieved peace.
Note also that Sunnis and Shiites have been at war for almost 1400 years.]
Palin: American should help, talks about funds in Alaska. [unclear answer]
Q: Is there a line that should be drawn about when we decide to go in?
Biden: Yes, whether we have ability to help, genocide is always reason to intervene [answer]
[Ed: Note that Biden contradicts himself - should American intervene in genocide even if it might not be successful?]
Palin: counters Biden's statements on what he supported. [no answer]
17: How would a Biden administration be different from an Obama administration if that were to happen.
Biden: Will continue Obama policies [answer]
Palin: Will continue McCain policies [answer]
18: Governor, you said in July that someone would have to explain to you exactly what it is the vice president does every day. You, senator, said, you would not be vice president under any circumstances. Now maybe this was just what was going on at the time. But tell us now, looking forward, what it is you think the vice presidency is worth now.
Palin: It was a joke, lists constitutional rights of vice president and what she would focus on specifically. [answer]
Biden: Would give advice [answer]
19: (follow up) Governor, you mentioned a moment ago the constitution might give the vice president more power than it has in the past. Do you believe as Vice President Cheney does, that the Executive Branch does not hold complete sway over the office of the vice presidency, that it it is also a member of the Legislative Branch?
Palin: There is a lot of flexibility in job description [answer]
Biden: Cheney is dangerous, VP is executive branch [answer]
20: The conventional wisdom, Governor Palin with you, is that your Achilles heel is that you lack experience. Your conventional wisdom against you is that your Achilles heel is that you lack discipline, Senator Biden. What id it really for you, Governor Palin? What is it really for you, Senator Biden? Start with you, governor.
[Ed: I think the question is phrased poorly. Was she talking about 'what is your real Achilles heel?' or 'do you really have that Achilles heel?']
Palin: I have experience, I also have connection to heartland [answer]
Biden: Another Achilles heel is excessive passion, I also understand the 'common people' [answer]
(They then attack each other back and forth)
21: (final question) Can you think of a single issue -- and this is to cast light for people who are just trying to get to know you in your final debate, your only debate of this year -- can you think of a single issue, policy issue, in which you were forced to change a long-held view in order to accommodate changed circumstances?
Biden: Appointing judges [answer]
Palin: No, but there were things she wanted to do but couldn't [answer]
22: (2nd final question) You both want to bring both sides together. You both talk about bipartisanship. Once again, we saw what happened this week in Washington. How do you change the tone, as vice president, as number-two?
Biden: Don't question motives [answer]
Palin: Appoint people regardless of affiliation [answer]
Summary:
This analysis is subjective, and I'm aware that what is unclear to me might be crystal clear to others. Given that, I found the following:
Biden didn't answer 4 questions, gave one partial answer, and three answers where it was unclear whether he answered or not.
In summary, there were 8 questions where he didn't give a full answer.
Palin didn't answer 4 questions, gave three partial answers and one answer where it was unclear whether she answered or not. In several cases Palin answered only after more prompting. In one case she refused to elaborate further.
In summary, there were 8 questions where she didn't give a full answer.
Several times the moderator let both sides discuss issues, but I found three times where she asked one candidate to answer another question on the topic based on what the other candidate had said. In all three cases she turned to Palin to verify what Biden had said. In one case, Palin refused to answer and elaborate further.
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