The format is the only thing that saved Palin from a disaster

[casus belli]

I wasn't a fan of the format. It was very quick which only allowed for brief answers, and the follow up period was far more limited than in the Presidential debate, which gave Palin a few saves when Biden started scratching at the surface of some of her claims.

What the format accomplished was to allow her to speak in broad generalities without having to spend any significant time defending her claims or showing a depth of knowledge required to follow up on and expand on her thoughts. It favored the sound bite, while stifling any real ability to clarify and solidify positions.

I think Biden did extraordinarily well. But, I think Palin was given a lifeline that allowed her to talk in bumper sticker slogans without any real challenges to her positions and views. Case in point - I find it disturbing that we weren't able to dig deeper and force her to clarify her position that she agrees with expanding the powers of the Vice President. That was significant, yet it was reduced to nothing more than a sound bite as Gwen moved the debate on to the next topic to keep the pace.

Or am I way off base on this...?

[snacker]

1. My son and I were just discussing this. n/t

[Johonny]

2. I'm not sure

After 45 minutes she lost her track and started repeating the same stuff over and over

[Lorien]

3. Had they allowed follow up questions

Palin would have had another Katie Couric interview moment within seconds.

[casus belli]

5. I completely agree

There were several points where I was anxiously awaiting Biden's response to some of her assertions, but they were not to be. Had she been forced to show any subject matter expertise, she would have been fumbling within a follow-up question or two.

[Supersedeas]

4. if Gwen Ifill had done her job you mean

[Newsie]

6. Was Palin wired?

Did anyone watch Palin leave the set after all the hugging/handshaking? As she was leaving, she reached up the back of her jacket and yanked a box from off the waistband of her skirt. You could clearly see it in her hand as she walked out of the camera view. It was on CNN.

There were times during the debate when she stared at the camera like a deer caught in the headlights and rattled facts off with that monotone voice just like Bush did in '04.

[casus belli]

7. There's an interesting point there

I had given some thought to whether she was intentionally throwing softballs in order to evade any accusations from the McCain campaign that she was unfairly favoring Obama. Particularly in light of their accusations before the debate that her upcoming book proved some sort of favoritism towards Obama.

[joop]

8. no, you're absolutely right

the original format would have smashed her

[casus belli]

9. No doubt...but it would have been more difficult for Biden as well

One of the things I worried about going in to the debate was how Biden could dig in and expose her lack of substance without appearing to be aggressive and turning off viewers. Though, after the debate, I think that was largely unfounded. He did a superb job of staying on point and not responding to her Ad Hominem attacks in kind. He kept things on point, and responded well to her inaccurate statements without doing so in a personal way.