She kept her calm, stayed on topic (mostly), and didn't step on any cow-patties.
Palin did well in last night's debate. It is because of three things. One is that the scrutiny of moderator Gwen Ifill's ethics forced her to blunt any harder questions. I'd be curious to see what got scrapped. Two is that Joe Biden had to be careful what he said to a woman. He handled that well. Third is most important: expectations were low, thanks to a condescending Charlie Gibson interview, and most definitely thanks to a condescending Katie Couric interview. This last is most interesting, because it points to a larger failure of Couric and other reporters to "get the story." So Katie Couric deserves gratitude for allowing her own airs to win a debate for the GOP. More on that in a moment.
It appears Joe used cosmetic tape to provide an "instant eyelift" perker-upper, ala "Botox" Kerry:
Focus group predicts a big shift in the polls next week as undecided voters swing towards Palin:
The vice presidential face-off between Republican Sarah Palin and Democrat Joe Biden will be dissected by political observers for days, but to one group of independent voters who were scrutinizing their responses, this much was instantly clear: Biden won the debate.
That was the finding from a survey of 1,200-plus voters nationwide who were paid to electronically rate which candidate better answered each question and performed best overall.
The study, conducted by New Jersey-based HCD Research with the help of Muhlenberg College's Institute of Public Opinion in Allentown, gave an immediate but unscientific glimpse into how the candidates fared among self-described Republicans, Democrats and independents.
While the vast majority of partisan voters said their candidate won the debate -- 80 percent of Republicans picked Palin, 89 percent of Democrats chose Biden -- 69 percent of independents sided with Biden.
''When independents rated which candidate's answers they liked better, they liked Biden,''
in each category, independent voters went heavily for Joe Biden. In each of the issues polled, Biden did not poll any lower than 62% in his responses at the debate. By these numbers, although Biden and Palin performed well with their bases, it was Biden who won over the most independents and undecided voters.
The mainstream media, with artful edits, can take the credit for the low expectations. How much of her interviews with Gibson/Couric was left on the cutting room floor? They don't want her to look good, but media didn't have a say this time, as this debate was a live forum.If you aim low and exceed your expectations, it doesn't make you a winner.
Biden had to be nice to her, so he went easy on her and attacked McCain directly instead.
Nope, sorry to break it to you Cerise polls are showing independents and undecideds thought Biden won.
.....paid to electronically rate which candidate better answered each question
The participants in the survey view a video of the popular or controversial event and move their mouse back and forth on a scale which for example may indicate the participant’s believability or agreement with the video. The responses are compiled and curves are created so that you can see when people agree/disagree or believe/disbelieve what is being said in the video.
The mainstream media, with artful edits, can take the credit for the low expectations. How much of her interviews with Gibson/Couric was left on the cutting room floor?
Is that why was Biden nodding in agreement at her answers and flashing her a big, creepy, smile at every opportunity?
Looks like Palin could have used it.
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Actually he was sighing at her answers .....