It was civil and Gwen Ifill was totally fair, even softball. There were no questions about dinosaurs and humans walking the Earth together, religion and government or seeing Russia.
I was hoping for some drama on Palin's end, but it didn't happen. She is a smart debater, but lacks substance. She successfully avoided questions she didn't want to answer. As a watcher, it was easy to lose track of the question. I'm sure she connected with people who enjoy that cutesy talk. I don't know why. That talk does nothing for me. It's all performance.
Her pat answers to everything: lower taxes and drill, drill, drill, or rather "drill baby drill" and the surge worked.
She was wrong on Afghanistan. Hamid Karzai has criticized the U.S. for killing too many civilians and has made a special request to be more targeted and thoughtful.
Biden held back big time. Good move, no harm. He also was to the point. Thanks Joe. But truthfully, I didn't pay as much attention to Joe. He didn't need to sell me. I think Joe's great.
Palin came out looking better because we thought she'd fall flat. Guess Obama's advisers were right.
I doubt Palin moved any independents, only rallied her base. Republicans have died and gone to heaven.
I'd say she lost any undecided voters on the Mavericky One's position on the Iraq war. I think most of us, except for diehard war fans, want to move past the war in Iraq. She made it clear that McCain wasn't done -- he wasn't going to wave the white flag of surrender.
I also think undecided voters will be able to see through the maverick charade. It's stale.
It will be interesting to see the polls tomorrow. I'm betting no change or an uptick for Obama.
TranscriptIt will be interesting to see the polls tomorrow. I'm betting no change or an uptick for Obama.
Link to debate polls. Cast your vote.
Fact check on Palin's claim that Obama voted to raise taxes 94 times.
More fact checking
Some analysis:
CNN
NYT
WaPo
