I agree. Palin was very good tonight. Understandable I think she was a little nervous in the beginning. But the second half of the debate she was very good. You could see the confidence and fun she was having as the debate progressed.

Biden must feel like his Fighting Blue Hens felt, when, after Lyin Biden predicted they could take the Buckeyes, they lost to Furman.

That, or, he feels like a Chicago baseball fan today.

Wow this was just incredible. I have hope again about this election.

http://www.supportsarahpalin.us/index.php?p=3

Knock out.

Shock and awe indeed. Go Sarah!

Joe came across as articulate. Unfortunately for him, we'll find out tomorrow to what extent he was on one of his bullshit rolls.

Two come to mind, Obama and preconditons (Hey Joe, it's on freakin' video tape - he said it!).

Second, what was that bullshit about we and the FRENCH kicking Hezzbollah out of Lebannon?
Where'd he dig THAT up?

Awesome! Also awesome watching Bill O'Reilly go up!- Barney Franks sorry butt tonight. Well, maybe considering Barneys bend towards being a rump ranger thats not the best choice of words.
:-)

Really? Fox thought Palin won? Gee, who saw that coming. I guess all those polls (including Fox's own) have that well known reality bias

I caught the majority of the debate, and this is what I came away with:

Her opening didn't really respond to his. He seemed smug or relaxed at various points, while she was clearly excited. She had opportunities to slam home the conservative talking points, but didn't every time.

Despite the crowd's designated silence, each one got them to laugh, though hers was better.

She seemed desparate to talk about energy during questions that weren't really about energy.

In large part, Palin came out better, especially when Biden said some things that were clearly false and she was able to correct him.

Setay, you evidently don't watch Fox. Last week Fred Barnes on Fox thought the debate was a tie and Charles Krauthammer, another conservative on Fox, thought Obama won. Dick Morris, who was also on Fox tonight and thought Palin won in a knock out, thought Obama won the debate last week as well. Maybe you should take a look at Fox before making such an uninformed comment. I suffer through the idiots at MSNBC so that I can at least know what I am talking about when I criticize them.

I cannot believe everyone saying Palin did better than expected, but the expected was a very low bar.

Palin never answered many questions, such as bankruptcy, Achilles heels, what would the McCain administration cut given the government's financial crisis, did not answer the question about deregulation, did not answer the question of defending John McCain about not going along with the deregulation, letting Wall Street run wild.

Palin lied about Obama's tax plan that had been debunked by factcheck.org in June-August: "Barack had 94 opportunities to side on the people's side and reduce taxes and 94 times he voted to increase taxes or not support a tax reduction, 94 times."

Very scary:
She also thinks the Constitution gave Cheney the power she wants if McCain is elected. Biden did a good job of rebutting Palin's answer

All the polls have Biden winning by a big margin

I love this woman.

Biden came across as a friendly used car salesman. He was slick but you knew he was lying. You got that bad feeling. When you popped the hood you knew he was lying when he tried to tell you about his family and started sniffing.

Knock out for Palin. She wasn't polished but you'd buy a used car from her.

JOE BIDEN'S 14 LIES TONIGHT

1. TAX VOTE: Biden said McCain voted "the exact same way" as Obama to increase taxes on Americans earning just $42,000, but McCain DID NOT VOTE THAT WAY.

2. AHMEDINIJAD MEETING: Joe Biden lied when he said that Barack Obama never said that he would sit down unconditionally with Mahmoud Ahmedinijad of Iran. Barack Obama did say specifically, and Joe Biden attacked him for it.

3. OFFSHORE OIL DRILLING: Biden said, "Drill we must." But Biden has opposed offshore drilling and even compared offshore drilling to "raping" the Outer Continental Shelf."

4. TROOP FUNDING: Joe Biden lied when he indicated that John McCain and Barack Obama voted the same way against funding the troops in the field. John McCain opposed a bill that included a timeline, that the President of the United States had already said he would veto regardless of it's passage.

5. OPPOSING CLEAN COAL: Biden says he's always been for clean coal, but he just told a voter that he is against clean coal and any new coal plants in America and has a record of voting against clean coal and coal in the U.S. Senate.

6. ALERNATIVE ENERGY VOTES: According to FactCheck.org, Biden is exaggerating and overstating John McCain's record voting for alternative energy when he says he voted against it 23 times.

7. HEALTH INSURANCE: Biden falsely said McCain will raise taxes on people's health insurance coverage -- they get a tax credit to offset any tax hike. Independent fact checkers have confirmed this attack is false

8. OIL TAXES: Biden falsely said Palin supported a windfall profits tax in Alaska -- she reformed the state tax and revenue system, it's not a windfall profits tax.

9. AFGHANISTAN / GEN. MCKIERNAN COMMENTS: Biden said that top military commander in Iraq said the principles of the surge could not be applied to Afghanistan, but the commander of NATO's International Security Assistance Force Gen. David D. McKiernan said that there were principles of the surge strategy, including working with tribes, that could be applied in Afghanistan.

10. REGULATION: Biden falsely said McCain weakened regulation -- he actually called for more regulation on Fannie and Freddie.

11. IRAQ: When Joe Biden lied when he said that John McCain was "dead wrong on Iraq", because Joe Biden shared the same vote to authorize the war and differed on the surge strategy where they John McCain has been proven right.

12. TAX INCREASES: Biden said Americans earning less than $250,000 wouldn't see higher taxes, but the Obama-Biden tax plan would raise taxes on individuals making $200,000 or more.

13. BAILOUT: Biden said the economic rescue legislation matches the four principles that Obama laid out, but in reality it doesn't meet two of the four principles that Obama outlined on Sept. 19, which were that it include an emergency economic stimulus package, and that it be part of "part of a globally coordinated effort with our partners in the G-20."

14. REAGAN TAX RATES: Biden is wrong in saying that under Obama, Americans won't pay any more in taxes then they did under Reagan.

Wow!

Each and every time I about give up on McCain, Palin pulls his butt out of the fire!

She makes it seem she's actually speaking to me, something Obama never has, and I trust her on a gut level.

Win or lose I hope she's a permanent fixture on the conservative horizon. She's a winning ticket and someone, I think, America can be proud of.

I am libertarian who prior to the VP picks, was truly undecided. After McCain proved he wasn't a moderate and picked Palin, I must admit, I have been essentially an Obama leaning voter ever since. My impression of the first debate was that Obama clearly won, not because of his own substance, but more from McCain's lack thereof. What scares me tonight however, has been the reaction to this debate. I resent everything Palin stands for, and certainly will not be voting for McCain... but to for the left to deceive themselves and pretend like the debate tonight went any way other than Palin absolutely mopping the floor with Biden is cause for concern. Sarah was charming, pleasant, painfully likeable, witty, on-point, and did not appear contrived. Biden was anything but. The entire time, he looked to be cornered, and if I had to pick one word to describe him, it would be "smug". Biden lost this debate for Obama tonight. Thats hard medicine to swallow, but the Obama camp needs to fix the problem fast. And to read the blogs and listen to the early posts of fellow progressives that try to pretend this crushing defeat tonight for Biden didn't happen by citing such silliness as flash CNN and CBS polls is setting the stage for another 4 years of McBush.

Look - I think all of the conservative excitement over Sarah Palin's performance tonight is indeed justified. After weeks of showing that she was painfully unqualified to be Vice President (or god forbid, President) she performed very well tonight. She should be commended for her performance and truly I don't think it was really a surprise to anyone on the Democratic side. But it sadly does not change the fact that she has already shown that she really doesn't know very much about the world beyond Alaska. She did however stop the bleeding with Republicans and the many conservatives who were jumping ship last week.
So you definitely charged up the base - which the comments preceding this one prove.

I hosted a debate watching event outside of Scranton, PA tonight in which over 100 people attended. It was a mixed crowd from my community and while I am an Obama supporter - my attendance list showed that 65% of my audience was not firmly behind Obama. Obviously I hosted the event to try and persuade these voters and the results are in - at least 3/4 of the crowd said Joe Biden won the debate. To be fair at least as many if not more said that Palin exceeded expectations - but Biden still won.

Look - I don't know how many if any minds either candidate changed tonight - but it was clear by reactions in the room - that people wanted specific answers to serious questions and that Joe Biden was the only candidate giving any tonight.

Ryan, please look at Denise's post. Biden was not factual on a bunch of points, but he said them with authority. Your group wouldn't know he was in bs mode. Leave us see how it turns out after a few days.

I'd love to hear DJ's comments on the instant polling.

Frank Luntz showed a group of people, half of whom voted for Kerry and half voted for Bush who said they were undecided. They clearly liked Palin more for the debate but only a few became decided after the debate on who they would vote for (4 for McCain and 1 for Obama, I think).

Anyway, you look on Drudge and Palin won huge during the debate. You look on Fox and Palin won huge. You look at Luntz focus group, Palin won huge.

Yet CBS claims to have almost 500 undecided voters and they overwhelming go for Biden. Not that they voted in a "who won" type of way, but for example, 65% or so liked Biden before the debate and 98% liked him after, whereas for Palin is was something like 30% and then 55%.

So i'm confused. I'm left believing CBS is trying to fool us (Wouldn't be the first time) or Fox News, Drudge, Luntz, etc really are in the tank for the right wing. My experience tells me its probably CBS trying to fool us, but anyway to demonstrate that by the supposed polling they took?

It is one thing to commend Sarah Palin's superb performance. But we should also remember the circumstances under which it was given. This woman had been pilloried, disrespected and dismissed. Her candidate's campaign has been in free-fall. She walked up to the plate, trailing, with two outs on the board, two strikes against her, facing an established major league pitcher with an umpire who would give him an almost unlimited strike zone. This kid hits under pressure! Big time.
To change sports metaphors in mid-stream, I'm reminded of the Braddock-Baer fight ("CinderellaMan"). The people's kid makes it happen when the chips are down. This has to make a difference.

Gov. Sarah Palin, once again, confounded her critics with a strong performance. She did it at the Republican convention, and she did it again last night in her debate with Sen. Joe Biden. She performed with poise and charm. She effectively made the case that Senator Obama would be naïve in foreign policy and harmful to economic growth, and that Senator McCain would be a common-sense reformer. She handled questions about Iraq, Afghanistan, and Iran well. She connected domestic-policy arguments to the lives of average voters. Anyone who hoped -- or feared -- that she would fall flat on her face was proven wrong.

Biden, it must be said, also did well, and Palin was of course not flawless. She let a few hard shots from him, on health care for example, go unanswered. At times she slipped into platitude, as when she repeatedly referred to greed as the cause and regulation as the cure of the financial crisis. On the other hand, her account of the roots of the housing bubble were more sophisticated than Biden's (she allowed that consumer behavior had played at least a supporting role in the drama).

The response from liberals/reporters on the airwaves after the debate was instructive. They criticized Palin for dodging some questions. Dodge she did, and good for her: Instead of taking Gwen Ifill's loopy invitation for the candidates to dilate on when we should use nuclear weapons, she talked about rogue regimes and nuclear proliferation.

Paul Begala was among those who said that Palin had helped herself but not McCain. It's fair enough to observe that the election is, of course, not going to turn on the vice-presidential debate. We expect that a lot of Democrats will be saying that now.

These words come directly for the National Review online - from the editors - and I think they make the point well. Any Democrats who were hoping for a Palin implosion tonight must be content in only having McCain to run against for the rest of the election. Sarah Palin all but announced during the debate that she will not be sitting down with the "mainstream media" anytime soon. Her performance tonight at least means they won't be blaming her for the loss.

Hope all of you conservatives have called your congressmen and told them they better pass that bailout bill tomorrow - or else your boy McCain is done. Once they pass it, he will of course have to explain all the pork that it took to get Republicans on board - but that's his problem.

You really have to be totally right wing to not see through Palin. Re-watch the debate and imagine her as the President... she literally scared the pants off me at certain points with her "you betchas" and "then that there" when referring to her own family.

It's appalling for a commenter to accuse Biden of being fake for tearing up when remembering the tragic fate of his children - had your family suffered the same fate, you'd have to be dead not to tear up - and yet Palin responded like a cold hearted freak spitting out a rehearsed line immediately afterward on a topic that had nothing to do with what was asked or acknowledging a huge moment in the debate. She had a golden chance to show a human side - the joe-six pack, caring hockey mom side - but not only did she miss it, I think that was the singular moment where she lost the debate because it showed her as a fake, plastic person.

The polls make it clear she lost... the question is where and how? Her speeches tonight - and each answer was a speech - were largely negative and attacking, and that's why they lost BOTH debates and why they are losing the election. Independent voters hate insults and accusations, especially the utterly ridiculous ones where Palin calls Obama naive with poor judgement. Talk about the kettle calling the pot black. If they hope to win Palin can't call Biden old when McCain is older, and Obama naive when she's a 4 year old in a 40 year old suit and bun. But it's nice to finally see the masters of campaigning, who are terrors at running a country, finally blowing a campaign. Phew, I can't wait for January.

Teleprompter Boy to me. But Teleprompter Boy doesn't even rehearse the lines. He has to read them.

Uhh, you know he WRITES them too. Palin shouldwrite her own speeches. I'm sure they'd be good.

The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. said 51 percent of those polled thought Biden did the best job, while 36 percent thought Palin did the best job.

Please, America, tell me it isn't true? Is that all it takes to be fit for the vice presidency? Ignore the questions you are asked? Deploy the carbon-copy speeches you were trained to say, over and over again? Give answers to questions you weren't asked?
The only way Sahra Palin did succeed in the debate was by being able to utter complete sencences most of the time. By sticking to the script like a fly to a glue trap. As if someone had winded her up and sent her to the debate like a toy soldier.

I was going to vote for John McCain, even tough I favoured Mike Huckabee. But Sarah Palin changed that; she's an embarrassment.

I'm not so sure I want that to be true for a possible POTUS...

I am more convinced then ever that Palin one just by the off the wall PDS going on with our lefty friends. ww

Shock and Awe? Shockingly Awful, is more accurate.

"Shock and Awe? Shockingly Awful, is more accurate."

Dream on.

Uhh, you know he WRITES them too.

Then how come he has such a hard time talking without them?

Did you notice that Sarah Palin didn't answer most of the questions because she has no clue? Instead, she recited talking points, as always. Slogan, Slick and Shallow = Sarah.

female voter comment = Sheesh! I'm sorry you missed the real debate, rather than some parody on youtube.

I was very please, at what I saw, and heard tonight in the debate. I like Joe, but I like Gov. Sarah Palin, a lot more. She speaks directly to people; and that's a lot more than most others do in this election. She's a learner, and what she doesn't know, she will learn to know, just like most people do in this world. Learning on the job, in some cases, is the best way to go, if you have a little something in the background to add to the study. She certainly has the background. The most important thing for me though, is the character of a person. She is woman of good character. That puts her over the top, for me. She was a good choice for McCain, and a good choice for America. They have my vote.

Thoughts on a
Dream.

The street's on
fire, and the city
screams.

The wall's down,
and the clowns, on
the hill, ain't so
funny as they
once seemed.
The
floor's in a panic,
the lenders, keep
bending the thing,
and the Fix It Man,
just can't fix the
dream.
Maybe, its
not a one man,
thing.
Maybe it
never was.
Maybe
its time for a
woman's touch,
and maybe its time
for a little more love.

(c) Edmund I Watts 2008

The woman is phenomenal. Talk about a learning curve, five weeks in and the hopes of the RNC rest on Sarah Palin at the VP debate, no thanks to Katie Couric. And, Sarah knocks it out of the ballpark; again. There is something I'd like to point out about male Democratic politicians though. Something they do with great regularity. I'm sure you've noticed. Now if you don't like Bozo the clown, if you feel that he is a particularly bad clown and bad for the country, why then don a Bozo wig, a pair of size 14 shoes, and a rubber nose whenever denouncing Bozo? If there is an official uniform of the president, it's the pastel blue tie, white shirt, and dark suit first popularized by George W. Bush. The color scheme comes from the presidential flag, and no other American president made those colors his distinctive style before George W. Bush. In 2004, Bill Clinton even had his presidential portrait painted wearing George W's signature garb. People still talk about the significance of color during the 1960 Kennedy, Nixon debate (that debate was in black & white). But, there's no confusion to this day about who wore what. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. And, the fashion police have long memories. Ms. Palin dressed for and aced the debate. Note: before railing against Bozo, please try not to emulate Bozo. It makes one look like a Bozo: http://theseedsof9-11.com

To Steve:
"am libertarian who prior to the VP picks, was truly undecided..... and listen to the early posts of fellow progressives..."

Progressives are not libertarians. You seem confused.

Ha - funny - I posted some comments regarding the vice presidential debate - granted not all so glowing about Sarah Palin. How sad is it that the moderators are obviously whitewashing any comments that don't quite fit the propaganda they want to get out there. Why invite people to discuss intelligently if you are going to censor those who say things you don't like.

Sad.