Was it boring? Yes, but in things like this, boring is good. No gossip at the water cooler as it were. The one item I noticed was that Biden did a fairly good job early on pointing out his side’s agenda while Palin rarely ever pointed out anything her side was doing but liked to beat on “Gosh, they’re gonna raise your taxes” drum. Sadly, Biden started resorting to pointing out the problems of the McCain candidacy as well.

I thought Palin’s handlers did a good job of directing her with the “I’m so glad how you went against Obama on such and such, Joe!” a few times; it seemed like Biden had a little trouble responding to that offhand attack. Down here in the South, we call that the “Bless your heart” insult. In essence, you can say anything you want provided you begin or end with “Bless your heart.” For instance, “Bless your heart, but you are a cheap, money grubbing, philanderer.”

All and all, I think it was a limited success for both parties. Most likely Palin will not be the leading skit on SNL, and no one will say Biden can’t debate in concise language.

– Steve