First off, I am glad that both Senator Biden and Governor Palin did as well as they did, the country does not benefit from inept performances in these debates.

Secondly, Gov. Palin apparently knows something about energy policy, sicne that seems to be her default answer, even to questions that had nothing to do with it. This smacks too much of Donald Rumsfeld’s propensity to ignore the asked question, ask his own question, then answer that one.

Thirdly, I noticed that Gov. Palin tried Ronald Reagan’s “There you go again…” and that it fell flat — she is no Reagan. Don’t borrow lines that you cannot pull off.

Fourthly, Senator Biden stuck to his script quite well and did what VP candidates are “supposed” to do in keeping up the attack on Senator McCain’s record.

Lastly, the lack of follow-up questions was part of the design of these “debates” for the VP candidates. I felt that Ms Ifill did a remarkable job given the constraints of the format and the pain she muist have felt with her broken ankle.

As to who “won” Senator Biden on facts and foregin policy; Governor Palin on “aw shucks I’m just folks”.

Bsquared,,,right on target. As far as softening the blows on foreclosures, a good start would be to not put a mortgage on a home in the first place if you can’t afford it. The poster who mentioned treason should get a clue on what treason is. Blasting our congressionally aproved surge strategy (Democrat party controlled congress, continues to fund it) to the world (Obama), could be construed as sedition if not outright treason itself.

Transcript of Thursday Nights VP Debate
o I highly recommend this read at the link to both sides.
o The transcript of course only has the words. It does not capture any winking, blinking, flirting, body language or other distractions that may have occurred.

http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/president/debates/transcripts/vice-presidential-debate.html

I found this revealing dialog on the duties of the VP about 80% into the transcript. It is typical quality of the responses from each candidate throughout the debate.

“IFILL: Governor, you mentioned a moment ago the constitution might give the vice president more power than it has in the past. Do you believe as Vice President Cheney does, that the Executive Branch does not hold complete sway over the office of the vice presidency, that it it is also a member of the Legislative Branch?

PALIN: Well, our founding fathers were very wise there in allowing through the Constitution much flexibility there in the office of the vice president. And we will do what is best for the American people in tapping into that position and ushering in an agenda that is supportive and cooperative with the president’s agenda in that position. Yeah, so I do agree with him that we have a lot of flexibility in there, and we’ll do what we have to do to administer very appropriately the plans that are needed for this nation. And it is my executive experience that is partly to be attributed to my pick as V.P. with McCain, not only as a governor, but earlier on as a mayor, as an oil and gas regulator, as a business owner. It is those years of experience on an executive level that will be put to good use in the White House also.

IFILL: Vice President Cheney’s interpretation of the vice presidency?

BIDEN: Vice President Cheney has been the most dangerous vice president we’ve had probably in American history. The idea he doesn’t realize that Article I of the Constitution defines the role of the vice president of the United States, that’s the Executive Branch. He works in the Executive Branch. He should understand that. Everyone should understand that.

And the primary role of the vice president of the United States of America is to support the president of the United States of America, give that president his or her best judgment when sought, and as vice president, to preside over the Senate, only in a time when in fact there’s a tie vote. The Constitution is explicit.

The only authority the vice president has from the legislative standpoint is the vote, only when there is a tie vote. He has no authority relative to the Congress. The idea he’s part of the Legislative Branch is a bizarre notion invented by Cheney to aggrandize the power of a unitary executive and look where it has gotten us. It has been very dangerous.”

I watched the debate twice and have read the transcript.
o As a result, I re-conclude that the credentials of candidate Sarah Palin are horribly short of those of our previous VP candidates.
o That this candidate would be one heartbeat away on day#1 is frightening and speaks volumes to the poor judgement of John McCain in selecting her.

budb1969,

I was referring to the fact that bsquared was disingenuous by claiming to be nonpartisan. Asking folks to go to factcheck.org and then contradicting the factcheck website is the height of truthiness. You can’t rail against spin and then start spewing it….unless you’re a Republican.

The advise to not purchase a mortgage if you can’t afford it is pretty bipartisan in my book. Don’t know where your going with the “spin” you tried to “spew”. Last I checked, I’m free to vote for the candidate of my choice.

Kendall - Appreciate your diligence and apologize if I was not 100% clear, but the point I was trying to make was simply that everyone (Republicans and Democrats) was for more and more market expansion while it was happening, and no one wanted to talk about controlling it (Not McCain or Obama or Bush or Clinton), but now that we went to far, they (again - both sides) we, as a nation, seem much more intent on placing blame than on truely understanding the causes, and working on a solution. So yes, I think it’s wrong for Biden to blame everything on Bush for political gain (b/c he then tries to portray McCain as an extension of Bush). By the same token, I do not think it is right that the McCain campaign is claiming that he spearheaded any efforts to fix Freddie/Fannie (I’m sure you’ll correct me if I’m misquoting, but I believe factcheck said that he co-sponsored a bill about a year after it was written - pretty weak).

Taking this one step further, to all those that blame the Repubs for “talking down to everyone” and not talking specifics, the Dems are doing the same thing. Biden’s key message last night was President Bush. Sarah Palin’s was Oil. That’s the theme that each came back to most often. Truth is, both parties play to sound bites and oversimplification, b/c we (the American people) have proven incapable of paying attention for more than 30 seconds. They know this, and thier only real concern is staying employed, so they cater to what people want to hear-NOT what they need to hear. That is why there are only two political parties that matter. We as a people have spoken (with our votes) that we are just too darn busy to think about more than two things. We’ve gotten lazy.

It is up to us to do our own homework, and pick the right candidate for ourselves - not the best catch phrase (”change”) or best looking VP (Sarah Palin).

I think both candidates made it obvious that one is a Democrat and one is a Republican. No Mavericks, No Change.

One more thing. I’d be happy if I never again heard the phrases, “bridge to nowhere”, “Hockey Mom” and “Joe Six-pack”.

Okay - so I see a lot of shouting back and forth. I will admit at the outset that I am an Obama supporter. I think we need a President who has intelligence, judgment, good communication skills, and the character to use all these abilities.

What I am trying to figure out is why anyone supports McCain/Palin? Is the appeal that Palin is “one of us”? Because I don’t see it. Is it the pro-life issue? I know for some people, it boils down to one issue and this is it. (Frankly, I don’t think this is reasonable. Even if you’re opposed to abortion rights, there are many more pressing problems facing the country right now than the right to choose.) I’m really trying to understand what it is you’re hoping we get if McCain/Palin ticket wins.

The abortion alienates me right away from candidates like Obama and Biden. Plus I believe Barack will lead America to be a less free place.