Pundits declare debate a draw

This is actually the perfect result for Obama. It was a completely unnewsworthy event. Had Palin done really well, there would have been all this talk about a comeback; had she done really poorly, the conservatives would have attacked Ifill for being biased. A simple debate full of talking points was ideal. Conservatives loved her because they see her through rose colored glasses and don't care that she didn't actually answer any questions. On the other hand, the undecideds were looking for substance. Biden may not be as entertaining and full of jargon, he ws full of answers.

(does anyone else find it odd that it was Biden who once had the speech impediment?)

Please, America, tell me it isn't true? Is that all it takes to be fit for the vice presidency? Ignore the questions you are asked? Deploy the carbon-copy speeches you were trained to say, over and over again? Give answers to questions you weren't asked?
The only way Sarah Palin did succeed in the debate was by being able to utter complete sentences most of the time. By sticking to the script she was drilled like a fly to a glue trap. As if someone wound up and sent her to the debate like a toy soldier.

I supported Mike Huckabee before he dropped out. I was going to vote for McCain. But Palin? She's an embarrassment!

I'm not so sure I want that to be true for a possible POTUS...

We’ve been winked and smiled at and hoodwinked just too often in the past eight years to be charmed by Ms. Palin. Her answers were formatted just as they were written by her handlers. If she sat across the table from Putin or any other leader, the wink and nudge just wouldn’t get it…because she doesn’t. The “filter” of the media questions she mentions is, I guess, requiring a direct answer to a direct question. What a concept! Send this nice lady back to Alaska where she can put a bounty on other animals(besides wolves) and refuse the moves to protect polar bears. Honesty and forthright communication are also endangered in Alaska.

Let’s give Governor Palin her dues. She came prepared and she performed brilliantly in the debates. She was on message and she got in her shots where she could. Well done Gov. Palin.

Here’s what bothered me. She seemed strikingly inauthentic. Her “oh, shucks by golly” act seemed put on. Did anyone respond positively when she winked at the camera? It didn’t have the desired affect on me. It seemed like pandering.

Her false-folksy comment “Say it ain’t so, Joe,” was obviously rehearsed. It was a sound-bite wanna-be. And what was it that Joe Biden said that caused Gov. Palin to react so? He mentioned George Bush; a president Gov. Palin insists should only be spoken of in past tense. Trying to burry a sitting president so he doesn’t stink up the hopes of his party is truly inauthentic.

Let’s be clear – John McCain and Sarah Palin are Republicans, the same party that brought you the last eight years of failed policies. To pretend otherwise is the ultimate in insincerity.

When she claimed that John McCain was talking about the American workforce when he said the “fundamentals of the economy are strong,” it seemed disingenuous. Did you believe her?

It seemed contrived when she blamed predator lenders for forcing people to buy houses that they could not afford. After all, it was John McCain who pushed through the deregulation to allow the financial system to get out of hand. When she outright refused to answer the question about deregulation, her words rang hollow.

Her “facts” about Obama’s plans to raise taxes were spurious and will not stand to any fair fact-check. Saying that Obama is proposing nearly a trillion dollars in new spending is patently false.

Governor Palin’s defense of John McCain’s healthcare plan was…well, indefensible. Joe Biden pointed out that John McCain’s plan is to tax our healthcare benefits to the tune of $3.6 trillion. McCain’s plan will cause 20 million people to be dropped from their employer’s healthcare coverage, forcing them to try to replace a $12,000 healthcare policy with a $5,000 tax deduction.

Putting aside for a moment the McCain-Palin plan to continue the legacy of George W. Bush, I have a bigger problem with Sarah Palin. She is inauthentic.

Biden read from cards.

His answer to "What promise you have made you cannot keep?" was a litany of promises of the Bush Administration. If we are so focused on past administrations He might was well said, "Foresakeing all others." if Edwards, Cisneros and Clinton are any gauge of Democratic promise keeping.

Pundit - a learned person expert or authority. I'm sorry, no expert or learned person could rationalize describing what we say last night as a draw. How can you win a debate when you don't bother to answer the questions? That alone is enough to describe Ms. Palin's performance as a complete failure. Couple that with "betcha", "comin", sending "shout outs" and winking at the camera all night and this looked more like a hip hop concert than a serious vice presidential debate. The history of our country is at stake and the "pundits" call this a draw?

Holy crap! Palin spanked Biden...seriously he looked like a tired old man next to her well executed and exuberant political performance.
And can we all say "Bosniacs" together. hahaha

Not that I want to vote for McCain or Obama as they are both corrupt and ignorant of any real solutions for prosperous change in America, but Palin sure gave me a good push toward the right.

Marc, there's still plenty of time to vote for Obama/Biden. You can get an absentee ballot and mail it in if you don't feel like leaving the house!

I was just going to vote for Obam/Biden and do nothing more, but thanks to Palin, I'm now CAMPAIGNING for them. She has no business being a 72-year-old heartbeat away from the presidency.

If there's any wonder about last nights debate is this question voters will ask themselves.Why didn't Joe Biden ran away to the finishing line all by himself given his many years in government and foreign knowledge as they porttray him? Governor Sarah Palin has only been on the campaign trail five weeks,get that five weeks and yet this writer think it is a draw while many that watched the debate thinks Sarah Palin won voters expectation and belief.Joe Biden should have knockout Sarah Palin early on given that huge gap in experience as the leftwing media seems so proud of but as I listened and watched each candidates last night Sarah Palin got away without any bruises on her and I thought to myself wow! how did she she managed to withstand the thirtyeight years of Joe Bidens experience as a debater and foreign credential. is amazing from many voters poin of view.

Well, skmj, she was able to handle herself with Biden because her answers were either 1) heavily scripted, 2) off-topic responses (also scripted and given when she didn't know the actual answer to the question, 3) "cute" (yes, by golly, that makes her popular like a cheerleader in a beauty pageant but does that make her ready to be one heartbeat away from the office of POTUS?) 4) downright lies and misrepresentations of the Republican platform!!! One of my favorite quotes about McCains "fire Cox" gaffe was that he, "tries to scapegoat an individual for the failure of a philosophy". I'd go a step further with Palin/McCain and say that they actually try to CO-OPT democratic philosophies as their own!

skmj, you truly are one of the many reasons America is dissed the world over.

He was being nice to her. You don't beat the crap out of an unarmed opponent. It would only get her sympathy. The man held back and showed an almost heroic amount of self-restraint.

So don't be such an awestruck hick. We've had 8 years of that. Isn't that enough?

Well, skmj, she was able to handle herself with Biden because her answers were either 1) heavily scripted, 2) off-topic responses (also scripted and given when she didn't know the actual answer to the question, 3) "cute" (yes, by golly, that makes her popular like a cheerleader in a beauty pageant but does that make her ready to be one heartbeat away from the office of POTUS?) 4) downright lies and misrepresentations of the Republican platform!!! One of my favorite quotes about McCains "fire Cox" gaffe was that he, "tries to scapegoat an individual for the failure of a philosophy". I'd go a step further with Palin/McCain and say that they actually try to CO-OPT democratic philosophies as their own!

skmj....it is not a remarkable thing that she managed to match Biden because of her youth/inexperience, it is precisely BECAUSE of these things that she managed to match him - neither of them won, because they weren't even on the same page. Sarah, however inauthentic (in my humble opinion), brought a vigor and charisma that simply is not possible UNLESS you are new to the game - its the same forces which are working to Baracks benefit.
so, Sarah won the debate on charm (so charming, she didn't even have to answer questions!!), but Biden won the debate on facts...I pretty sure I know which is more important to being president, do you?

Biden, on the other hand, cannot help his age

P.S., skmj.....contrary to what you claim here, it seems that many voters do not in fact think Palin won (unless you're just speaking about the other people who were in your living room??)...even the Fox News poll, which I would generally be inclined to distrust, puts Biden significantly ahead, as do all of the others....perhaps more significantly, over 60% of independents felt as though Biden won (as compared to 80% of Dems and 20% Repubs)...something to consider

Biden, on the other hand, cannot help his age

Being Canadian, I have to wonder about the intelligence of a significant potion of America. The debate was a draw??? Were the pundits watching the same debate that I was? I don't care about the party, age or sex of the candidates. I listened to every word. It was so blatantly obvious that Biden outperformed Palin, that in my opinion, one would have to be a complete idiot to see it otherwise.

America has to much of an "I'm a Dem/Rep" attitude. People are not listening to what the candidates are saying, they are simply supporting their party. From my side of the border it looks pretty stupid.

BTW, how about Palin's remark on state run health care? "You don't want yer government anywhere near your health care" (laughs). There's a vote of confidence for you!

When you're in a fight for your life or competing for a higher position for that matter you don't dare give an opponent no matter his or her gender any opportunity to overtake you and finish you off later on.And thats what exactly was happening last night at the debate.I sicerely think Joe Biden make a big mistake that he will forever regret throughout the rest of his life and will be much talk about in the future.Watch closely in the coming weeks as the tide shift towards Sarah Palins favor.

skmj...
We need leadership that is prepared to carry us through the tough times ahead. Palin showed us last night that she is simply ill-equipped to lead this country, and let's face it, with McCain's age and health issues that could very well be a reality.
She refused on several occasions to rebutt Biden's commentary, and asked to turn to other topics that she had been scripted to answer. She even had a beautiful opportunity to explain McCain's 4 billion dollar cut for big oil, perhaps it had constraints that would prevent the companies to continue gouging Americans...but she failed. . The disgusting cheerleader-like attempts at "connecting" with the American people simply show why it is so vital she not be in office. We need to make the world understand that we are not a bunch of uneducated, cutesy hicks, and can regain our place as leaders of the world. If Palin were to wink at some of the leaders we are trying to work with, we would lose face and credibility.
Please, for the sake of our future in this world, do not settle for "Did better than expected". Biden clearly has the knowledge and experience we need alongside Obama to help us out of what will surely be a tough decade of recovery for the US.
I am not a Democrat, I am independent. I am not siding with any party because of some idiotic allegiance, I want to know that the past eight years will not happen again.