James Cochran’s Blog

I had figured that since everyone set the bar so low for Gov. Palin that she would come out looking good last night.  What I did not expect is how good she actually did.  I enjoyed hearing her speak and I enjoyed watching the debate although it was more of Gov. Palin talking directly to me and Sen Biden trash talking President Bush and Sen McCain than it was an actual debate.  My favorite part is when Gov Palin began laughing and said something along the lines of, “There you go again Joe.”

Honestly though, and I think my wife said it best, If you were in it for Biden you are going to think he did well and if you were in it for Palin you are going to think she did well.

This article from the Wall Street Journal sums up a lot of how I felt about last nights debate.  Here’s a small excerpt:

As far as Mrs. Palin was concerned, Gwen Ifill was not there, and Joe Biden was not there. Sarah and the camera were there. This was classic “talk over the heads of the media straight to the people,” and it is a long time since I’ve seen it done so well, though so transparently. There were moments when she seemed to be doing an infomercial pitch for charm in politics. But it was an effective infomercial.

Joe Biden seems to have walked in thinking that she was an idiot and that he only had to patiently wait for this fact to reveal itself. This was a miscalculation. He showed great forbearance. Too much forbearance. She said of his intentions on Iraq, “Your plan is a white flag of surrender.” This deserved an indignant response, or at least a small bop on the head, from Mr. Biden, who has been for five years righter on Iraq than the Republican administration. He was instead mild.

But what do you think?