VP Debate Thoughts

Joe Biden is losing this thing for Obama. He is coming off as a pretentious jerk.

Palin is not at all as polished as Biden, but she’s coming off as authentic. She doesn’t have full command of the debate, but she’s not just making things up like Biden has been all night.

All in all, this is a slaughter. Not necessarily because of what Palin is doing, but because Biden is coming off so badly.

McCain definitely made the right pick. Palin isn’t a polished Washington insider, which is precisely why she’s doing so well against Biden.

UPDATE: This isn’t a debate, this is a slaughter. Palin is walking all over Biden. Give that woman some time to develop experience, and she’ll be the first female President of the United States, and she’ll do an amazing job.

UPDATE: So Biden changed his mind from following the Constitution in selecting judicial appointments, to violating it through ravenous partisanship.

Those rumors about him stepping down tomorrow? They seem far more likely tonight.

UPDATE: Final thought before all the spin: Palin just wiped the floor with Biden tonight. It wasn’t even close. Biden had his moments, but there’s a reason why his presidential runs went over like lead balloons. Biden was pure Washington, Palin was pure Main Street. She performed brilliantly with a deck stacked against her, which for someone who has never done this before is quite a feat.

UPDATE: Frank Luntz’s focus group on Fox (which usually leans Democratic) seems to have LOVED Palin. By a huge margin. Her bit about personal responsibility lit up the dials. She was a hit with undecided voters. Luntz thinks that this will cause a huge movement in the polls. I think he’s right.

If McCain can capitalize on this, he can win.

UPDATE: CNN’s panel seemed to be roughly split between Biden and Palin. Which, correcting for media bias, means that Palin won convincingly.

Biden made some major gaffes. His position on judicial appointments was completely against the Constitution. He got basic legal issues wrong. Lawyers note those things. Joe Biden may be a nice guy in person, but he was terrible tonight. He came off as arrogant and meandering. Palin dodged some questions and clearly had some gaps in her knowledge. The difference is that knowledge about the world can be learned and developed. Having the ability to reach out to Americans in their own vernacular is a unique gift. Palin did what she had to do tonight, and she went far beyond the expectations placed upon her.