Shockingly, Sarah Palin didn't lose this thing. She came across as energetic and spirited, if annoyingly chirpy and colloquial at times. I thought Biden was much better on substance, but Palin was a far, far cry from the Quayling goof of her network interviews. No moose-in-the-headlights moments for her tonight. That sound you hear now is the sound of every Republican in America breathing a sigh of relief.
I thought Biden was much stronger on foreign policy, especially on Iraq. I thought her best moment was when she talked, briefly, about personal responsibility on the economy. Biden was pretty good on the economy too, and I thought Palin fell back too much on talking points. He started out slow and senatorial, and she came out of the gate strong. But he rallied in the second half.
My guess is that Biden wins on substance, Palin on style (that's my supposition for how viewers will have seen her; I find that Sheriff Marge from "Fargo" chirpiness deeply annoying). But overall, it was a win for Palin, because she didn't lose, as everyone expected she would. Had she had a single big gaffe tonight, the McCain campaign would have effectively ended. She came through. I don't think she changed the dynamic of the campaign, which is trending toward Obama. But she stopped her campaign's hemorrhaging. The McCain campaign lives to fight another day.
Had Palin collapsed tonight, I would have definitely decided to withhold my vote from McCain. Now I'm still undecided. I'm still unpersuaded that she's capable of governing should McCain expire, but I'm not persuaded definitely that she isn't. The campaign goes on -- as does my hand-wringing. Oh, the humanity.
(For you Hugh Hewitt listeners who heard my exchange with John Mark Reynolds today, here's JMR's postgame wrap-up).
UPDATE: If you're on the East Coast and awake in the morning, you can catch me on "Good Morning, America" just after 7:30, saying basically all this. But looking very, very sleepy while doing so.
UPDATE.2: Conor Friedersdorf's reaction is here -- and I think he's pretty close to where I am, though a bit more negative (then again, he called for her to exit the ticket). I completely agree with this, though:
But when the debate turned to foreign policy her style suffered, and more important, the substance of her remarks signified no real knowledge of any of the topics being discussed. Joe Biden, on the other hand, seemed to have a depth of knowledge on every foreign policy topic, and I say that as someone who often disagrees with Senator Biden -- even when he's wrong he knows what he's talking about.My guess is that Sarah Palin did good enough to reassure voters who were beginning to doubt her competency, but that she didn't win anyone over to the Republican side. This is because the topics on which Biden won -- the economy, Iraq, and understanding what regular people are going through -- are the most important to voters, whereas energy (drill baby drill!) is mere fodder for the base, though I too think we ought to drill.
UPDATE.3 A friend writes that he can't believe after watching Palin last night flail on foreign policy, that she's capable of governing. The foreign policy mediocrity is even more important, he points out:
And this is crucial because in domestic policy, the President governs collaboratively with Congress whereas in foreign policy the Executive Branch is largely a law unto itself.
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I get that this is now an approved "palin bashing site" but can hear a bit more from people the total debate? Two people were there, and Biden was good at saying the same exact things that I heard Obama say during his debate.
What about Biden's inaccuracies? The fact that he claims to never have disagreed with Obama in the primaries, the perpetual 95% that is used in Obama's talking points on taxes, the surge...the list goes on.
Sarah hit her talking points by mentioning her primary's name often, how often did Biden feel a need to talk about Obama (the actually man running for president)? Honestly, I thought they both danced around questions in order to DEBATE each other. If the question changed but they wanted to respond on the other's previous answer, they BOTH did it. I didn't mind this. It made pace of the debate move along.
Anyway, I am absolutely stuff with Palin-basing at the moment and would like to get back to our regularly scheduled issue; is Obama/Biden better in the White House than McCain/Palin?
Since conservatives think Palin won the debate and is ready to be VP (and hence President), will we now see her doing real interviews and press conferences? She has proved herself so send her out.
Steve
During the debate, I realized I am tired of hearing every minute detail of every petty plan that Obama/Biden have to solve every problem that can possibly exist. No one expects Palin to have all the details down like the lawyers in DC (e.g., Biden, McCain, Obama, ...), so her expressions of her principles and beliefs were refreshing to me.
Now that's an odd argument, Tad.
I mean, we just spent several months hearing how Obama didn't have any real, concrete plans. How he was all about high blown ideals and no way to enact them. An 'empty suit' with no details to his plans.
Now, when people are hearing the details that were there all along, people are 'tired of hearing every minute detail' and are glad to hear expressions of principles and beliefs.
Wow, a person could get whiplash the way the criticisms change.
Guys, I've just deleted several posts because this fight is really dragging the thread down. I'm closing comments. Good work, fellas.
I would ask everyone here to please criticize others respectfully. Add light, not heat, to our discussion.
Again: thread closed.