Summary of the VP debate

Lots of articles on the debate last night and Palin's performance.  My take: expectations were so low that it would have been virtually impossible not to exceed the low bar that was set.  But the debate will change nothing, meaning Obama's still got a lead AND momentum.

 

A summary of various commentators.  Here's my favorite:

-Matthew Yglesias of the Center for American Progress: “I think a visitor from Mars watching this debate would have been struck by the fact that Sarah Palin could barely get a paragraph out without mangling what she was trying to say. Conversely, a veteran of the Katie Couric interviews would be struck by the fact that Palin’s errors weren’t so egregious that you were left totally baffled as to what she was trying to say. But I don’t actually think this stuff is all about expectations. If Palin had some kind of substantial record on or background in national issues, I don’t think anyone would find this performance especially terrifying. But if you already had some serious doubts about her, I think she scarcely put those doubts away.”

-------------------------

Stay the Course

By Chris Suellentrop

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/02/stay-the-course/?hp

The instant consensus about the vice presidential debate seems to be that Joe Biden played it safe and made no big mistakes, and that Sarah Palin did a lot better than expected. But there’s not a lot of praise for Palin’s performance in some of blogland’s more liberal corners:

-The American Prospect’s Ezra Klein: “I find it really disconcerting when Sarah Palin looks like Tina Fey playing Sarah Palin.”