Darn right. Sarah Palin met whatever meager expectations were set for her prior to tonight’s vice presidential candidates’ debate. Stylistically, she was folksy, chirpy, and appealing — occasionally wrinkling her nose — and she managed to avoid answering just about every question. In fact, during the first half of the debate, she seemed to dominate Biden who sounded early on too much like the career politician and he apparently was quite hoarse.

Not so in the second half. It was all Biden — giving clearly the best debate performance I have ever seen him deliver, scoring solidly on foreign policy and on domestic issues. Particularly, 75 minutes into the debate, Biden knocked one out of the park when the debate came back to the kitchen table issues. After Palin’s stock cheerleading mom answer, Biden choked up in talking about the struggles of American families as he recalled his experience when his wife and young daughter were killed in a car accident and a son was critically injured. “The notion that somehow because I am a man I don’t know how to raise two kids on my own,” he said. “I know what it’s like to raise a child where you are not sure he’s going to make it.” The CNN audience dials for men and women went to the top.

The exchange came in a stretch where Palin had essentially exhausted all of her note card materials through which she flipped incessantly during the debate. And, she committed a few large gaffes that could not be covered up by cute, rapid-fire sound bites. The one that likely will have the most staying power is when she unravelled on the vice presidential’s constitutional role, especially coming to Dick Cheney’s defense on the carte blanche matter for political powers. Asked if she agreed with his interpretation that the vice president is part of the legislative branch, she answered in the affirmative:

“I do agree with him that we have a lot of flexibility in there and we will do what we have to do to administer appropriately the plans we have for this nation.”

Biden’s response starting with the blanket assessment that Cheney’s been the most dangerous vice president in history sent the CNN audience dials soaring among the group of uncommitted voters in Ohio. Some of his response is worth quoting directly:

“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.”

Waiting for the snap polls to roll in, I can say that nothing happened to stem the recent Obama momentum and Palin did well enough to keep her ticket in a fighting position, although they could have benefited from a Biden gaffe which did not happen and he treated her with appropriate deference. Biden, however, keyed the right moments to give it as good as he can do.

And, now a few highlights:

Early in the debate, it was apparent that Palin wasn’t going to answer any question directly and to let people see the infectious spunk that has captivated crowds since her selection as McCain’s running mate. She spoke rapidly, going repeatedly to the maverick theme and citing Alaska’s examples, regardless of the questions. On only one point did she seem to move the meters and that was the issue of energy independence.

On others, her responses were, well, bewildering — if anyone can figure out what she tried to say on climate change, I’m willing to listen. The effect of scripting was so obvious as she raced through her lines. The wide shots on the stage showed her constantly reviewing her note cards while Biden spoke.

Palin’s style certainly intimidated Gwen Ifill, the moderator, who was no where close to Jim Lehrer in performance. On the issue of gay marriage, Ifill really collapsed in effectiveness. Answering a question about whether he supports giving various rights to same-sex couples, Biden inserted the word “marriage” into his answer, which prompted a follow-up question. Palin had the opportunity to claim that hospital visitation rights for gay couples could lead to redefining marriage. Then, Ifill returned to Biden to make sure he wasn’t staking out a new position for the ticket in support of gay marriage equality (something Obama has explicitly come out against — disappointing). Biden clarified that no, he didn’t mean to suggest anything new. Ifill meanwhile gave Palin a total pass on the issue, thus saving her from potential embarrassment especially to her appearance before the conservative evangelical base.

On foreign policy, it was ugly for Palin. There was one of those “oh no she didn’t” moments when she suggested to Biden that “your plan is a white flag of surrender in Iraq.” And, the CNN audience dials went dead when she borrowed McCain’s line, calling Obama naive. Her answer on nuclear proliferation was, amazingly, even more bewildering than her answer on climate change. How does one inject Alaska into a discussion of nuclear proliferation? She managed somehow.

The defining foreign policy moment came after Biden devastated Palin successively on the issues of Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Israel. He nailed it big time — and the audience dials surged — when he nailed McCain’s foreign policy to the practices of the Bush Administration:

“Past is prologue, Gwen. The issue is how different is John McCain’s policy going to be than George Bush’s? I haven’t heard anything yet. I haven’t heard how his policy is going to be different on Iran than George Bush’s. I haven’t heard how his policy will be different with Israel than George Bush’s, I haven’t heard how his policy on Afghanistan will be different than George Bush’s, I haven’t heard how his policy in Pakistan will be different than George Bush’s. It may be, but so far, it is the same as George Bush’s, and you know where that policy has taken us. We will make significant change, so once again, we’re the most respected nation in the world. That’s what we’re going to do.”

Palin really dropped a big one on the Iraq issue. Claiming that one should not change one’s mind in the face of facts, she completely ignored the core of McCain’s record where he voted for the war and then he immediately turned around becoming one of the fiercest critics of the President’s strategic execution.

Palin also scored a zero on Afghanistan twice. First, she muffed the name of the Afghanistan commander. Second, she mischaracterized the commander’s recommendation for Afghanistan which distinguishes how tribal relationships function differently in Kabul than in Iraq.

The snap polls are much clearer on the verdict than they were with the first Obama-McCain debate — Biden by large margins.

CBS:

Biden, 46%
Palin, 21%
Tie, 33%

CNN:

Biden, 51%
Palin, 36%

Note the next two sets of CNN numbers:

More of a typical politician:

Biden, 70%
Palin, 21%

More in touch with the problems of people like you:

Biden, 50%
Palin, 44% — so why didn’t she do better on this point?

Did Biden do better or worse than you expected?

Better, 64%
Worse, 14%
Same, 20%

Did Palin do better or worse than you expected?

Better, 84% — the power of lowered expectations
Worse, 7%
Same, 8%

Is Palin qualified to serve as president?

Yes

Before debate, 42%
After debate, 46% — darn right!

No

Before debate, 54%
After debate, 53%

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