Biden Wins Debate - Palin Doesn't Suck Too Bad

OK, since everyone else is doing debate postmortems, here goes mine.

I watched the debate on CNN and though I had at first ridiculed the "debate-o-meter" that they had hooked up to those undecided voters in Ohio, I found it very interesting as the little graph unrolled at the bottom of the screen.

From what I could tell, Biden got far more positive responses than everyone's favorite Hockey Mom. What was really interesting was watching how quickly people responded to certain phrases. For example, every time Palin called herself or John McCain a "maverick" the meter dropped. People either do not like the idea of mavericks or they know it's a ruse.

The other interesting thing was that the Iraq war pretty much flat lined. As an issue no one seemed interested in Palin's explanation for McCain's plan of action in Iraq, but when Biden gave a litany of the Bush failings there and he said Obama supported an orderly withdrawal of troops, the meter pegged in his favor. Additionally, when Palin tried to characterize that position as waving a white flag of surrender, the meter dropped. People were not buying it.

The other interesting thing about the graph at the bottom of the screen was how people responded to Biden's comments about Bosnia and Darfur. When he spoke of ending the genocide in Bosnia, the meter rose quickly and the subject of Darfur also got a very positive response. To me this says a lot about the character of Americans. We are concerned about injustice and suffering around the world, not just here. Now that is an America I am proud to be part of.

The biggest drop for Palin came when she used the term "Joe Six Pack" The green line indicating male response fell so fast it almost looked like it was moving backwards. That was the first time the meter bottomed out. Americans don't like to be spoken of as stereotypes, and Palin misjudged it big time.

So overall, I think Biden won. He was clear and calm and looked presidential. Palin was perky and charming, but had little substance beyond talking points, but considering the expectations we had been suckered into, she didn't suck too much.