The instant experts (such as Gergen and Holmes on the CNN webpage agree that Sarah exceeded expectations and held her own. Strangely enougn, Biden is being underrated a bit (in my opinion) by the MSM at this point. His was certainly a strong performance, probably on an objective scoring system the best of the four. At this point, in the spirit of the shameless self-congratulation of NLT, I praise myself for saying that Barack and Mac each made the best possible choice in running mates. But I still say nothing happened that will initiate another McCain surge, and he better be able to defend his health policy in his next debate.
UPDATE: ON the same webpage, we now have the CNN instant poll. It shows Biden winning the debate, but not by an overwhelming margin. Palin is judged much more likeable, but Biden by a large margin more qualified to be president. This doesn’t confirm the "stomping" theory of jwc on the thread below, but it does confirm my view that nothing happened to stem the trend in the Obama/Biden direction. So, unfortunately, I’m inclined to agree with the jwc judgment that McCain will be very, very lucky to get within 5 of Obama again.
ONE MORE UPDATE: The CBS poll showed a decisive win for Biden among undecided voters and that the debate gave the Democratic ticket a small but real bump. I have to say, ever ready to modify my judgment in light of new evidence, that the voters seem a bit more pro-Biden that most of the experts.
This is defeatist. And why no mention of the Frank Luntz focus group? Palin did very well because she re-established herself as an attractive and talented addition to the presidential race. Refreshing too. Trying to attack Obama as well might not have worked, given the immediate task. McCain certainly needs to attack Obama, which he hasn't yet. But tonight made Palin significantly less of an issue, and that is the beginning of a recovery for McCain.
I find all this fascinating. I was stuck in the car and listened to roughly the first 50 minutes. I thought Palin's answers were very thin on substance. Biden had more concrete things to say, but he, too, did not follow any coherent line of thought. My thought was that this is no way to learn about a Vice President. Perhaps the last part was different.
One question. When Biden was talking about about McCain opposes alternative energy because he opposed a bill supporting it, why not say: "There you go again. Nothing good happens in America unless our masters in Washington command us," or something like that.
The Luntz Focus group was chosen very carefully and was much more meaningful than the one CNN put together.
Luntz concluded: I would look for a small bump McCain's way over the next few days.
Lawler says, "ON the same webpage, we now have the CNN instant poll. It shows Biden winning the debate..."
Hey, you might wanna check out that CNN poll again. But to see the latest results (Biden's now winning by a landslide) you'll have, uh, vote again.
No kidding, I voted like five times, in the CNN poll! It was great, kinda like being in Chicago on election day.