Palin Performs

Republican Vice-Presidential nominee, Gov. Sarah Palin, scored an upset victory over Democrat Sen. Joe Biden in the Vice-Presidential debate held tonight at Washington University in St. Louis, MO. Palin has been derided in the media and by Democrats almost since the moment she was selected by Sen. John McCain as an unprepared novice. Palin herself has contributed to that impression with a series of halting performances in broadcast news interviews. But tonight, on the biggest stage of her career and with the most riding on a good performance, Palin came through, scoring clear win over a 36-year Senator.

Judging this debate requires a different analytical metric than the presidential contests. First, the fact the Palin is so new to the national stage gave her an advantage. She did not have to clear the high knowledge hurdle that Biden did. Biden's clearly deeper knowledge worked against him in this debate. He scored no points for knowing more than Palin, precisely because he has been in Washington far longer. Second, the media's treatment of Palin, especially recently, gave her an advantage over Biden by lowering the overall expectations for her. But even without those advantages, Plain turned in the stronger, more energetic, more positive performance. She was knowledgeable on issues from foreign policy to global warming, demonstrating a command of the facts and an unwillingness to go along with the conventional wisdom.

For his part, Biden performed well. His main goals of the evening were to avoid making any serious mistakes, defend Barack Obama's policies, and demonstrate a level of competency that was greater than Palin. He did a good job with the first two. But Palin came right at Biden from the opening question, challenged him on his past unflattering statements about Obama, refused to let Biden's assertions about McCain's record go unanswered, and generally more than held her own with Biden on every issue. She appeared every bit the worthy adversary for Biden and just as able to handle the duties of the office of vice-president.

Just as importantly, Palin was able to connect with the audience. She spoke with a warm and likable demeanor. She looked directly into the camera, and directly at her opponent, and gave a closing statement that was both forceful and positive. Palin is not of Washington, and she doesn't pretend to be. She speaks with an air of the every-woman. She presents herself as someone equally at ease talking about the kids or about the vagaries of oil and gas development. She is a real person. Biden is likely all of those things as well. But like most career politicians, he does not have that quality of genuineness that connects with voters on a personal level. It was in establishing that connection that Palin scored her biggest points of the night.