Sarah Palin started the debate strongly.   She connected with viewers, she was cheery, and she was folksy. The problem, though, was she was spouting off canned answers and talking points the entire evening.   Asked about one thing, she talking about something else or didn’t even answer the question.   At one point, she even said:

I may not answer the questions that either the moderator
or you [Biden] want to hear.

Her delivery, while cheery, was rushed, like she was racing to get through all the things she had to remember to say.   It reminded me of preparing for an essay exam in college.   You know the types of questions that will be asked, so you memorize as much as you can, and when you sit down to write your essay, you a) try to remember everything, and b) try to work everything in even if it doesn’t quite fit.   As the debate progressed, she seemed to run out of talking points, and as a result, her answers became less solid.   And for me, at least, the folksyness was too much after 90 minutes.

Joe Biden seemed to start fairly weakly.   He seemed unsure of how to debate Palin.   But once Palin proved she had something to say (no matter the veracity or purpose), he became more comfortable, and he settled into a method of effectively answering questions and calling-out Palin, McCain, and Bush.

In the end, I think it was very clear who prepared for the debate this week and who has been prepared.

Some of my favorite moments (via the transcript):

Biden:

So you’re going to have to place replace a $12,000 [health care] plan with a $5,000 check you just give to the insurance company. I call that the “Ultimate Bridge to Nowhere.”

About global warming, here’s Palin:

But there are real changes going on in our climate. And I don’t want to argue about the causes. What I want to argue about is, how are we going to get there to positively affect the impacts?

And Biden’s response:

If you don’t understand what the cause is, it’s virtually impossible to come up with a solution. We know what the cause is. The cause is manmade.

I enjoyed this line from Palin:

People aren’t looking for more of the same.
They are looking for change.

Yes, exactly.   I’m glad we agree.   And I enjoyed this exchange, too:

IFILL: So, Governor, as vice president, there’s nothing that you have promised as a candidate that you would that you wouldn’t take off the table because of this financial crisis we’re in?

PALIN: There is not. And how long have I been at this, like five weeks?

Biden on McCain’s “maverick” status:

Look, the maverick let’s talk about the maverick John McCain is. And, again, I love him. He’s been a maverick on some issues, but he has been no maverick on the things that matter to people’s lives.

He voted four out of five times for George Bush’s budget, which put us a half a trillion dollars in debt this year and over $3 trillion in debt since he’s got there.

He has not been a maverick in providing health care for people. He has voted against he voted including another 3.6 million children in coverage of the existing health care plan, when he voted in the United States Senate.

He’s not been a maverick when it comes to education. He has not supported tax cuts and significant changes for people being able to send their kids to college.

He’s not been a maverick on the war. He’s not been a maverick on virtually anything that genuinely affects the things that people really talk about around their kitchen table.

Can we send can we get Mom’s MRI? Can we send Mary back to school next semester? We can’t we can’t make it. How are we going to heat the heat the house this winter?

He voted against even providing for what they call LIHEAP, for assistance to people, with oil prices going through the roof in the winter.

So maverick he is not on the important, critical issues that affect people at that kitchen table.

Finally, Biden had the most powerful response of the evening: