Reality Check On The VP Debate

CBS News Fact Checks Democratic Candidate Joe Biden And Republican Rival Sarah Palin

 (CBS) The CBS News Reality Check Team fact checks the debate... 

Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., left, responds to a question during the debate with Republican presidential candidate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, right, at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo., Thursday, Oct. 2, 2008. (AP)

Did McCain Vote to Cut Off Funding for the Troops?: 
Biden said, “John McCain voted against funding the troops because the amendment he voted for, voted against, had a timeline in it to draw down American troops. And John said I'm not going to fund the troops if there is in fact a timeline.” Biden added, “John McCain voted to cut off funding for the troops.” 

This is wrong. The 2007 troop appropriation amendment first had a withdrawal timetable. McCain urged the President to veto that amendment - and Bush did, and most Republicans voted against the amendment - but McCain missed the actual vote. 

Separately, Obama did vote against the 2007 troop appropriation, that's true, but only after the amendment resurfaced without the timetable for withdrawal. He voted nine other times for troop appropriation. 

Obama Voting 94 times To Increase Taxes?: 
Sarah Palin: "Barack Obama had 94 opportunities to side on the people's side and reduce taxes and 94 times he voted to increase taxes or not support a tax reduction. 94 times." 

The facts on this have been widely commented on since the Republican National Committee began using this erroneous fact in July of this year. There were 94 votes. Of the 94 votes, 23 did not increase taxes were votes against proposed cuts. Seven of the votes were offset votes, calling for taxes for some, but less taxes for others. Some measures had more than one vote, which compounds the number. According to non-partisan www.FactCheck.org, 53 of 94 votes were budget measures that had nothing to do with raising taxes.  However, 45% of the time Obama merely votes present; we would assume to make his voting record seem more favorable to voters in upcoming elections… especially now for President. 

Obama Meet with Ahmadinejad?: 
Biden's claim that Obama never said he would meet Ahmadinejad is wrong. In a CNN /You Tube debate last year, Obama said he would. Here's the excerpt from the transcript: 

Anderson Cooper: In the spirit of that type of bold leadership, would you be willing to meet separately, without precondition, during the first year of your administration, in Washington or anywhere else, with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea, in order to bridge the gap that divides our countries? 

OBAMA: I would. And the reason is this, that the notion that somehow not talking to countries is punishment to them -- which has been the guiding diplomatic principle of this administration -- is ridiculous. 

Sarah Palin Pushed to Raise Taxes as Mayor of Wasilla: 
Palin said: "As mayor every year I was in office I did reduce taxes." 

When she was mayor Sarah Palin successfully pushed for a special referendum to raise local sales taxes to pay for a multi-use sports complex. In a Wasilla City Hall memo obtained by CBS News, Palin said it made sense to raise taxes because there was strong support for the hockey rink, the private sector had failed to step in and because it would be good to use government money to prevent social problems instead of spending money to try and fix them.  And she did reduce other taxes.

Palin on Natural Gas Pipeline: 
Palin claims,"We're building a nearly $40 billion natural gas pipeline which is North America's largest and most expensive infrastructure project ever". 

www.PolitiFact.com has examined this claim. While Palin's proposed pipeline is the longest, it is not the most expensive infrastructure project. (which in reality is a good thing… so are we nit picking??)

The Alaska Pipeline was completed in 1977 at a cost of $8 billion. Adjusted for inflation, this would be at least 27-billion in 2007 dollars. 

The pipeline that Palin refers to is expected to cost $26 billion, not $40 billion according to Transcanada.  (I guess we want to spend more money??)

Obama Position on Afghanistan Out of Context: 
Palin's claim that Obama said, "All we're doing in Afghanistan is air-raiding villages and killing civilians." is a bit of a distortion. Obama did not say this was "all we're doing." 

Obama quote from Associated Press August 14, 2007: "We've got to get the job done there and that requires us to have enough troops so that we're not just air-raiding villages and killing civilians, which is causing enormous problems there." 

McClellan?: 
Palin referred to the commanding general in Afghanistan as McClellan. Not quite. General David McKiernan is the commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan. (okay… she flubbed up the name, McKiernan not McClellan).

Obama Plan Raise Taxes on Middle Class?: 
Governor Palin claims Obama's plan would increase taxes on the middle class, saying tonight, "Barack Obama even supported increasing taxes as late as last year for those families making only $42,000 a year- that's a lot of middle income average American families. To increase taxes on them, I think that is the way to kill jobs and continue to harm our economy." 

This is a bit of a distortion. 

Obama voted for two non-binding resolutions that would have rolled back the Bush 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, not to raise taxes. And at $42,000, Obama's tax plan actually gives greater tax cuts to these middle class families than McCain's. The problem is that America cannot afford Obama’s tax cuts, let alone all his ideas for new programs.

Palin: Energy Bill Tax Breaks to Oil Companies?: 
Palin’s claim the 2005 Energy Bill gave big tax breaks to the oil companies. This is somewhat misleading. The fact is there were tax cuts, but according to the Congressional Research Service, tax increases on the oil companies-- in the same bill--were 300 million greater. 

Biden Voted Against the 2005 Energy Bill, Contradicting his Running Mate's Position: 
Biden last night defended Obama's vote for the 2005 Energy Bill, but Biden himself voted against this legislation because he said it was written by big oil companies. This was a bill to ensure jobs in the energy industry and included $2.8 billion in subsidies for oil and natural gas production. 

McCain's Health Care Plan: 
Palin claims McCain's health care plan is budget neutral, saying tonight, "He's proposing a $5000 tax credit for families so that they can get out there and they can purchase their own health care coverage. And that's a smart thing to do-that's budget neutral. That doesn't cost the government anything, as opposed to Barack Obama's plan to mandate health care coverage and have this universal government-run program." 

The fact is most economists fear McCain's refundable tax credits will actually result in deficit spending, but most people think Obama’s Health Care Plan probably won’t happen, especially after the bailout. 

Claims are Flying Already: 
The Obama campaign sent out a pre-debate pitch to supporters for dollars. Meanwhile, their communications team sent a list of "5 attacks we expect tonight," and their defense of each. They say they expect Palin to attack Obama on spending, taxes and the one time he voted against troop funding because he wanted a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq. 

But while the Obama campaign did and is loading inboxes with pre-emptive defense of claims against their presidential candidate, the McCain campaign is attacking Biden, the man actually in the debate. They sent reporters a cheat sheet on prior Biden "tall tales."

 Both candidates did well during yesterdays vice presidential debate, but the general opinion is that Sarah Palin had the edge and won, and the media hates it.  They have spent every waking moment since the debate trying to diminish that edge and Governor Palin’s performance.

By The CBS News Reality Check Team
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved

Full Palin vs Biden VP Debate - Sarah Shows She Has The Right Stuff

See Full Vice Presidential Debate with  Gov. Palin and Sen. Biden Uploaded: 14 hours ago From: CSPAN Views: 234028 on You-tube   Full Vice Presidential Debate with Gov. Palin  and Sen. Biden Rated: 4 of 5 by 860 people

Full 2008 Vice Presidential Debate with Gov. Sarah Palin and Sen. Joe Biden.

Palin Gets Rave Reviews for Debate

On Thursday night, Sarah Palin showed that she has the "right stuff" to be one heartbeat away from the presidency. 

Under fire for rambling answers in recent television interviews, Palin went into last night's debate the underdog against the sharp-tongued Joe Biden.

But Palin, in style and substance, demonstrated she can hold her own on the national stage.

Pollster Frank Luntz's focus group on Fox News watched the St. Louis debate. The group was evenly divided between Kerry and Bush supporters from the 2004 election. After the debate Luntz asked if she won, and his group almost unanimously said she had.

The New York Post cover Friday shared a similar sentiment , roaring: "PIT BULL SARAH SHOWS HER BITE."

The Post began "Sarah Palin used folksy language, winks, smiles and sharp elbows to try to put seasoned rival Joe Biden on the defensive in last night's vice-presidential debate."

The Post's star columnist, Andrea Peyser, offered effusive praise.

"I walked in last night expecting a train wreck from our gal of the moment. Instead, I saw fireworks," Peyser wrote. "Sarah rules," she continued, adding, "In her first, and last, vice-presidential debate, Sarah Palin was strong. Articulate. Folksy. And warm."

During the verbal fisticuffs, Palin made clear she is not one of the good old boys.

"It's so obvious that I'm a Washington outsider and I'm someone who's just not used to the way you guys operate," Palin said.

Palin employed a similar "outsider" strategy to defeat the incumbent Republican governor in Alaska.

Even the liberal New York Times had to admit, albeit grudgingly, that Palin scored points in the first and last vice presidential debate.

The Times began its coverage this way: "Gov. Sarah Palin made it through the vice-presidential debate on Thursday without doing any obvious damage to the Republican presidential ticket. By surviving her encounter with Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. and quelling some of the talk about her basic qualifications for high office, she may even have done Senator John McCain a bit of good, freeing him to focus on the other troubles shadowing his campaign."

Across the blogoshere, positive reviews for her debate performance were pouring in for the first woman on a national Republican ticket.

Michael Goodwin, writing in the New York Daily News, declared Palin had a "slim" victory over Biden.

"She sometimes sputtered nonsense, seemed like a Thanksgiving turkey stuffed with facts and was no match for his knowledge and experience on foreign affairs," Goodwin wrote. "But Sarah Palin demonstrated a remarkable political skill Thursday night: She looked into the camera and talked to people as one of them, while Joe Biden talked mostly to the moderator as a teacher to a student.

"On her ability to connect with the audience, and because the expectations for her were so pitifully low, Palin was the victor."

And Steve Huntley in the Chicago Sun-Times wrote, "Appearing assertive and confident in her national debate premiere, Palin battled Sen. Joseph Biden on a broad range of issues - the Wall Street meltdown, taxes and spending, Iraq, foreign relations, which candidate best represents change - and more than held her own."

Not everyone was so pleased about Palin's performance, especially among the pro-Obama cheerleaders in the major media.

Chris Matthews of MSNBC, who practically drools on his shoes whenever Obama speaks, said Palin seemed like she was appearing at a spelling bee and CBS was quick to post an instant survey claiming "independents" believed Biden had won the debate.

© 2008 Newsmax.

Sarah Palin Does What She Needed To Do And More!

Biden vs Palin = 

Past vs Future?!?

Sarah Palin did what she needed to do in tonight's Vice Presidential Debate.  She was articulate, spunky, relatable, knowledgeable, made no major mistakes and proved she could learn and improve quickly!!

Some Republicans were worried and a lot of Democrats were hoping that Governor Palin would come across as inexperienced or fumbling.  She did neither.  Sarah held her own with veteran politician and Senator, Joe Biden. She was even funny and spontaneous at times.

She spoke of change, her executive experience, that fact that she and McCain were both Mavericks in different ways... and that she and McCain were looking forward and that Bidden and Obama kept looking backwards to mistakes of the Bush administration.  She and McCain were not part of that administration, even though Biden kept trying to make it sound like they were.  She pointed out that past administrations, of both parties, had made their share of mistakes... which is definitely true in regard to the present mortgage and Wall Street crisis.  In fact if you do your homework, it will become evident that the Democrats are truly the greater long term culprits in that mess.

"Say it isn't so, Joe!", Sarah said at one point, getting a chuckle from the audience, when Biden again came out with the same tired rhetoric in an attempt to tie Governor Palin and Senator John McCain to the Bush administration, even though Governor Palin had just addressed that very issue.

Both Joe Biden who often suffers from foot in mouth disease and Sarah Palin had a good night and a good debate, but in the end, it was a winning moment for Governor Palin.  She proved she could hold her own with the old veteran on all subjects, she proved that in a very short time she had learned a lot so is a quick study and fast on her feet once she has the information so would be ready to lead, if she was so called upon.  She proved that she was confident and capable,  just as she has been a quick study and did the job as mayor and governor.

In anticipation of tonight's debate, John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou said earlier today on their popular and controversial radio show that with the present state of the hostile media, throwing Governor Palin in with the likes of Katie Couric and others was like throwing her to the lions. They also talked about listening to and played some campaign debates and interviews from her campaign for Governor of Alaska against the two term incumbent, who she beat, where she came across as competent, knowledgeable  and even witty at times.  They noted that as good as the two of them are at debating and being interviewed, that if they were thrown into a debate, with people or situations that weren't their expertise or they "hadn't lived it", they wouldn't have done any better than, if as well, as Sarah Palin has done these past couple of weeks.  And her fumbling a bit in interviews doesn't mean she isn't incompetent nor that she couldn't be Vice President or even President, especially not with a little more time.  They also said, "If she just holds her own tonight... she wins and should prove to everyone, who isn't biased, that she can do the job".  And she did that tonight... she held her own and then some!!