Where's the Human Emotion?

You're trying to make her out to be a cold heartless person. She isn't. Sometimes people don't say things out of respect, sometimes they don't act but they do have feelings for any person. I watch how she is with Trig and it is clear she dearly loves that baby. I look for that kid to go beyond his disability because of her love for him. I don't see her as a woman who is cold no matter how hard you want people to believe it to be so.

It strikes me as odd that Hilary Clinton was criticized for showing emotion back at the beginning of the primary race, and now Palin is being criticized for lack of emotion. The argument with Clinton was that you can't let emotion get in the way of performing your job, you need to maintain a clear head. That is exactly what Palin did. She kept her focus on the task at hand. So it appears that no matter what a person (or woman) does, she gets criticized-- there will always be someone who thinks she was wrong. I can't help but wonder, would the reaction be the same if it was a man who showed no emotion? Probably not, because that is what we expect from men. But for some reason, when a woman does not exhibit what we consider to be 'female' characteristics, we think there is something wrong with her.

Annie,Firstly if you don't mean to be nit-picking,Then why do you bring it up.And Second if you look so closely you should have noticed the hard swallow before she continued.It was Sarah Palin that voluntarely said that Biden's wife was in heaven.

Yea, I notice that too and thought the same thing when it happened. I do think Sarah Palin had so much on her plate though to tackle this debate and that was probably just a distraction for her to get her off script. I think it would of be ok if she gave a quick condolence to Biden but maybe Biden would not even want it who knows, he comes off as a tough guy and everytime I see that from him it does make me sad. I saw an interview with him back when he still had all black hair and when his deceased wife came up indirectly his reaction was exactly the same.

Sorry I didn't notice I had tears in my eyes as he was talking at that point. It was so amazing that even after all these years it is so near his heart that talking about it still brings him to tears. He must have so much passion. No wonder he is so for the middle class and also a Democrat. He really showed his compassion last night. I'll have to see if I can find a clip.

Very honestly, I watched the debate and that moment struck me hard. I'm old enough to remember Edmund Muskie breaking down during the 1972 primaries over newspaper attacks on his wife, and how vicious the reaction was to that, how many viewed it as a sign of weakness and instability making him unfit to be president. I was 13, and I still remember being both bewildered and angry that a man would be considered weak because he showed emotion. That momentary break in Biden's voice showed more genuine emotion than all the folksy 'you betcha' winks that Palin threw out all night long. I didn't even notice Palin's reaction - or non-reaction - to it, and frankly don't care how she reacted or didn't. Maybe I would have noticed if she'd commented or expressed something in reaction to that - it would have made her more likable to me, because so far, I haven't seen a lot in her that's likable.

I watched the dabte also and it brought a tear to my eyes when Biden almost cried. I think it was rude for Sarah to just skip it by like it wasn't even an issue. I am for Biden and Obama anyway but was undecided until I seen that.

I watched last night with an open mind like I usually do, and at the start of the debate I thought Palin actually might have had a chance. I've been trying so hard to put my finger on what it is that drives me nuts about her, and last night I looked at my husband and said 'Remember the Church Lady on SNL?" He groaned and I explained, she reminds me of a cross between the Church Lady and Mrs. Poole from some old 80's sitcom. (I can't remember the name of it). I'm a soccermom, and I can't relate to her at all. I can tell you for a fact that most of the time the soccer games don't involve political discussions, most of us look at it as a break, a time to have meaningless discussions and occassionally gossip with other moms. I thought she was emotionless too, and had a hard time staying on topic. It was apparent she was trying to place the focus on her strong suits, which I don't blame her for. But it also proved that Biden is a well rounded competent choice. When he almost broke down over the loss of his wife and daughter it really hit home to me. And I thought the point he made about being a single dad was beautifully articulated. I'm proud I will be voting for him and Obama.

I was a little taken aback by that as well. When the camera switched to her, I did kind of expect her to extend some kind of humane gesture before getting back on her roll. I'm not sure what I expected her to say, but I thought the moment was awkward when she didn't acknowledge it.

I don't quite know what to make of this. On the one hand, yes Palin could well have shown some compassion and emotion, I think if she had stepped towards Biden and comforted him, personally I think that would have gone down very well and I don't think she would have been seen as weak for doing so. On the other hand, when some people are presented with these kind of emotional situations, they tend to freeze and don't know how to respond. It may well have been that Palin fits into this category (I certainly have frozen in the past when faced with these kind of situations, but that doesn't make me a heartless person, nor does that make Palin so either).

well i have to say i agree i think that palin sounded like she was on an ifomercial.Like maybe she was reading a script. I know i dont want my country ran on script!! She really had no emotion throughout the whole debate. At first i like palin but after this debate my decision has changed immensly. I know that she was just kinda thrown into this unexpectantly but she needs to be able to answer the questions asked not just give an answer. She really gave no answers, no plan at all. I really dont know what she was tryng to do but i dont think it was working in her favor.