Biden did an excellent job answering the questions that were asked of both of them. Palin on the other hand only answered one question throughout the whole debate. I’m not sure how far ebonics/slang along with a cute face is going to take her and Mcain. She is clearly out of her league. I never heard their plan on change, but only that there needs to be a change. Well, we all knkow that much by now I hope. But, I’m sure there are still some folks out there that think we’re doing just fine and need to stay the course.

America is being gutted out…just like the executives did Enron, but on a much larger scale by the Bush Administration.

A senior citizen that’s out of touch, and a cute hillbilly that doesn’t know anything outside of Alaska. Hold on to your money and assets, because if these two get in office things are going to get a lot worst than what they are now.

Oh, by the way my job is being sent to India..thanks Mcain.

Warm????? Palin was hot… Biden not so much…

Palin did better than expected but I was uncomfortable throughout the debate and couldn’t say why. It finally came to me that it was her familiarity. It was very off-putting. I am not looking for a best friend, I’m looking for a leader. Remember what an embarrassment Bush was when he met with foreign leaders, patting them on the back, etc. This country might be all right with Joe-Six-Pack as mayor but not as a worldwide representative.

Then there was her failure to answer questions as everybody noticed and she should have been called on that. Another example of her I’ll do whatever I want mentality. Might work in Alaska but would be a problem in Washington. These two examples makes me believe she is George Bush in drag.

My greatest concern, however, came when she said the Constitution allows for greater authority to be given to the Vice President. Obviously she doesn’t know what the VP does (as in presiding over the Senate) but greater involvement by the VP is pure Dick Cheney.

I wish Biden had ended his participation by saying that he is tired of McCain/Palin and their lies about Obama & taxes. No matter how often it is proven that their assertions are untrue they continue to tell them. Then say, “If you can’t win with the truth you don’t deserve to win.”

Biden was knowledgable, confident, thoughtful and polite. He answered the questions and managed to
look interested instead of astonished or bewildered by Palin’s prattle.

Palin was provincial, enthralled by her own point of view, ignorant, unimaginative, and offensively “cute”. She
was condescending and as humorless as a windup toy - repeating her own pre-conceived biases over and over.

palin looked and sounded like a highschool cheerleader trying out for captain of the cheerleading team. she was juvenile, immature, insincere and a total phony. we need dedicated, intelligent, honest, committed, adult people running the country. go back to the moose lodge and leave america in the hands of responsible people like obama and biden.dennis in st louis

I can’t believe the “tone and tenor” of this poll - warm? mean? Since when are these political terms? I expected a little bit more from you Post-Dispatch.

Ok, so how do people believe Palin won simply because she “exceeded expectations” (CNN analysis)? What, she didn’t s*ck, so she won? She didn’t get an “F” so she’s OK? She didn’t make a fool out of herself like she’s repeatedly done, so now she’s suddenly a superstar? The Valley Girl looks and talk may be endearing for 5 minutes, but they just don’t cut it from a woman who is supposed to be second-in-command. Give me Condi Rice any day.

Biden demonstrated solid intelligence and experience. Palin spewed campaign rhetoric without real substance. If she got past one sentence, it degenerated into incoherence. She rarely answered the actual question and I hate her cutesy, folksy act.

Simply by not drooling on herself Palin defied expectations. Does that mean she won? Simply because the bar was so low…well, because they practically buried the bar? I would say that she lost resoundingly. She had no mastery of the detail and seldom answered the question she was asked. She seemed cheesy and inauthentic with her winking and “aw-shucks” routine. A poor performance by any rational standard.

’m outraged by Sarah Palin’s blatant manipulation of both the facts and of the American voting public. She and her handlers are obviously counting on voters to not be paying attention, and consider us only as sheep if not just idiots. She said she agreed with [JOE] Biden about gay civil unions and the definition of the word “marriage”, and completely hid the fact that she and the McCain administration have no intention of making the benefits and rights of gay Americans equal. The only thing they actually agree on is that it shouldn’t be called “marriage”.

Well, I don’t care what you call it. I just want my constitutional right to an equal distribution of the 150+ federal rights, benefits and protections that go along with a legally recognized union. “Separate but Equal” has to actually be equal. The exclusion of civil rights to an entire segment of the American population is completely unacceptable. The answer to the debate over same-sex unions is very simple.
CHOOSE ONE:
(a) “I’m for equality.”
(b) “I’m a bigot.”