True North

• If Palin did win (and I suspect she did), it didn't mean that Biden lost. Biden was impressive, frankly more impressive than the fellow on the top of his ticket. He has a command at the podium now that he was sorely lacking 20 years ago and the time format helped him, because it kept him focused so he didn't ramble.


• Having said that, the most important part of the post-debate scrum will be the fact-checking. Biden threw out a lot of assertions that seemed dubious to me, but they came so fast that I didn't really know where to begin in thinking about it. It's easier to tell when Obama is lying because his style is more deliberative and pedantic.
• Moderator Gwen Ifill came into the debate with great suspicion because she is writing a book on the campaign that features Obama. It did not appear to me that she favored either candidate and she didn't betray any agenda with her questioning, which is more than I can say for Charlie Gibson or Katie Couric. Good for her.


• The challenge before Palin was to avoid gaffes. She did. Palin didn't always answer the question she received, which seemed to frustrate Ifill from time to time, but what we saw tonight was the star power that she demonstrated at the Republican Convention a month ago. She has a very winning personality and when she gets to speak directly to people, she comes across very well.


• I'm sure someone else has made this point before, but Palin's folksy manner reminds me a bit of the Marge Gunderson character in the movie Fargo. She does have a bit of the yokel in her, but you underestimate her at your peril. When it comes to pure likeability, I think Palin has more of it than any of the other members of either ticket. Biden and McCain are both senators of a certain generation and they aren't really accesible personalities, and Obama's persona is hardly that of a regular guy. I have lived in the Midwest for nearly my entire life and I have known many women who are like Sarah Palin. I've never met anyone who is like Joe Biden. And Barack Obama is sui generis.


• One thing Palin didn't do, and this is a definite problem, is adequately defend John McCain. Biden is a good counterpuncher and he got in a lot of shots about McCain's record that Palin didn't really address in any substantive way. Again, a lot of what Biden said needs to be fact-checked, but the traditional expectation is that the vice-president not only attacks the candidates from the other party, but must be ready to defend the standard-bearer. Palin may be capable of that, but I didn't see it tonight.


• Will this debate move the needle back? Hard to say. My first guess is that it probably takes the "Palin is a disaster" meme off the table. She may not be 100% ready to be President on Day One, but she doesn't have to be. She's running for Vice President. No one is 100% ready to be president on Day One - it is a job of such massive scope and fiendish permutations that all Presidents, even those who have a strong moral code like Ronald Reagan, end up spending much of their time necessarily operating in the gray. In the end, the decision isn't about Sarah Palin or Joe Biden. It's about John McCain and Barack Obama.


• So far Barack Obama has been able to skate on the Day One question. If the McCain/Palin ticket wants to win, they need to move that question to the front burner and turn the heat up. On balance, I think McCain/Palin won today. But they lost most days in September and the hour grows short.

Cross-posted at Mr. Dilettante. Comments always welcome!