I just watched the debate tonight and wasn't holding my breath. She was fabulous. If you watched Biden, you saw him do the typical guy dominance behavior, holding her elbow while she shook his hand. His smile was classic "baring of the teeth" . That kind of smile is not recommended by jury consultants when coaching witnesses for trial; it is considered a show of hostility, not humor. Sarah was on target. Joe was full of untruths posing as facts. No, I am not clenching my teeth. So relax those jaws and enjoy the ride. I love seeing women kick butt.

She was condescending and aggressive. I'm surprised she hasn't been called on it. Watching the debate, some of her responses caused my mouth to drop open. She's the queen of backhanded (and openhanded for that matter) compliments. For someone who totes being honest, forthright and down home- she debates like she was in the back of a schoolyard. Such a sad day for women.

Sarahkan, I'm really not getting how this is a sad day for women. This is the first woman VP Republican candidate in history and she performed wonderfully. She was brilliant with regards to energy policy and anything wich she has dealt with as Governor of Alaska. To me this indicates her true intelligence and proficiency far more accurately than some phoney gotcha moments she has dealt with from the MSM. It shows how she makes the right decisions in the trenches and has a true command of these issues. I also don't think at this point in history it is necessary to make one woman somehow representative of the entire female sex. Haven't we moved past that point to some degree? I would not say that Obama represents all African Americans win lose or draw, not after the enormous success of people like Powell, Rice and many many others. Nevertheless, I do think she was outstanding and if necessary, I would take her as my gender representative any time.

Fair enough on some points- personally, Sarah Palin doesn't represent me. Don't get me wrong, I would love a female candidate to come out swinging (especially with my views) and knock everyone's socks off. I'd like it even more if there were so many women in politics that I never even noticed which was a woman- I only noticed them by their views and how intelligently they expressed them.

I don't think the MSM "gotcha'd" her. It drove me crazy when Katie Couric asked her what she read and she didn't (couldn't? was scared to?) name anything. Anything! WSJ, USA Today, Breitbart, the Wasilla Times, "I google my news", anything! I don't think that was gotcha- it wouldn't have gotten me. I do think she's not ready to run for VP. I think maybe they should have told her to study in time for the next election. I also don't think, from what I've read, that she's done a very good job in Alaska. Keep in mind, I'm not saying that I support Biden or Obama or touting their experiences or knowledge, I'm just saying she doesn't have it.

As far as her answers on energy, I'd have to reread them- I was honestly distracted that she would start talking about energy whenever she didn't want to answer the question asked. It totally stopped me from listening to what she said. It irritates me, I'd like a candidate that really would just be straightforward and honest. Sarah Palin spins my head around in some of her answers with Katie Couric. That's why it became a sketch on Saturday Night Live- if people didn't see the relevance of the sketch, it would have tanked. People would have been confused- no one was. Even if I disagreed with her, I wanted Sarah Palin to be that candidate that was the best of what a woman could offer- attractive, confident, intelligent, poised, well read. It's probably not fair to her, if she was a man, I would just laugh and shake my head- but, there's too few women at the top.
So, maybe I should say that this may not be a sad day for women in general, it was a sad day for me.

I have watched the debate twice and listened to it on the radio once as well and thought she did an excellent job by any standard. She is being raked over the coals by xxfactor for her folksy air, which I find amusing, because she is genuinely from a small town but happens to be kick butt executive. I know people would like her to fit some east coast Ivy league pigeon hole, but that is not genuine in her case. Abe Lincoln was folksy (though I think she herself would never presume to make such a comparison). Folksiness has a bit of a tradition in American politics (some of the best lines coming from Will Rogers), that is in keeping with the centrist or outsider stand that Palin and McCain are adopting . In other words, it is fitting and proper that Mavericks be folksy.

Folksy doesn't matter- she can be as folksy as she wants. Bill Clinton was kinda folksy- as you say, Abe Lincoln was folksy (although I'll have to go with you there seeing as how I have no way of knowing that and the whole Gettysburg Address seems the opposite of folksy) lot's of people I like are folksy- it can be pretty charming. But, folksy doesn't equal knowledgeable. She doesn't have to have a degree from Harvard to make me like her or to make me think she's intelligent. I've said she's charming- she is.

She's not a good executive. She left Wasilla in debt. She takes earmarks and then says she doesn't. She doesn't answer questions straight. She deflects and doesn't have the knowledge base that this position requires. She gets stumped easily.

As far as my earlier comments which said she was condescending and such- she was. She got jabs in all the time. I don't think it's necessary to put down your opponent to win a point. And, I don't consider that to be folksy- I consider it to be weak.