The question is whether Palin will be portrayed as someone who "stood up" to Biden, or as an in-over-her-head dilletante.

Tweety: I thought it was significant that Biden said Cheney most dangerous VP in history. Palin said she wants a legislative expansion of VP powers. That is unprecedented.  Also not going to do more interviews with newscaster, she said she wasn't going to play by debate rules, or listen to Ifill. THAT IS EXTRAORDINARY, says Tweety.

Shuster now talking about Palin's game plan to answer the questions she wanted to answer.

Tweety: imagine moving embassy to Jerusalem and keeping the relationship with Jordan the same! I thought I was listening to a person recite talking points, it was like listening to a spelling bee, it was so recited, exactly the way you were taught.

Mitchell: making blatant appeal for votes.

Biden impressed me, and I was not a fan going in.  

She only made me shout one time . . and that was when she said, "oh golly!" over whatever is was.  Phony.  Staged.  

She kept the base, but wow, I was glad for the question about how each of them would deal with being president.

However, she is a charismatic person and she exploited that to the hilt. She also managed to pass herself off as a near dem at times. The way she skirted the question about gay marriage was something to see. Def a good pol (read: liar).

So on balance I think she came off as what she is, a powerful charsimatic new on the scene, and Biden proved that he is indeed very knowledgeable about FP.

I think they both did what they came to do and it will probably be viewed as a wash.

No game changer is a net win for Obama as I think the polls will not move much in any direction as a result of this debate. UNLESS the media does some hard hard spin on it one way or the other.

That was awesome - it's definitely something I would do.

Also, the one thing that may actually hurt Palin here is her statement about increased power for the vice presidency.  Biden knocked that one out of the park - and the Cheney comparison was perfect.

What the hell?  This performance was horrific.  Has her bar been set THAT low that some would see this as a good performance?  She said nothing!  She was incoherent half the time.  She didn't answer any questions with any detail on policy whatsoever!  Nothing.  Nothing.  Nothing.

But I also think she demonstrated that she is totally unprepared for the White House in 2008.  She was in way over her head.

Biden--totally exceeded expectations. Thought he was terrific.

Biden on the other hand showed a great command of just about everything, especially foreign policy.   And he was passionate.

I'm not saying  she won.  I'm saying that the Palin persona portrayed in the media was one of ineptitude and incompetence and that portrayal was hurting McCain in the polls. The media can spin it how they want, Americans watched this debate and they can think  for themselves.   At least my little group was impressed by Palin versus what they thought they were going to see.  That seemed to be the same thing I saw on the "real people" groups some of the networks have on after it was over.

"In fact, 96 percent of his votes have been solely along party line, not having that proof for the American people to know that his commitment, too, is, you know, put the partisanship, put the special interests aside, and get down to getting business done for the people of America."

For those who already agreed with talking points, she rattled them off well, probably now schooled to leave no blank moments to be recorded

But what she filled them with was intentionally nonresponsive, error-filled, grammatically vague in the way Northwesterners simply are not (I am one and we do not talk like that) as if she had memorized the things she was saying or reading and got lost in the middle. I did think she was looking down and reading at some points. If, however she and McCaian had future plans, she kept saying they did and had ideas and plans for change without ever saying what any of them were, part of what you turn into a debate to learn, and I think this plainly intentional failure to set out those plans in favor of cute words and soundbite bits about who was riding into town, and how fresh a breath they were, will hurt because she deliberately did not take the opportunity to lay out any of that as McC himself has not either. She plainly misunderstood the one concerning when it was appropriate  to  use nuclear weapons and ignored the one about the relative danger of a nonnuclear state which doesn't like us getting nuclear, and a state which has nuclear weapons already becoming so unstable that they might fall into hands we had not intended and wouldn't like either, one with the existing attitude and the capability in flux and one with the existing capability and the attitude in flux. Nice question, by the way.

I had real trouble with her attitude though. Bulling through, being rude and unresponsive to questions and contemptuous of the moderator, rushing and rushing everything, a sort of superior and smug general tenor as she answered, as if she knew she had Biden when she did not and was trading on his restraint to get away with things. She plainly was not listening to whatever he said and lunged on and on using the TV time for her own agenda.

What this debate didn't do is convince people other than the Republican base she is ready for VP.

What it did do is make her a viable nominee for the Republican nomination in 8 years. That all but guarantees 12 and possible 16 years of a Dem as President.

She was folksy in a frenetic, cartoonish way.

When Biden spoke about his sons and losing his wife and daughter, and got choked up, she responded by talking about McCain the Maverick.

She also very effectively handled the Bush third term argument.

Biden at times almost seemed to be pleading about the rationality of his case.

Unlike the P debate, both candidates seemed more to be aware that we're in a financial crisis.

However, Palin's problem is she doesn't have the best argument at this time. The McCain idea for the economy just doesn't make sense right now.

The Pundits will talk a lot about the VP powers issue.  The public won't care.

Biden started off slow and then got on fire, and Palin started off strong and faded halfway through. At times she sounded like a PTA Mom addressing the ladies lunch.

I don't care if it was fake or not.  Well, it certainly was fake, but still, if we make fun of it, we're the bad guys putting down simple Americans again.