Forget the bloggers who told us Sarah Palin had to look presidential. That’s not how it works. She just had to look vice-presidential. (How do you think Spiro Agnew and J. Danforth Quayle got elected?) By that standard, she hit a home run. She appeared confident, respectful of her opponent, and far more comfortable selling Republican economic snake oil than John McCain appeared last Friday. Above all, she exuded the dreaded "sunny optimism" that made Ronald Reagan so formidable. Joe Biden’s jackhammer pounding on McCain was effective in its own way–and much more truthful–but he was so damn gloomy that I found myself looking forward to Palin’s perky responses. Yes we can, Sarah!
Both candidates were extremely well-prepared, and Palin executed to perfection–with plenty of style points--the "Dubya Strategy" of never going off message. Gwen Ifill might as well have been a cardboard cutout.
Overall, I’d give a slight edge to Palin. Factoring in the low expectations, it was a substantal win. She’s certainly not a national embarrassment tonight.
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I thought Joe Biden got the tickets message across very effectively. He was detailed and precise. He didn't bore me at all. Palin was just repeating one talking point after another, showing no distinction with Bush and repeating the same old "team of mavericks who are gonna shake things up." It was kind of like she was a doll where when you pull the string which ever of her stored answers is closest to the questions thats what she says and make sure you throw in maverick at least twice in each answer, and if the question wasn't one on file she would just change the subject. I didn't think she was listening to what Biden was saying like after he had that emotional moment she went right back to the talking points with no acknowledgement, obviously totally tone deaf. The polls are showing issues matter more in this election than a pretty face or putting "Joe six pack" in the white house. The impact of this debate is overall neutral but the winner was clearly Biden.
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