VP Candidates Debate

I let Abby and Nathalie stay up and watch the debate last night. One of Abby's courses this year is called "The Fallacy Detectives" It appears that she is actually learning something from it as she was commenting on the different devices each candidate used in the debates: sweeping generalizations and red herrings were two that she brought up.

We then watched some of the various networks dissect the debates. Abby, Nathalie, and I discussed how each one put their own spin on it depending on who they favored even before the debate started. Abby noticed how one network reporter stated that Palin "never directly answered a question." Abby responded that "Yes, Gov. Palin did. When she was asked if she supported gay marriage she answered with a short and direct: 'No, I do not.'" When we flipped to another network, they were reporting that Senator Biden never directly answered a question. We observed that he had indeed answered directly when asked whether a nuclear Iran or an unstable Pakistan was the greater threat. His answer was that an unstable Pakistan was the greater threat. Granted he did also stick in his answer that Iran having nuclear weapons would not be a good thing. (To which Abby responded with a "Well, duh!")

One of the girls' assignments for today is going to be to research what the role of the Vice President really is, since it appears that neither candidate really knows the right answer to that particular question.