Biden did a good job intellectually, but not emotionally. No one votes for boring, that is the sad truth.

Good analysis Cerina.  But I would say that Biden could have done more during the debate.  With his knowledge and understanding of the situation, it is easy for Biden to question the facts Palin used for her argument.  I think if Biden didn't hold back, he could have gain a lot more ground and really put another nail in the coffin of the Republician's campaign.

As per rotten's comment on opposite conclusions, this is what spin is all about baby!  Politics is all about perceptions and if the republican spinners can create a perception that Palin did well, there are those who will buy it.  Same is true for the Democrat spinners.  That's why it is so important to really look into the facts and trust on one own value when deciding who to vote for.

妳懂得看中文字就好了,那麼妳現在的工作是甚麼?還記得妳在tvb的青出於藍一劇

i was reading another post about palin doing horribly and there were many comments from mccain supporters that felt she did great.  it's interesting how two people can see the same thing and come up with opposite conclusions...

I agree with everyone that Palin did have her soundbites, and did exceed her very low expectations. At the same time, I believe people realize that her expectations were unrealistically low, and have started to question whether that kind of expectation is appropriate for what we seek in our second in command. GIven that 52 million people watched the last presidential debates, and that this one was even more anticipated, we're talking a very significant portion of the voting public. Lets just assume 60 million watched it (w/o counting the late watchers who catch it online). That is 1/5 of total US population, and what's more, that number consists of people who are self-identified as people who cares what's going on in politics, and thus are more likely to be voters that a random sample. Plus we have the viral effect of the internet and simple word of mouth. I guess we will begin seeing the results soon. But really, I didn't write my blog to attack Palin. I had no need to. I just felt, from a very academic stand point, Biden's form was what debaters in basically all areas should strive for-- repetition of themes, sticking to the questions, mixed with a bit of human vulnerability.

he did a good job,  and she REALLY came off the rails at the end during the foreign policy portions of the debate... but i agree with ngakai and stephen... the people who like her now are the idiots who listen to soundbites and keywords only and don't look for coherent thoughts and well constructed sentences.

Being a Canadian, I guess I have the luxury of being a little bit more objective regarding the US elections.  We are about to have a Federal election of our own but it's Canada so really, who cares?

Biden did well at the debate.  He was to the point, respectful, and certainly know his numbers very well.  Biden won.  Or did he?

Coming into this debate, the two VP hopefuls have two different expectations.  Biden, the old veteran, is expected to be the much stronger of the two, while Palin was expected to fall flat on her face, especially after the Kouric interview.  Because of this simple fact, this debate in favor of Palin because the expectation was set so low, there is no where to go but up!  Palin, by giving us a strong performance and standing her ground, had to gained the most.  It pulled her back to, at the very least, a respectable status as her image was swirling toward becoming a permanent  national punchline, to which I personally believe was a little unfair.

To that end, both candidates did their job, but Palin had more to gain.

Hello!Do you know Chinese words?

Actually, if you read my blogs (and Facebook) then you probably know where I stand politically, but I think I have to disagree here.

Unfortunately, an overwhelming majority of people will not watch any length of the debate but will only see short clips of it -- on that note, I think Palin's soundbites at the beginning (the ones more likely to get played) about "surveying soccer parents" and "personal responsibility over debt" will play alot better than Biden's clips. Watching the debate in entirety, it's obvious that Biden did much better -- especially towards the second half where Palin began running out of steam and soundbites to repeat, but I don't think those parts will likely get replayed.

Also, I think expectations over the past week regarding her performance were set soooo low after her abysmal performance on Katie Couric that she basically had to perform MEDIOCRE in order to beat expectations.

Unfortunately, call me a pessimist, but I think Biden LOST the debate just by not winning the debate...

for a good laugh, youtube the interview of Palin with katie kouric...also McCain on The View...im also biased of course..