Facebooking the Palin-Biden debate
By Andrew Heining | 10.03.08
As I flipped channels last night, wading through the cable news networks’ pre-game shows before Joe Biden and Sarah Palin’s vice presidential debate, I picked up my iPhone, launched the Facebook application, and updated my status: “Andrew is: debate prepping.”
Now, that’s not so surprising. I’ve been a little too tied to my new favorite gadget these past couple weeks, and, despite my better judgments, have fully bought into the Facebook craze.
What surprised me was that I wasn’t alone. Within minutes, four of my friends had done the same thing.
“Well, at least I’m not the only Facebook-politics nerd,” I thought to myself. But the status updates and wall posts didn’t stop when the debate started.
With moderator Gwen Ifill’s first address to the camera came another post: “Green? She’s wearing green?” And with the candidates’ first appearance, another round of comments: “Nice to meet you. Can I call you Joe?,” and “Her bangs are distracting me.”
When Facebook introduced its “News Feed” in 2006 there were shouts of protest and calls for the feature’s repeal. The instantly updating log of your friends’ updates to their profiles was called an invasion of privacy. But once people learned to control their personal privacy settings, so that their relationship status updates, photo comments, or wall postings didn’t get advertised to 300 of their not-exactly-closest friends, the fervor died down. And last night the News Feed brought us together.
An impromptu online party
It was as if we’d all come to a debate watching party, only we weren’t whispering our comments to the person next to us on the couch, we were sharing them with all our friends, spread out all over the country. I asked what a “Bosniak” was and shared my enjoyment of the way Sen. Biden emphasized “Bush’s” over and over.
This was fun. Every dodged answer, every nuance or verbal gaffe brought more from the world-wide peanut gallery:
• Joe Biden likes to refer to Joe Biden as Joe Biden
• Palin says ‘Maverick’ more than McCain says ‘Miss Congeniality.’
• If they keep referring to McCain as a maverick, they’re going to ruin Top Gun for me.
And the barbs came too, from both sides. One friend’s status said she “really doesn’t have time to get into the subprime mortgage crisis so she’d rather talk about the energy crisis.” Another poster told friends she “wants you to come with her to Home Depot, where she spends a lot of time.” And policy was fair game, too: “Small businesses are not people. Tax at will.”
And nobody seemed to be able to decipher the ‘Joe Sixpack’ references.
• Is she referring to abs or beer?
• I need to get to the gym a little more before you call me ‘Joe Sixpack.’
• Is it a type of gun rack?
More immediate than the spin room that would follow the candidates’ closing remarks on cable news networks, and more personal than a political chat room where the wonk on the other end of the modem might have nothing in common with you, this was a social network in action. Where else could I get: “The VP debate didn’t live up to its billing. Not unlike the Matrix sequels.”
Mobile social networking
What made the interaction more amazing to me was that many of the Facebook posts came in labeled as from mobile users – these weren’t people sitting at their desktops, sending updates through Internet Explorer. Many were typing on Sidekicks, Blackberries, and iPhones. And at least one of the campaigns is picking up on that.
Obama on the iPhone
The Obama camp launched an iPhone application Sept. 28th. It makes innovative use of the device’s capabilities as a phone, personal organizer, and web device. I downloaded it to try it out (it’s free) and it’s pretty slick. From the Obama blog:
The application has a “Call Your Friends” tool that helps you organize your contacts by key battleground states – a feature we’re hoping will generate thousands of additional personal contacts. You can also easily mark reminder notes to yourself on which friends you have called, who they are supporting and who wants a reminder call on Election Day.
The tool was developed by three Obama developer volunteers over three weeks, the BBC reported. It isn’t clear if the McCain campaign has a similar application in the works, but a search of the iPhone Application Store Thursday night found nothing from the rival camp.
Both of these – my impromptu ‘Facebook live’ debate-watching experience and the Obama iPhone application – point to new ways technology is enhancing the way voters interact with the election process. However these next four weeks turn out, it’s an exciting time to be young, wired (or is it wireless?), and voting.
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2. ds | 10.03.08
I have to admit she did better than I thought she would. That being said, I still think she showed that she is horribly unqualified. She looked like she was reading straight from que cards. thats not very presidential…
You could tell that Biden knew what he was talking about. He could have answered those questions on the spot weeks ago, no cramming necessary.
all in all it was a good debate. joe showed that he would be ready to step in if need be. Palin showed that she is a decent studier. Good job Palin, you avoided the blood-bath that I was so convinced Id see last night.
3. Nicole | 10.03.08
I too found peers on facebook last night watching the debate. I probably didn’t see as much online “action” with my friends as you did. However one friend posted his status that his wife thought they could make the debate into a fun drinking game. I quickly I sent him a link that was discussed in my Obama Mama’s group on Cafemom. The link was “Palin Bingo”. I suggested that you could easily turn the Bingo card into a drinking game.
Which brings me to Cafemom. Facebook is great but Cafemom sucks more of my online time. I belong to Obama Mama’s. During the debates we actually opened a chat (Presidential, not during the VP one though). The chat was quite lively. I felt I could share any thought, comment, emotion as a play by play with a handful of other “friends”. It certainly made a debate with a mediocre moderator a bit more exciting 
Technology is playing a huge role in modern politics. Whether it be in the form of social networking, blogging, etc. It’s out there in full force!
4. haugh | 10.03.08
Im SOOOOOOO tired of her white-trash canuck dialect.
“I get em’ too ya”
she belongs with the McKensie brothers…
Since shes Jane sixpack and everything.
What a circus sideshow
5. Tim S. | 10.03.08
Good piece, except the last sentence. I wouldn’t call the next four weeks an exciting time, I’d call it terrifying. We have two choices: wrong and wronger. We’ll all have plenty to talk about, the medium and technology won’t make the facts any easier to swallow.
6. Douglas Payne | 10.03.08
Good piece. I noticed the facebook veep debate news feed craze as well, although I logged before and after — not during — the debate (too much information). I was also amazed to see how many friends on both sides were IM’ing the news feed feature in an international blow-by-blow commentary. I like the feature, although I will have to go back and adjust my personal privacy settings.
7. Maya McLoota | 10.03.08
The piece about the maverick and not being able to watch Top Gun any more was hysterical …my whole office is laughing. Lets keep enjoying this…it turn to really enjoy and understand an election.
8. TAS | 10.03.08
Biden is a frightening liar, isn’t he? He looks at the camera, right into your eyes, and spouts bent numbers that echo within his empty conscience. He’d better run immediately and tell Obama the history he contrived for him.
9. ROGER LEHNERT | 10.03.08
hopefully joe sixpack will disappear from the campaign rhetoric and if pailin could manage to add a few “g’s” onto the words she uses she might not sound like the beverly hillbillies. her refusal to answer questions led me to believe that this was anything but a debate and her constant reiterations of the same line fell far short of being responsive . i do think joe needs less cream on his hair. so i give her the hair part but all in all if anyone was intellectually challenged after this debate i would be surprised if not shocked. roger
10. Andrew Heining | 10.03.08
Glad I wasn’t the only one to notice the frenzied Facebooking last night.
I hadn’t heard of Cafemom, Nicole. It sounds like a different demographic than I was seeing on facebook, but maybe more in-depth and specialized. These social communities remind me of what AOL tried to do back in dial-up days. Who else can remember logging on and hitting the “People Connection.” Back then I never would have joined a political chat room – that type of thing was for policy wonks. But now I think we’re more comfortable bringing our interests online, and sharing them with others, and we’re seeking out more people like ourselves.
Douglas – I know what you mean about too much information. At times I was so torn between the TV and my phone that I feel like I missed what was being said on either. I’ll have to go back and re-watch the debate…
11. Bill | 10.03.08
The only reason I watched this consistently is because the Cubs-Dodgers game was a blowout. Palin beat expectations according to 84% of a Gallup poll. However, I agree with the sentiment of our choices being wrong and wronger. I plan on voting for McCain, but with the nervous reservation that I’m choosing him mostly *sigh* so a completely inexperienced person will be VP rather than President.
12. Joe S | 10.03.08
Palin was still Palin. No substance and all gimmick. Joe kept his cool, didn’t stumble much, and also didn’t lay into Palin, but kept focus on discrediting McCain. A win for the Dems. in my opinion, but Palin probably regained some confidence from her party. What annoyed me most is her dialect. Damn is that woman annoying to listen to. She tried way too hard to try to connect with average Americans when she should have focused more on the meat of her answers.
13. Kerry | 10.03.08
She sounded better than any of her previous interviews, but of course it was obvious she had cheat cards to read from like the television prompter at the convention. And when she didn’t have the answer on her cheat cards she would say, “I may not answer the question you asked, but I wanted to mention energy.”
She giggled, winked at the camera and went back to her “sockermom”, “mavericks” and her “joe 6-pack” dialog that’s getting a little old since Americans are really worried about the economy and not silly references.
Curious to note that if Biden and Palen had their words / comments reversed last night, the Republicans would say Biden was very rude to ‘poor Sarah’ and unfair. It would have been nice to see the debate as equals and Biden not have to walk on eggshells because she’s a ‘woman’. After all this is for the same job whether you’re a man or a woman..Oh yeah, does McCain’s vote against equal pay for women doing the same job affect what Sarah would get as VP?
14. Friendly Fred | 10.03.08
Her Canadian accent turns me off as well, but I think both nominees did a good job during the debate last night. However, becasue Biden stayed on topic and didn’t wander around and doge questions, Sarah Palin showed that she will bring only four more years of the same.
America needs change, not the same old policies that have gotten us where we are today as a nation.
As I said in my blog entry regarding the debates, now that we know Palin can wink at the crowd and has pushed the “mom next door” angle as far as she can, now what?
http://www.congratstothewinners.com/2008/10/now-what-after-vp-debate.html
15. Frank | 10.03.08
Once again she avoided the questions and simply answered with “taught” lines on issues not related to the question. She is definitly “Joe Six-pack”.
16. Nicole | 10.03.08
Andrew (10. Andrew Heining | 10.03.08)- Cafemom is similar to myspace or facebook. The key difference is that it’s a website for Mom’s. So yes, the demographic is different. We are all women and all mom’s. Outside of that we vary as much as any other networking site. Various ages (from teen moms to granparents), we cover various parts of the country (I’m not clear if it’s international, yet), various political and religious views, etc.
The site is http://www.cafemom.com
From winkipedia:
“CafeMom is an ad-supported social networking website specifically targeted at mothers, offering member-generated content such as profiles, journals, groups, photos, and polls.
The site launched in December, 2006 and within one year became the most trafficked website for women (by page views) on the Internet, according to comScore.[1] CafeMom gets more than 3.1 million unique visitors a month, accounting for over 140 million page views.[2] Based in New York City, the company has about 65 employees.”
I guess my point is to show you the demographic. The site is growing in popularity and adding to the social networking craze that we’re seeing. There is no shortfall of polical conversations/ topics throughout many groups on that site either.
17. anony | 10.03.08
Is it possible that Sarah Paulin was instructed to dumb herself down during the Couric interview so she would lower expectations during the debate?? HMMMMMMMMM
18. Todd | 10.03.08
I was really amazed by all the activity on the FB status updates last night, too! Every minute a new friend joined the ‘conversation’ and there were SOO many comments on status messages. I know for me it was like a ‘i gotta tell someone this’ moment early in the debate,, i popped on, and realized everyone else just had to say something, too.
Oh… and the gun rack retort was mine!
19. GreatestAmerican | 10.03.08
Sarah Palin vs. Joe Biden: Comedy! Drama! Horror!
So to watch the debate at the State Theater with Michael Moore and 500 other people, 400 of them who will be voting Obama - Biden, was a lot like watching your College football team beat up on the opposition at your school’s Homecoming game. The crowd roared virtually every time Palin rambled, forgetting for the moment that no one without understanding of complex policy issues should become the leader of the free world - the most powerful decision maker on earth.
See link above for some pics from the best debate party in the US last night.
20. christy | 10.03.08
I agree with DS. Palin did avoid a blood bath, but she looked like she was reading from que cards. She avoided every question that they had not written an answer for and she referred to things she done for Alaska more times than i could count. Barack Obama adn Joe Bidden has been doing things for this COUNTRY for years, not just for one insignificant state. Barack ‘08.
21. Mary | 10.03.08
Haley Speaks, a Sarah Palin fan parody on YouTube has a couple of videos on the debates that are worth watching. Actually she’s got 14 videos and I think they’re all great. http://www.youtube.com/user/monigrammedia
22. Martin | 10.03.08
Did Sarah debate for Governor of Alaska or VP and eventually President of the USA? She talked many times about Alaska but ask yourself is Alaska demographically comparable to the most of the other States? Does the oil in Alaska make her to an energy expert??! Give me a break with all this nonsense. Of course she gets 84% for exceeding expectations but that is not a surprise after her embarrassing interviews. Does anyone seriously believe that she would be able to sustain a tough debate without any notes with Vladimir Putin, what would she do change subject to energy! Keep in mind she is a heartbeat away!
23. Greg | 10.03.08
I watched the debate with my wife, and we were both offended by Palin. We are from a small town, and the condescending drivel she was spouting had a way of rendering nature’s drawstring a bit tighter with each Joe six pack and hockey mom reference. If I wanted a simple minded redneck as vice president, I would vote for my brother. As it is, I am left with no decent choice. McCain’s straight spin express may be rolling, but I will not be on board.
24. Jason Toon | 10.03.08
A Bosniak is a Bosnian Muslim. The Internet is your friend:
http://www.google.com/search?sa=N&tab=nw&q=bosniak
25. Jim | 10.03.08
Palin says ‘Maverick’ more than McCain says ‘Miss Congeniality.’
Why is being a Maverick such a great thing and something we want from our leaders? Free thinking and making it up as you go along isn’t very inspiring especially coming from a politician and we can all do that. Don’t we want our leaders to be different from us? Surely we want them to be better than us otherwise why do we need them at all.
27. Liz | 10.03.08
Well I must admit PALIN did okay but she almost chocked toward the end maybe it was a good thing the Debate ending. Anyways she is full of BS and her source of information need to be more accurate. And you still willing to RUN G.Bush’s ways and sending more troops to IRAQ and send billions of dollars over seas to take care of OTHER GOV. officials excuse me they call it “MEDICAL ASSISTANCE” but you can’t even plan to take care our own people in the STATES. McCAINE and PALIN are a dissaster to this COUNTRY. Oh yeah and the TOUCH of OIL DRILLING …woman you are more for it then anyone. Talking about u had to stop Exxon, Shell, etc… please are you serious if anyone bought that they are stupid as you are. You willing to DRILL on the coast of Florida Shore so “the american people dont’ have to pay high oil prices” you got to be kidding me. How about u take care of your family instead of letting your daughter carry your child since u too busy feeding the AMERICAN people alot of BS. LOOK at the Economy look what is happing to it … look what the BUSH ADMINISTRATION has done to it. You talked about how the Housing Market abused/letting people buy houses they couldn’t afford. But did the SENETE or CONGRESS said or do anything NO. They allowed the CEO’s and Biggest INVESTORS to get rich from it. LOOK at McCaine he ownes how many house “6″ am i correct? Regardless how can you or your Party relate to the AMERICAN Low income Family/Middle Class. You don’t know nothing about what people go thru to survive each day. Anyways i am done with this … OBAMA i know you at least will try to do something for AMERICA and it’s people.
28. ARS | 10.03.08
I think the debate proved that Palin is honest - she clearly doesn’t read newspapers as she told Couric
29. F. John Becker | 10.03.08
It’s rather amusing how the more bellicose anti-Palin posters’ blurbs iterate their collective ignorance. Palin is not spelled “Pallin”, nor “Pailin”. What exactly is a “que” card? I’ve stood in a queue waiting to enter a baseball game; on my mixing board I have a “cue” control. Biden, not “bidden”. Soccermom, no “k” in there, &c., &c… I find it scary that people with such inability to express themselves properly get to vote too. Pity…
30. Liz | 10.03.08
Sarah Palin does NOT have a Canadian accent, eh? Sure, she’s livin oot in the bush, but that don’t make her sound Canadian.
In Canada, its Joe two four, eh?
32. Bruce from Canada | 10.03.08
Too all the posters who speak to Sarah Palin’s canadian accent! Have you ever met a Canadian? I’ve lived in Canada for my entire 63 years and have never heard a Canadian sound like Pallin. We are a fairly intelligent people up here. Come and visit us sometime. Education is a wionderful thing eh!
34. ken | 10.03.08
To all of you who hate Palin, or Biden, do your self a favor, dont post your opinions about it on a story about how Facebook and new mobile technology are changing the voting scene. Thats not what this is for. And, to John, good job “owning” everyone.
35. ken | 10.03.08
And to Andrew Heining, great article. I did notice the “live debate watch” on facebook.
36. Robin | 10.03.08
If, like me, your facebook friends aren’t that active during the debates, check out Twitter for the next one. They have a whole stream dedicated to the election. It’s pretty fun to watch what people are saying real time during the debate.
And Current.tv has teamed up with them and is live streaming twitters over their broadcast of the debate. Technology in action!
37. Mike | 10.03.08
As an instructor of American history I watched the debate last night with great interest. What I found to be awkward was how can a gentleman who has been in our US Congress since the early 1970’s not know what Article the Constituion deals with the Legislative and Executive branch. I will vote for McCain/Palin, let that be known. But if you morons on the left, and there are some on the right, that don’t get the vast majority of our economics woes in America have fallen under, not only the Bush Administration, but under a Democratic controlled congress. The Founding Fathers made it very clear that no ONE person would have control over the government. With the split we have in both branches the fault lies therein. As Americans it is our responsibility to vote in people who are going to best fill our needs, our greatest voice in American government is our vote. What we should be more concerned with is who we will vote into our Congress in November. We are a REPUBLIC and the people have the Authority in a REBUBLIC. So wise up citizens and look at your congressional candidates. And for Liz, how much time have you spent studying the policies of both candidates? Much less your Congress People up for election. It is easy to pass judgement on what has been done by this Administration. But let’s talk about the future your candidates want to go back to what Bush has done, or not done, and not what they are going to do.
39. Steve Michaels | 10.03.08
I’m glad I didn’t have a Facebook feed nattering at me during the debate; I was trying to remember what the debaters were saying and follow their logic. For example the “Home Depot, where I spend a lot of time” comment was by Biden, not Palin, during a segment where they were trying to out-folksy each other. Also, two or three times, I needed to carefully concentrate to follow Palin’s answers as they moved from topic to topic and to tie her answers back to the original question.
40. erik | 10.03.08
If she ever bothers to learn the spoken English language I might, just maybe consider voting for her, until then she will just be another bumpkin reading cue cards in no actual order pertaining to the question.. Funny, people that actually interpret this as some for of knowledge or judgment?? I feel sorry for you and you should not be having children. Why? because I will end up having to pay for them in the end… thank you and good day
41. James G VM | 10.03.08
Apologies to my Canadian friends. Palin sounds more like a really strident Minnesotan accent. No offense to my Minnesota friends intended either…
Frankly, to me, she’s like a really bad VHS recording where the picture is good but the audio is strange and twisted.
I expect the press will heat up some good questions for her, like…
What’s the moral difference between raising taxes to pay your bills now and raising deficit spending for your kids to pay later? Anyone? Anyone?
42. Hanna T | 10.03.08
Liberal media is a shame to America. Right is wrong and wrong is right. Joe Biden misquoted 17 times. Check out the bills on the government site. What multitudes of idiots listened to the twisted facts and happily be brainwashed without discovering the truth by themselves.
If a fellow American was to be attacked savagely like Sarah Palin has been just because she was named VP, those who were/are guilty don’t deserved to be called human beings. Certainly far from being decent human beings. I’m sure glad God has a place for all the gossipers and liars.
By the way, the gossipers can’t get enough of her, that’s why they keep on writing and talking about her as if nothing else is worthy of writing.
43. steve | 10.03.08
Mike #37–I can agree with much of what you said even though I am a “moron on the left.”
That was until you spouted off at the end about looking back at Bush. HE”S NOT DONE YET, so we are looking at his current admin, not the past. AND WE DON’T WANT M AND P TO CONTINUE TO F THINGS UP, SO YES WE ARE LOOKING BACK.
And please–why is it the righties always repeat everything? No one was talking about looking back until Palin/Schmidt said it last night. Parrots.
44. steve | 10.03.08
What? God has a place for gossipers? Yep–Fox News.
Spoken like a true lovin’ Christian. Wink, Wink.
45. instl | 10.03.08
Bosnian/Bosniak: Biden did use the right term despite what Cokie Roberts said on the Charlie Rose show. Bosnian refers to either 1) the shared language and cultural elements of all native residents of Bosnia-Herzegovina regardless of their religious affiliation or 2) Natives of the country Bosnia-Herzegovina regardless of faith. Due to the development of European nationalism that began in the 19th century and cumulated in the Former Yugoslavia in the Serb aggression on Bosnia-Herzegovina in general and the Bosniak people specifically during the 1990s, (which Biden rightfully referred to as “genocide in Bosnia”) the peoples of that country have largely had to choose an identity that is one of three: Serbian, Croatian or Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim). Because of the nationalism of the 1990s most people of an Orthodox persuasion who are here in the states will call themselves Serbian regardless of whether they are from Serbia or Bosnia, whereas most Bosniak continue to call themselves Bosnian. This is extremely simplified, but gets at the basic distinction. One reason why we in the US rarely hear the term Bosniak, is that the vast majority of refugees from the 1990 war on Bosnia are in fact Bosniak, because they were the most significantly targeted population. They will use Bosnian for a number of reasons: it’s easier for Americans who tend not to have much of a clue about world events, they are scared of being discriminated against for being Muslim, the majority of them have also wanted to maintain a multi-ethnic state and many identify first as Bosnian and second as Muslim, and so on…
46. cherie | 10.03.08
Yes, Biden made a few clerical errors–I loved how Juliani was jumping on the article # of the constitution that Biden referred to as incorrect. Of course, Rudy had heard some FOX honk mention it. The bottom line is, regardless of #, Biden hit that one out of the park when he said that Dick Cheney has been the most dangerous and scary (not his exact words) VP ever. Just like the Righties to jump on the semantics–oh, look, he got the number wrong–he must not know the Constitution. If thinking people did not fear her comment that they would use the “flexibility of the constitution’s description” of VP. YIKES. I may have my child be Sarah Palin for Halloween. Scary stuff.
47. Cherie | 10.03.08
Also, I am waiting, patiently, or not so patiently, for someone to ask her if she thinks that Jewish people and Catholic people are going to Hell if they do not accept Jesus as their personal savior. Her love for Israel is so funny considering her views of the Jewish faith.
48. movie fan | 10.03.08
the VP debate was stunning. Palin did a decent job faking about 20% of the questions and didn’t even bother answering the other 80%. she might as well have been singing the ABC’s whenever it was her turn to respond
49. PK | 10.03.08
The Obama Facebook app is a very forward looking. I strongly recommend taking a look at it even if you are not an Obama supporter. This is a look into the future.
50. John | 10.03.08
She did not screw up. Now I know
that she can memorize things or at least
read off the que cards. Still, she
looks bossy, condescending, and overly flirtatious
(I guess to impress male audience). She is not bad
looking but that’s a pretty bad reason to
vote for her. US is perhaps one of the most
competetive countries in terms of things
like getting into a Tier 1 school or getting
a top job. But than you look at a potential vice
president and realise how the hell did she get
where she is, when she can’t even speak in public
without memorizing a script?
51. Penny’s 2 cents | 10.04.08
On Sarah Palin and her accent …. We call them “Valley Girls.” They are all…. you know… .)wink.)wink… She has it down. But I have to hand it to her, she knows just how to change the topic when she doesn’t know the answer to a question, that incidentally came from the “American People.” I just can’t believe that the R masses don’t see through it. They seem to be totally taken by her. To me, it would be like electing my teenage daughter, whom I love dearly, but I know is not ready for that position. I would hope that most of us want a president and vp that we can look up to, not just a good ole gal. After all, this is a top position.
To Cherie:
I wonder if the only reason they are backing israel is a personal stake. She certainly took on a wide grin when she mentioned building our embassy there. The same reason that they backed the big bailout. That cheshire cat does not like to miss her mouse.
52. Chris | 10.04.08
Palin held her own, but was unable to respond on the fly to Biden’s comments. I think all of us would be a little unnerved with all the pressure. She simply felt more comfortable with her canned text.
Most glaring was:
JB: “So you’re going to have to place — replace a $12,000 plan with a $5,000 check you just give to the insurance company. I call that the Ultimate Bridge to Nowhere.”
She could have responded along these lines:
Well you know, Joe, if your employer spends $12,000 on your health care plan and it is now taxable, his incentive is to simply hand you the money. Now that may increase your income tax by ~$5,000, so you take the $7,000 you net and add it to the $5,000 tax credit and go buy the health plan of your choice on an open market independent of your employer. John McCain’s plan is revenue neutral and decouples health care from employment which is a major complication for many of us. And it’s a tax break for our struggling families since they will generally pay less than the assumed $5,000 marginal tax increase.
Of course, the fourth grade mathematics required baffles the average public and allows Joe Biden to spin it negative. Can’t insult the viewer. Painful to watch…
Barack Obama’s plan will require more revenue, perhaps from additional capital gains taxes as he proposes. Guess what, there aren’t going to be a lot of capital gains with heavy losses carried over the next few years.
53. Granny Smith | 10.08.08
I’ve been trying to remember where I first heard the term “Joe Sixpack” and I believe I was living in Del. at the time and the general population of the public got a little upset over being called the “Joe Sixpacks” that would be voting for Joe Biden. And being called that by Joe Biden. That was about 30 plus years ago. So that term is not new by any stretch.
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1. John | 10.03.08
Even more evidence that this election is going to yield a high turnout.
http://www.FastArizona.com/McCain.html