When he would have his little fits breathing into the microphone. Palin had him on the run so much a couple of times he started rambling about incoherently.

Not by much, but she certainly didn’t win. She was favored to, and had a chance to, but she didn’t. She did prove to a lot of folks that she won’t be taken off the ticket. People who called for her to be removed need to retract that. That’s good for her.

She avoided a lot of the questions. Biden was very straightforward and answered the questions. Palin way exceeded expectations. Perhaps expectations shouldn’t have been set so darn low. In the end, the debate won’t change anything. Expect a continued Obama increase in the polls.

It may not matter this year, Eric, but it keeps Governor Palin’s future in national politics alive.

He should be ashamed of himself, the way he faked choking up when talking about his injured child.

I’m tired of the Dems pretending that they care about children when they have no problem aborting the innocent.

Then they have the nerve to condemn Palin because she opposes abortion in cases of rape and incest. The baby didn’t do anything wrong. Any incidental discomfort the woman bears in bringing the child to term is minimal compared to the value of the human life.

the over/under on a Global Warming question was 3.

Ifill should be put through the ringer.

him Obiden? THAT was pretty funny..

I hope, now, that Sen. McCain proves just as willing to roll up his sleeves and fight, and quit pussyfooting around in his quest for the presidency.

She did better here then she did in the Couric interviews which is great. But, the whole debate seems largely a draw to me. Though the instant ‘polls’ of independent voters seem to say otherwise, again favoring Obama/Biden over McCain/Palin, so in 24 hours this may end up like the first debate and going from a draw to a win for the Obama camp.

I suspect for the rest of the election after the Couric interviews that (hopefully!) the McCain campaign will keep Palin away from media interviews. She does great on the stump and held her own well enough not to do damage to herself or McCain in this debate. Hopefully this will put an end to some of the focus on how badly she answers questions in 1 on 1 interviews.

That said Biden avoid any pitfalls as far as gaffes or talking down to Palin in a way that might offend viewers. He didn’t make any progress and didn’t do any damage.

Overall though, this isn’t going to change anything, which isn’t good for McCain. I’m sure the Obama camp is pleased with the debate, Biden did no damage to himself or Obama and no game changing moments occured. It’s not good for McCain, he really needs something to shift the momentum away from Obama in the next four weeks.

People in Washington and the media elite just don’t get it. WE DO NOT LIKE YOU. You may be fine people but you are not a positive for this country but the problem with this country. Real america will respond to the person who is one of us. She never wanted to be a washington insider, she never had a goal to be a politician, she just wanted to change her local school and it took off from there.

The McCain camp needs to get her out there to connect with the people. She is us, she thinks about things like everyone else in the real america and doesn’t care to impress the elites or be part of that culture.

She is a star because she is not a politician but a real person who has real problems she deals with just like all of us. She connects to everyday america.

Now I’m in no way saying that a number of websites – Wonkette, Huffington, etc. – aren’t partisan, but for some reason I was under the impression that this site was “non-partisan.” Does Red State even claim this? These entries, and the comments, are so out-of-reality it blows me away. Obviously, both sides of the argument have legit points – to ignore them is to be that crazy old lady on the corner who throws cats at people. But come on people, give me something to work with…in no way did Ifill, Palin, or Biden embarrass themselves (I felt they all performed fairly well, if the debate was beyond boring by the end), and in no way did one side “defeat” the other. How can either side possibly expect to be deemed legit if they make such ludicrous, unrealisic comments?

on the coal issue.

So true. Also Rove listed 10 things he lied about that are HISTORICAL FACTS! (i.e. recorded votes.)

Fred Thompson nailed him on his “misrepresentations” also.

He will , of course , get a free pass from the LibMedia on his “misrepresentations.”

Perhaps Katie Kouric will point them out.

These people are running scared.

We are going to have some fun now.

Looking forward to the new Republican administration in January.

Regards

I’d like to see a careful and honest analysis of the last word issue. I don’t think it’s as bad as many here think.

There were two times I noticed where they were each given one extra chance, ie, got the opening and closing word on a question.

Near the beginning, I think the third question, it opened with Palin, went to Biden, Palin responded, then Biden, and finally Palin was given the last word, hence getting an extra turn.

Then towards the end Biden gave a first reply, Palin replied, then Biden barged in and talked over the moderator who tried to ask the next question and forced himself into an extra turn. It was rude, and the moderator did not in turn give Palin a chance to respond to re-balance it.

As for the first/last, it seemed to be following a pattern of each got two questions to answer first, then two where they answered last — but towards the end that didn’t seem to the the case — so I’m thinking Biden was given more last words.

Too bad I didn’t record it to go back and count.

But the butting in part was the rudest part of the entire debate, and that prize goes to Biden.

My ‘moderate’ wife heard that and asked, “What does that mean? He just belittled Obama. Is Obama going to be sitting on Biden’s knee?”

THIS NEEDS TO BE AN AD NOW

tonight. Biden, at times I thought, looked like he was expecting a pushover victory but had no idea she was going to come out swinging the way she did.
Biden did have a little more command of the actualy issues and inside-Washington stuff, but a lot of it was innacurate. Whether or not it gets noticed by the mainstream media is a different story.
Palin has gotten me interested in the race again, but I know there’s an uphill climb. Get her to Virginia, Pennsylvania, Florida, and Colorado ASAP!

Actually showed five people moved from “undecided” , four to McCain and one to Obama.

If accurate that is hugely significant. The group certainly seemed blown away by Palin’s performance. And out of 20 or so people, a net of three votes is big time.

That being said we should all take what groups of “undecided” voters say with a grain of salt.

She’s a strong woman.

I’m sure she’ll have a column out soon, claiming how she has to be true to herself and her readers.

Yeah. Fine. Whatever.

Erick had you pegged the other day, Kathleen. Good riddance to you.

his foreign policy credentials more, like visiting Dunkin Doughnuts and 7-11′s to voting for disasterous legislation abroad.

[...and I am SCARED." - Moe Lane]

Next cycle, the GOP must insist on right-of-centers moderators like Glen Beck. After all, the MSM is now left-wing.

opo

Post debate, they tried to discredit her claim of being middle class, saying that both she and Biden were born to the middle class, but once they took public office, they became part of the elite.

There’s too much wrong with that argument to waste time typing about, but it indicated to me that Gov. Palin won in a big way.

I don’t like the Pejman’s article today.

Just for one day, can’t we put something on top of RS that provides:

1. purely positive outlook to the conservatives.

2. no gloomy outlook.

3. no fearful foresight.

RS is still for advancing conservatism goals, right?

I think we need to celebrate this day for Sarah’s “Didn’t Embarass McCain” Performance (as per Pejman).

Please.

I do wish Palin hit Biden on judges. At the end of the debate Biden mentions how he learned that “ideology matters.” We could go through the whole laundry list of SCOTUS appts and Dem appalling responses. Obiden try to put pass themselves off as post-partisans but Biden’s seemingly simple statement at the end of the debate shows it’s BS while reinforcing the Country First message. It also says whole lot about OBiden and where they will lead this country. Missed opportunity.

I’ll take anything right now. Up one in a new MN poll conducted before the debate. There was a big push towards McCain after the Palin nomination. I suspect her performance last night is going to go over really well in MN and WI. Here’s hoping.

http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollReport.aspx?g=0782fede-2757-4c86-9479-f84f02afc9fb

Dems and MSM love this protracted bailout debate, laughing all the way to the White House.

The financial crisis swallowed one McCain debate victory and risks swallowing Palin’s. On top of that McCain’s next debate is only four days away. At this rate, maybe we should just skip the debates all together. I mean who cares. It’s all bailout bill. All the time.

If Palin is the story = Republican numbers go up

If the bailout is the story = Republican numbers go down

It’s that simple, let the blogoshere decide.

…Obama sounding warnings 2 years ago about the Fannie/Freddie crash? Joe said this TWICE last night and yet that’s the first time I ever heard such a thing.

Dems and MSM love this protracted bailout debate, laughing all the way to the White House.

The financial crisis swallowed one McCain debate victory and risks swallowing Palin’s. On top of that McCain’s next debate is only four days away. At this rate, maybe we should just skip the debates all together. I mean who cares. It’s all bailout bill. All the time.

If Palin is the story = Republican numbers go up

If the bailout is the story = Republican numbers go down

It’s that simple, let the blogoshere decide.

["...I don't know why I have to keep pushing this Romney thing, but I will." - Moe Lane]

http://tinyurl.com/43njhn

Ifill was biased and Palin did a fantastic job, but Biden did fine and did not embarass his campaign.

We’ve all watched a ton of these debates. Biden’s performance was probably better than average–think Gore-Kemp, Cheney-Lieberman, Cheney-Edwards. Certainly, he did better than Kemp did in ’96, or Quayle in ’88, and I think probably better than most.

But Palin was magnificent. And I am thrilled. Even if we lose this go-around, we have a leader for the 2010 cycle, and a frontrunner for 2012.

The MSM has been desperately trying to portray her as a unqualified, stuttering bimbo with no substance. She absolutely proved them wrong last night.

As a woman, Joe Biden’s facial expressions during parts of the debate creeped me out. The eye rolling, the smirks and sneers made it very clear to me that he deemed her presence on the stage with him as less than serious. I found myself asking, would he have the same condescending expressions if he were being slapped around by a man? My answer was no. So, in my opinion, he viewed her as a woman, then an opponent. Bad move Joe.

Biden’s use of statistics at the beginning of the debate were contrived and an eye glosser. Not because they were statistics, but because he rambled about them. It was a tactic to make him look very smart and intimidating. Sorry, but unless you run around doing matrices in your head, you are not a geek and don’t play one on tv.

Sarah came across as relatable, smart and tough. She hit her stride and I personally loved the lines “say it ain’t so Joe” and “there ya go Senator, looking backwards again”. I think that her message resonated and her swipe at the MSM was wonderful.

I do wish they would stop calling themselves mavricks…let others do that.

In my eyes, as a middle class woman, mom, wife, etc., this was a clear win for Palin in spite of Ifill failing to perform her moderator duties by making Biden tow the line.

Hard to believe that a veep debate had a 33 percent increase over a prez debate. I suspect it was Palin and the trainwreck factor. All the better. More people will be charmed by Palin and disillusioned by the MSM spin. The Tina Fey impression looks stupid already

http://www.thrfeed.com/2008/10/vp-debate-ratin.html

Hard to believe that a veep debate had a 33 percent increase over a prez debate. I suspect it was Palin and the trainwreck factor. All the better. More people will be charmed by Palin and disillusioned by the MSM spin. The Tina Fey impression looks stupid already

http://www.thrfeed.com/2008/10/vp-debate-ratin.html

We’ve chronicled some facts Biden got wrong. As a U.S. Senator, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and law school graduate, Biden should know that Article I of the Constitution enumerates Legislative and not Executive powers. Check us out:

http://trustbutverify.wordpress.com/2008/10/03/vp-debate-biden-gets-fact-wrong/

• Trust But Verify

www.trustbutverify.wordpress.com

Governor Palin won this debate with her tone. She was upbeat, smiling, friendly, common, approachable and happy. Senator Biden was downbeat, frowny, scowly, elitist, unlikable and negative.

I know in which America I prefer to live.

I hope people shout, “conflict of interest” at Gwen Ifill for the rest of her life. She had no business whatsovever throwing her name in the pool of potential moderators knowing that she was writing a book about one of the candidates. Unforgivable.

The McCain campaign needs to stop requiring Governor Palin to be a John McCain cheerleader. They are her weakest, most-rehersed sounding moments.

Sarah Palin is the reason I will vote for John McCain.

JoeSixpackAmerican appreciates the breakdown. Nice work and you’re absolutely right. Palin Power was activated last night. She didn’t let ol’ Joe push her around at all. Loved how she came back and said that she’d like to get back to the issue in Afghanistan. Somebody’s been working on foreign policyyyyyyyy. Look out B. Hussein Obama & Sen. Biden. McCain & Palin are essentially saying to you “duke up and guard your grill”…because they’re throwing punches and are not going to give up.

But I could have predicted the outcome.

No smoking gun in the debate ? No Silver bullet ? Both sides declare victory as loudly as they can.

The problem is the left is much much louder than we are and VP debates aren’t the highest rated material on television.

The big problem is once again the near total stranglehold the left has on the media. Its not that Gwen Ifill was biased. Its that so few people are aware of the bias.

I had people speak to me today and every time I asked if they knew that she had written a book on the significance of the Obama presidency, I got blank stares. This is our problem unless we have a knockout we lose. In 2004 we got our knockout when the president made that phenomenal comeback in the debates. This time it seems not so much.

But I could have predicted the outcome.

No smoking gun in the debate ? No Silver bullet ? Both sides declare victory as loudly as they can.

The problem is the left is much much louder than we are and VP debates aren’t the highest rated material on television.

The big problem is once again the near total stranglehold the left has on the media. Its not that Gwen Ifill was biased. Its that so few people are aware of the bias.

I had people speak to me today and every time I asked if they knew that she had written a book on the significance of the Obama presidency, I got blank stares. This is our problem unless we have a knockout we lose. In 2004 we got our knockout when the president made that phenomenal comeback in the debates. This time it seems not so much.

Last night, the MSM seemed suprised by how Palin exceeded expectations, but quickly declared Biden the winner.

That’s changing. Palin is coming out of this as the clear cut winner.

U.S. News has a good breakdown:

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/politics/bulletin/bulletin_081003.htm

Positive press is everywhere

http://www.redstate.com/diaries/redstate/2008/oct/03/palin-to-michigan/#c46951

No matter what the Repubs say or do.
The Lame Stream is gonna counter that
with the Demo party line. Thats to be
expected. Sarah was wonderful and spot on.

As Belushi said in “Animal House”
“It’s not over until we say it’s over”

With Palin doing a much better job than Biden in the VP debate, I think it’s time to start hitting Obama where it hurts: His Inexperience!
Just as Obama tries to tie McCain to Bush, McCain needs to tie Obama to major inexperience, bad judgement, and Political manuvering (saying what people want to hear at the time, and then changing his position to suit every voter). Obama is a Political Animal, seeking a place that is higher than his current status allows. One just does not serve 2 years in the senate and think that they are ready to run the country. It takes time to develop a head for policies that work, what the people want, and how to best work in a Bi-Partisan way. McCain has proved himself in all of the above, and he alone has the experience to lead us ahead in this climate of war and economic upheaval. IT’s more than the economy, it’s about foreign policy with Russia (who is a resurgent giant that wants it’s respect back, and a return to the Cold War), Iran (who wants to wipe Israel off the Earth and bring to ruin the West, and have Nuclear weapons), North Korea (Who continues to want more out of the deal with the 6 nations, and is restarting it’s reactor to make more Nuclear material), Iraq (where we are winning, and will continue to win if we follow through there and not give it up completely. Unless Iraq has Air power, then they will have trouble), Pakistan (where the Taliban and Al-queida hide and plan their terrorist activities, and we must go in and destroy them, because they will not stop themselves, nor will Pakistan stop them, for that would be Political Suicide), and finally Afghanistan (where we must defeat Al-queida, destroy their places of hiding [tribal region in Pakistan], and capture or kill Osama bin Laden). This danger will not pass, and in the hand of someone who is inexperienced, the on the job training could seriously put America at risk for increased attacks.
Under Obama, we will lose not only face, but respect as we did under Clinton. It was the Clinton presidency that defined Osama bin Laden, and focused his wrath at us. It was Clinton that drove us from world power to the brunt of world jokes. It was Clinton that gave China our Rocket technology from NASA, and enabled them to not only charge ahead in space, but to develop an ICBM from that rocket technology. Our problems with China started with Clinton, and those problems need to be rectified. If we do not move forward in space, someone else will, and that is the final frontier, besides the ocean. Obama does not have the experience to carry the USA into World Politics, and we will falter under him, and the terrorist powers would take advantage of us. Iran is the First and most dangerous problem, and I would go into Iran first, because taking out Iraq has destabalized the power balance in the region, and to balance it back out is to take out Iran as well, and have the people put in a democratic government that allows religious freedom and personal freedom. As it is, they do not know the meaning of the word ‘Civil Rights’ or ‘personal freedom’, or ‘religious equality’. The government is full of Islamic Extremists, who do not want to negotiate, but they use the word Negotiate to stall the world while they build their weapons grade plutonium for a Weapon of Mass Destruction (WMD). They shall have it in 1 year, so we must act with the world to prevent that. Russia is helping Iran with Nuclear reactors, thus violating what the UN has put forward. Russia is concerned not with terrorism, but with making as much money as it can to help fund their rise back to power. They are also very dangerous, and must be put into check. No more Proxy wars with Russia. We must take them head on, establish bases in Georgia, and make sure Russia does not violate the caucus’countries soverienty. In World War II, the caucuses were vigorously fought over because of their importance and location. Today they are just as important against a resurgent Russia. Russia does not want peace, they want back what they had, and their military is revitalizing itself. They have grown rich off of their Oil and gas money, as well as from the US giving them money for their Plutonium material. The real weapons of mass destruction are conventional weapons, because their damage radius is limited.
McCain knows foreign policy like no one else, and he understands the terrorist ideology, and can defeat it. Obama is part of the problem, being raised Muslim until he was 13, and his knowledge and bias were strong to the extremist way of thinking. His mind was warped through years of drug abuse, and his mind was not his own. Like it or not, he is damaged goods, and has not the experience to lead, and he makes very bad judgement calls. McCain is a hero who is competent, can lead this country forward in all her multi-faceted areas that require attention, and McCain will give his full attention to each and every aspect of this government and it’s people. We cannot afford to to be given over to terrorist’s and their wims by a weak president who does not know what to do.
McCain needs to keep hitting Obama on his inexperience, because he does not have the what it takes to lead this country. Obama tries unsuccessfully (or somewhat successfully) to connect McCain to Bush, even though they are totally different. McCain needs to accentuate those differences so people can see that McCain is not like Bush….not enough emphasis has been put the McCain/Bush connection, but McCain has not responded forcefully enough to dispell that. McCain needs to show each and every arera where he is different from Bush, so people can see that Obama is a liar and is trying to tie McCain to Bush even though they are not the same. This will put Obama in a corner, because people will see that Obama is telling tales, and that McCain is no more like Bush than a Whale is to a shark. Expose the differences, and Obama’s attacks will evaporate, and he will have nothing left to attack with. He will be exposed as a Prevaricator and a Fabricator, and he will start to lose his constituency. The RNC has not been doing it’s job, and people like me, who are the barometer of the Nation, see what is happening, and can tell the campaign where they need help. Sure, the economy is important, and McCain will help bring us back to prominent times, and decrease our reliability on foreign oil, and increase our investment into alternative energy, and it is where more research is needed. Obama does not have the American interests in mind. He started his campaign off by not covering his heart during the pledge of Allegiance, he did not wear a lapel pin of the American Flag, his wife said that “this is the first time I have been proud of America,” he went to a church that was racist, it divided people, and damned America against God, showed that the church was Anti semitic, and blamed Israel for our problems. He also is linked to the Terrorist AYERS, who is a terrorist bomber who was caught and convicted, but was never repentent, and Obama was his chief of staff of his company. Obama was also in the company of Prince Alwaleed of Saudi Arabia (where the 9/11 terrorists were from), and the Prince gave Obama a whole lot of dollar bills, under the table. He also made very “bad decisions” (they were conscious decisions, and he knew he was dealing with a cheater, scammer, and a criminal)on his real estate deal for his house, which was illegal and unethical and should be illegal. Rezko, who was the real estate developer who operated in the political theater, was convicted of several felony’s and is currently doing time. I can go on and on with Obama’s bad decisions and deals, but we just don’t have the time to read all of that. He is a bad seed, and he is weasling his way into the mainland of the hearts of decent Americans, and he is pulling the wool over their eyes. People of America, he is a fraud, operating both sides of the field, saying one thing to one set of voters, and another thing to another set of voters, and never the same thing being said. He is a gamer, and is not handling this contest in the spirit of honesty. He cannot honor his commitments that he has made to the American people, and he already has his excuses down as to why those campaign promises were not able to be carried out. He will blame Bush for all the problems, and blame Bush for why he cannot keep his campaign promises. We have seen Obama talk about Bush and McCain non-stop, but when the time comes for the metal to meet the meat, Obama will blame Bush for not being a good president. Obama has the orator game, but not the doing game. There is a difference between saying and doing, between the word and works. McCain knows this difference, he is the Maverik who can get things done, and will keep his campaign promises, and will help keep the world on course against terrorism, and will keep Russia from encroaching on the soverienty of foreign governments, and will stop Iran’s Nuclear intentions. Let us get behind John McCain/Sarah Palin for Presient/vice president, and keep this country moving forward.