Biden Wins Debate, Palin Exceeds Expectations

According to a survey by CNN/Opinion Research Corporation, viewers of tonight's VP debate believe that Biden did the better job in the debate but found Palin to be more likable.

Fifty-one percent of those polled thought Biden did the best job in Thursday night's debate, while 36 percent thought Palin did the best job.

But respondents said the folksy Palin was more likable, scoring 54 percent to Biden's 36 percent.

Both candidates exceeded expectations — 84 percent of the people polled said Palin did a better job than they expected, while 64 percent said Biden also exceeded expectations.

But on the question of the candidates' qualifications to assume the presidency, 87 percent of the people polled said Biden is qualified while only 42 percent said Palin is qualified.

Yes, I agree she exceeded expectations; in fact, the bar was set so low for her after the Couric interviews that it would have been very difficult for her not to exceed expectations. It's clear, however, that although Palin is a very polished public speaker and has a gift for connecting with her audience, she still does not have fluency or grasp over the issues at stake and she does not really understand McCain's (or the Bush administration's) positions on many issues. I was not impressed with her lack of response especially in the second half of the debate; it was obvious that she had not considered many of those issues before and was not able to offer an intelligent answer about policy on Israel, economic issues, and questions regarding McCain's voting record and the plans of the Bush administration. She frequently talked at length about her own voting record in Alaska as filler for her answers regarding those topics.

Biden, on the other hand, demonstrated an obvious fluency on all the topics, but especially on foreign policy issues, and proved himself to be a clear and experienced thinker who understands the issues Americans are concerned with, and also understands, and is ready to address, the economic and international issues that the next president will face. I was very impressed with his depth of understanding - not only of the underlying issues and what the Obama/Biden position is on these issues, but also of the voting records and the reasons for Obama and McCain's votes.