Joe Biden

The undecided voters polls, the pundits, the blogs have given Joe Biden the win and said in one way or another, Sarah Palin stopped the bleeding. Palin's display of rote memory, chirpy little phrases and winks ... winks?? ... refusal to answer questions at all, her mistaken and outright wrong answers, and her "team of mavericks" line just underscored her lack of qualifications for the VP position, much less the office of President of the United States.

Joe Biden, on the other hand, re-affirmed the solidity of Obama's choice. He was very clear and well-spoken with a firm grasp of matters, both domestic and foreign, on display. He was particularly effective in refuting McCain's claim of maverick status in this clip

That's right, McCain voted against any extension of the program which will help low-income and poverty level families stay warm this winter in the face of heating fuel prices which have skyrocketed. Of course, he probably doesn't have to choose between food, heat and mortgage payments with his 11 houses or however many it is that he owns. Some maverick ... not.

There was another notable moment in the debate. Joe's unexpected catch in the throat took us by as much surprise as I think it did him. But he unequivocally demonstrated that he understands what's at stake in this election in a very powerful way.

Biden had a few other outstanding moments in the debate. His performance won him high praise from a number of sources. Kula2316 did a round-up of debate reviews including these two:

John F. Harris and Mike Allen of Politico declare Biden the clear winner:

To the contrary, it is hard to count any objective measures by which Biden did not clearly win the encounter. She looked like she trying to get people to take her seriously. He looked like he was running for vice president. His answers were more responsive to the questions, far more detailed and less rhetorical.

On at least ten occasions, Palin gave answers that were nonspecific, completely generic, pivoted away from the question at hand, or simply ignored it: on global warming, an Iraq exit strategy, Iran and Pakistan, Iranian diplomacy, Israel-Palestine (and a follow-up), the nuclear trigger, interventionism, Cheney's vice presidency and her own greatest weakness.

Scot Lehigh of the Boston Globe, Biden's ready for the job:

You can say this about Sarah Palin: She did better debating Joe Biden than she did being interviewed by Katie Couric.

But that sets the bar very low indeed. So let's pay Palin the respect of treating her exactly as a male candidate would be treated. And that means saying this: She was simply nowhere near as good as Joe Biden

Biden certainly underscored the wisdom of Obama's choice last night and introduced himself in a new way to people who are unfamiliar with him. His ability to speak to the questions raised, his obvious grasp of the issues and his genuineness all marked him as a great VP candidate. In the end, this debate will not change the overall tenor of the race or its outcome but it did introduce the VP candidates to America in a new way, and when all is said and done, it was successful.