by Dyna Lopez

Created on: October 03, 2008

From the network news organizations to Main Street, there has been a lot of assumptions and expectations of how Biden and Palin were going to perform. Will the more experienced politician and debater Joe Biden, curb his aggressive tone and bulldog nature? Will the less experienced Sarah Palin, who's been dogged for 2 weeks by her weak freshman interviews with Charlie Gibson and Katie Couric, and Tina Fey parodies, crumble under spotlight pressure? Overall, I believe Biden won the debate but Palin did score some major points in a few key areas.

Both candidates greeted each other warmly. A sign of her folksy nature, you can barely hear Palin ask Biden in a deferential tone if she can call him Joe, which he approved. That was a pleasant gesture of permission but I wonder if it's a response to last month's presidential debate where some media analysts criticized Barack for addressing McCain "John" and "Senator McCain" whereas McCain consistently addressed Obama as "Senator Obama".

From the start Biden was calm, confident and poised. His energy seemed to trail towards the last half hour comparied to Palin's steadfast poise. Rarely did you see him spend time writing or looking down at notes wheareas Palin spent more time writing. During the first quarter of the debate, Palin didn't appear as solid but she quickly became more comfortable the more she spoke. She does have an attractive appearance, good eye contact and gestures and chose her phrases carefully to get the desired effect. Her television journalism background served her very well.

Biden gave specific samples of several initiatives and bills that he and Barack supported from alternative fuels, Afghanistan occupation, Iraq war, and health care. Whereas Palin gave very general round about responses, at times not answering questions directly refocusing on other gray areas which showed her lack of specifics. Palin played up her energy bill card many times whereas Biden pointed a cross section of all areas across the board.

Biden also repeatedly tied McCain to the Bush administration for its poor performance of the past 8 years and that he and Obama will not repeat those past mistakes. Do give credit for Palin's counterattack "there you go again Joe" which displays her quick wit.
In beefing up McCain's tough guy for the average Joe persona, she just as equally touted the "Maverick" card. But Biden effective refuted her empty claims maming a list of proposals or initiatives that McCain shot down. He repeatedly said

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