Yes, Becca knows she's going about this backwards. But hey, at least she's doing it! Again, it should be noted that the reactions documented here are solely Becca's opinions of the debate, not what she knows about the candidates, blah blah blah.

First impressions:

Becca thinks it's a little inappropriate for Governor Palin to ask Senator Biden right off the bat if she can call him "Joe".

"Darn right..." "Heck of a lot..." Becca wonders if Governor Palin realizes how uneducated she sounds. Especially compared to Senator Biden, who so far is speaking beautifully.

Governor Palin said "Darn right" again.

Governor Palin just straight up said she will not reply to questions as they are posed. WOW. Well, at least if she's going to not answer questions, she's going to be up front about it.

Governor Palin said "espoused". Becca wonders if it was on her Word a Day calendar.

Governor Palin seems very smug and amused. Becca can't figure out why.

Becca would like to take a moment to note how, aside from Senator Biden's occasional slips in mixing up Senators Obama and McCain's names (which now that Becca thinks about it, is fairly troublesome?), he sounds extremely intelligent and knowledgeable, whether or not Becca agrees with everything he says. Oh, and he's pretty much actually answering the questions asked. Novel concept.

BRAVO! Senator Biden destroys Senator McCain's health care plan by *gasp* explaining realistic consequences!

Becca is wondering if Governor Palin was told that answering questions is optional.

Becca is agog (which is her new favorite word)! When Gwen Ifyll tries to pin down Governor Palin to get her to answer the question, "due to the financial situation what promises can't you keep", the governor says, "well, I've only been at this for five weeks, so I haven't promised a whole lot." Becca wonders if the governor is actually running for vice president, or if this is just a bad joke. She's really hoping this is a bad joke.

Governor Palin has ignored so many questions Becca isn't even sure it's worth commenting on any more.

Governor Palin does not believe that the climate changes are manmade. Senator Biden does. Becca is pretty sure she's going to have to come down with Joe on this one.

Becca simply can't listen to Governor Palin talk about Iraq any more.

Becca will be honest - she doesn't know as much as she should about Iran and Pakistan, so will refrain from commenting on what the governor and senator have to say about it.

Becca is a little confused, but she thinks Governor Palin is saying "no" to diplomacy with enemies, and Senator Biden is saying "yes"? Who can reasonably say "no" to attempting diplomacy?

Becca is kinda zoning out.

Becca's attention is caught when Governor Palin basically says that the democratic ticket is focusing too much on mistakes made by the current administration, then goes on to say that yes, she agrees that there have been huge "blunders" made, but gee, we shouldn't think about it, we need to look forward to the future and to change. Becca thinks it is important to see mistakes identified, fingers pointed at them, and politicians saying this is what went wrong, and this what I will correct. Becca also thinks that Governor Palin wouldn't know where to point a finger if she wanted to.

Becca thinks Senator Biden is sounding a little manic! She thinks he needs to take a deep breath.

Becca is cringing as she listens to Goveror Palin once again ignore a question. This one regarding when and if nuclear weapons should be used. Her obvious complete confusion as she searches for something to say is just painful. "...can we talk about Afghanistan for a minute?"

Senator Biden did not answer the question either. Becca is irritated.

Becca thinks it is kind of funny that they keep the current question being debated at the bottom of the screen. The questions seem to rarely have anything to do with what politicians are talking about.

Becca is zoning out again.... and there is still an entire half hour left.

Aww, Governor Palin is such a quaint, adorable "Washington outsider" who just "doesn't understand how you guys work..."

Becca is reading blogs and not really paying attention to the debate.

Becca needs a break.

Break.

Whew. Okay, Becca's back.

ZZZZzzzzZZZzzzzz........

Becca is jolted out of her doze by Governor Palin triggering her gag reflex. Again. "Say it ain't so, Joe!" Becca is too disgusted for words.

Becca is completely bowled over when Governor Palin makes a "shout out" to her husband's elementary school class ("and remember, you get extra credit for watching this debate!"). What does she think this is, a talk show?!

Senator Biden slams Governor Palin about her lack of understanding about what kind of power the office of vice president actually holds (based on her answer to a question about VP power). Yowch.

Becca is having a harder and harder time paying attention to the debate.

Becca is extremely impressed by Governor Palin's compassion when Senator Biden briefly got choked up discussing losing his wife and child. Very impressed. She is not being sarcastic at all.

Becca is ready for the debate to be over.

Becca is chatting with her mom on Gmail again.

Becca has to admit she really hasn't been listening to this last fifteen minutes at all.

Becca is laughing at Governor Palin again. The governor is making her closing statement, and says that she really enjoys "being able to answer these tough questions". Becca would like the governor to state which questions she has actually answered. Heh.

Where Governor Palin babbles on in her closing statement about fighting for freedom, and how we face the danger of "sitting back in our twilight years telling our children and our children's children about a time when Americans were free," Senator Biden recaps some issues, and overall sounds pretty much three times as intelligent as the governor.

And it's over!


Conclusion?

Becca is disappointed that she didn't get to see the governor's very remarked upon wink at the camera - she wasn't able to actually watch most of the video since she was trying to work and write a blog post at the same time.

But seriously.

Becca has honestly come to realize that she could never, ever vote for Senator McCain. She could never cast a vote that would put Governor Palin that close to the presidency.