Palin/Biden debate

I have been insanely busy for about a week now. My Liberty University courses end within the next week. Both formally finish on Friday, 10/10, but I have until Tuesday, 10/14 to hand a final project in for the Spiritual Growth class. Anyway, I have been doing nothing but study, work, eat and sleep for a week, except for brief breaks to exercise. No movies, no books. And I am someone who believes that pleasure reading (at least a few pages) should be an ongoing part of my daily regimen. But it hasn't been for the last week.

All of that to say that this is the reason why I have not posted on the Palin/Biden debate of 5 days ago.

There is nothing new I can say at this point that hasn't already been said. I did post a brief blurb as a Facebook status update as soon as the debate was over, where I asserted that Palin did well enough and had probably rallied the partisans, but not won over very many new McCain voters. With the polling data now in and the commentators all having said or written their piece, it appears that I was not off by much, so I do take a little satisfaction in that. (LOL) Only insomuch as I was right, though; I wish I had been wrong and she had been a huge hit across the board.

I was so nervous during the debate that I could do nothing but sit and watch it. My habit of an evening is to sit with my laptop on the couch working in courses (that I'm teaching or am participating in as a student) while O'Reilly, Hannity & Colmes or Larry King talk to their guests. I graded Discussion Board posts all through the first McCain/Obama debate. I couldn't do anything during the Palin/Biden show, except refrain from chewing my fingernails!

Palin held her own very well, though I wondered about the wisdom of a couple of things, namely asking Biden if she could call him "Joe" when they first walked out onto the stage. (The microphones were so low I couldn't pick up his answer; I doubt, though, that he said, "No, please call me Senator.") And I did wish she would lay off attacking "predatory lenders" exclusively, though she negated that with her phrase on the necessity of personal responsibility, which I believe Frank Luntz said really polled well with his independent focus group. (You can't tell which network I watch, can you? Fair and balanced...) I also wonder if the "maverick" term is doing McCain and Palin any favors anymore. Notice the media isn't using it anymore?

Sarah Palin came across as poised, charming and confident 90% of the time and probably pulled some doubters back from the brink. I think she also maintained her position as someone with a future in the Party whether McCain wins or loses. She is clearly a quick study, which some had unjustly questioned after her first exposure to mainstream media interviews (Gibson and Couric).