My Thoughts (for what they're worth) on the Vice Presidential Debate

I thought I'd write a few thoughts about tonight's debate between the two candidates for Vice-President.

If anyone was expecting blood to be shed tonight (figuratively speaking of course), he/she was probably disappointed (or maybe pleasantly surprised). There were no disastrous moments such as Governor Palin had in her interviews with Katie Couric or Charles Gibson. She rarely stumbled and she seemed to hold her own.

On the other hand, many of Palin's responses were nonsensical ramblings of talking points which, more often than not, had little to do with the question that was asked. In fact, there were times when she rambled so far afield that I had difficulty remembering what the original question was. Of course, that may have been intentional on her part. By rambling so much and saying whatever came to mind, perhaps she was hoping to disguise the fact that she didn't really know what the heck she was talking about. Coupled with her folksy style, her friendly demeanor, and her good looks, she just may have managed to appeal to some voters. Fortunately, she's not the top of the ticket, so her appeal probably won't affect much.

For his part, Senator Biden also did well. While Sarah Palin's style probably appealed most to the rural voter, Joe Biden's appealed to the blue collar voter. He came off as a genuinely caring person who knew his stuff, and he was able to present facts without sounding wonkishly intellectual. One of the most real moments came when he was passionately talking about the ordeal of losing his wife and having to take care of his two sons. It seemed to me that he had to really fight for control of his emotions at that point, and there was a very discernible catch in his throat.

One of my chief fears was that Senator Biden would come off as a bully, beating up on a women who was clearly out of her element. He didn't, however, and, ironically, we have, inBarack part, Governor Palin's better-than-expected performance to thank for that. He also wisely chose not to attack his opponent, but, instead, aimed all his fire at John McCain - and he scored some major points there, especially when he tore apart McCain's image as a maverick.

So, who won this debate? I would say it was a draw, and that is bad for the McCain Camp. With the polls trending in Barack Obama's favor, McCain needs a clear cut victory. So far, that hasn't happened.