ClobberBlog | Mormonism, Evangelical Christianity

I’m pleased with how the VP debate went.

Let’s start with the moderation by the beleaguered Gwen Ifill. I thought she did okay and mostly played things down the middle, except for that she seemed to give the final word to Biden most of the time. I’d be interested in seeing an analysis of who got the final word more often and how much speaking time each candidate got. The suspicion that Biden was allowed the last laugh more often factors into how I feel about each candidate’s answers. I can’t really dock Palin points for not taking Biden to task when she was not given the chance to respond as often.

On to demeanor. Palin was charming and enthusiastic, never letting her smile fall from her face. She never looked stumped, never looked flustered, and I don’t think she stammered once. Biden started out looking friendly, but quickly began looking angry, tired and just a little bit flustered. Palin put him on the defensive without even trying. Will the liberals who argued that Obama won the first debate because McCain looked tired and grumpy now admit that Palin won this debate because Biden looked tired and grumpy? I won’t hold my breath.

Palin also maintained absolutely EXCELLENT eye contact with the camera and thus the American people. Biden usually seemed to look at the moderator. And what the heck was up with all of his bizarre references to himself in the 3rd person? British royalty much?

On answers, Palin was a little too eager to turn the discussion towards energy early on in the debate. I understand that’s her strong point, but she missed the chance to make other important points about the economy because of that. She didn’t go after Biden on Obama’s ties to Fannie and Freddie as I would have liked. She did not interact with Biden’s criticisms of McCain as much as I would have liked. Part of that was probably due to the aforementioned suspicion of Ifill not giving Palin equal floor time. I also suspect Palin knew that some of Biden’s criticisms of McCain were baloney and the fact-checkers would tear him apart. Karl Rove cited ten things Biden definitely lied about and six more things he arguably lied about; I believe it.

Biden was a lot more specific with his answers, but I think he was too specific. I was trying hard to listen to him, but he kept on rambling to the point that my eyes glazed over and I had no idea what he was talking about anymore. Palin was rather fluffy and overly populist on some of her answers, and as I said before, there were very specific chances she had to go after Biden and Obama which she passed up, but she still came off strong and confident. One quibble: she needs to drop the word “maverick” from her vocabulary already. And did I really hear her say “nucular” like, 7 times? Then Ifill said it???

Overall, I’d call the debate a draw with an edge to Palin. However, the media has spent the last three weeks working hard to Quaylize Palin and promising us she was a clueless moron and a joke. She clearly proved tonight, free from the aid of a Bush speech writer or a teleprompter, that she is none of the above. Worst case scenario: Obama wins the election, but Palin is still in the game for 2012. This night was a major victory for Palin.

You made us proud tonight, Palin. This is the Sarah Palin that the American people need to see. Now get out there, show yourself to the American people and do interviews. Lots and lots of interviews.

And now, it’s time for this blog to step away from politics for a bit and get back to other things.

UPDATE: The Anchoress has a good round-up of reactions to the debate.

UPDATE II: Both Ed Morrissey at Hot Air and Gabriel Malor at AoSHQ say that Ifill was even-handed in the giving out of last words. However, Ed and Ace argue that she still showed bias in that she did not ask any direct questions on abortion, gun control or energy policy, areas where Palin stood to do well. I would have to agree with that.