The VP Debate Verdict: But She's So Adorable!

Two things could be ascertained about the characters involved in last night's debate:

• Sarah Palin's got IT. Not sure what IT is, or what IT means, but IT annoys the hell out of me...but I can see how IT appeals to middle-America voters. IT is all about "you betchas" and adorable pronounciations of "washington" and "alaska". IT is all about connecting with your inner-hockey mom (because that is such a popular sport in the mainland), and IT is all about being fiesty and cutesy at the same time.
• Biden is good. Damn good. He even surprised me. He was possibly the best at constructing an argument attractive to the undecided voter out of the two. His grasp of the facts, his succinct arguments, and clear debating style made him stand out and turn this into a best-case scenario. He was calm, and even a little sentimental. I believe, he had a better performance than Obama did last Friday.

Now, if you need to hear these two points in different ways from an orgy of commentary, please, be my guest:

• NYTimes: Palin did very well, but not well enough to help McCain keep this ship afloat.
• WSJ: Palin held her own; Biden was aggressive in attacking McCain, not Palin.
• Washington Post: Debate will help Palin for now, but her vagueness raises questions.
• AP: Palin's low expectations helped Palin. Biden's strong performance kept momentum on Obama's side.

lhp