Debate: Part Two

Israel?

Biden: this administration's policy has been an abject failure with Israel.

Good come back.

Good statement on Iran . . . . They have been strengthened under a Bush adminstration.

"I don't believe that this administration's policy has been an abject failure."

Now she's playing a scolding mom -- telling the Democrats that they shouldn't be finger pointing at the Bush administration.

"We're going to put excessive partisanship aside." Huh???

Biden: "Past is prologue."

Good point, Joe. "I haven't heard how McCain's policy has been different from George Bush's."

Gwen: "What should be the trigger if nuclear weapons are put into play?"

Palin is now trying to distance McCain's policy from Bush after saying that it wasn't so bad

Woa, "Obama is hurting our cause" . . . . . . I knew it. She's done it. Obama is on the side of the terrorists. No matter what Biden says this one is going to stick.

One thing is certain -- Palin's handlers have prepped her well on all the foreign policy talking points.

She's winning simply showing more energy and apparent confidence in what she says. People aren't going to parse the content. It's the confidence she exudes that will stick in their minds.

Biden is losing . . .

"I'm a Washington outsider. . . "

She's jumping on Biden's differences with Obama that he had during the primary debates. Smart move.

She has been well trained. What I feared is true -- they let the press believe she was a light weight so she could come on strong here.

Even on foreign policy she's got Biden on the defensive.

"John McCain knows how to win a war and knows what evil is."

(scary stuff - its all about winning. Never mind the body count. As long as we win!!!)

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Finally -- Joe Biden is looking at the camera and speaking about his folks in Delaware. Good move.

Palin: "doggonit" Does this work??

She's snarky . . . . . .

Now her confidence is feeling more like "I know better than you. I know better than anyone." This isn't confidence. This is a cockiness based on . . . nothing.

I think this is going to work against her. It's the prom queen, cheerleader, popular girl rubbing the noses of everyone else in the fact that they aren't as popular as she is.


Accepted wisdom - what about your weaknesses?

Palin: will not admit to having any weaknesses -- I'm very experienced. I'm attached to the homeland. I'm a mom. Special needs children. I was a poor person. "We've been there."

"But even more important is that world view - America is a nation of exceptionalism, we are a beacon of hope. We represent a perfect ideal ("God bless America. Land of the free . . . John Phillips Souza is heard playing in the background)

And now Biden is speaking of his experience - brings in his experience as single parent. I know too! (so there, Sarah. )

What's that about Biden's wife? That was a low blow - your wife has got her reward in heaven?? Please.

Biden - tears. Good move. Unrehearsed. He is a man of feeling up against an autobot blustering with a confidence that has been rehearsed.

McCain - maverick, maverick, maverick . . . . If I was playing Palin Bingo and I had maverick in line I would have won.

We get it, Sarah, John McCain is a maverick.

Biden: good comeback "John McCain is not a maverick!"

Best Biden bit yet.

Biden is now coming across as much more "real" than Sarah Palin. I think in the end he will be seen as connecting better with people than her. She's performing. He's speaking from his heart.

"There's been nothing that I've had to compromise on."

"I walk the walk and don't just talk the talk." She does love those memorized phrases.

Now she's repeating political mantras . . . parrot.

FINAL STATEMENTS:

Palin: "We're going to fight for America. I've been there. I've always been proud to be an American. We've got to fight for our freedoms." Quotes Ronald Reagan. "We will fight for it."

Biden: He connected well. He's a man of the people.

Final judgment: TIE