Thanks, but no thanks...

Gov. Palin toned down her stankness for the VP debate on Thursday - but it still flowed like a river. She tried to dress up the nasty digs with folksy, farmland quips. "Say it ain't so Joe". I wonder how long she worked on that one. Was this a debate or a B97FM radio show..."shout out"...give me a break. I'd really prefer not to have my vice president running around the world giving shout outs...even to 3rd graders watching a prez debate. (Woo hoo you go 3rd graders) That's what happens when you tap a ju-co drop out...you get shout outs at the vice prez debate. OMG!!!!

She "performed" for folks looking for an excuse to support her. When you have people able to finally exhale because the vice presidential candidate did not fall on her face, there's a problem. This is not Ms America - she running for VP.

Additionally, a night of question dodging does not erase the past few weeks of buffoonery.

She also killed me with this attempt to present the Bush administration as some ancient period in history that is no longer relevant. The man is the current president. He is still making future-impacting decisions that we will be stuck addressing. What kind of empty headed, simple-minded logic would find this acceptable. Of course she wouldn't want to evaluate history, she wants to repeat it. What exactly does she bring to this election - a fabulous wardrobe and empty sound bites. Thanks, but I'll pass.

I watched it again after our guests left and I was soooo struck by just how shamelessly she dodged any issue that wasn't energy (more specifically 'drill baby drill') or taxes. She didn't even try to hide it.

This was a debate not a stump speech. The questions were not out of left field, they had to assume someone would ask about a plan to deal with Iraq, the economy, etc.

My big issue with Joe was that he didn't call her out when she was off base. He was clearly irritated. Did you catch the extended sighs into the mic? She said in one breath we need more regulation and then a second later, government needs to get out of the way. Which is it? I did agree that this meltdown is a combination of bad Wall Street deals and a need for personal responsibility from an individual standpoint. I will give her that.

He didn't call her out on referring to the general as McClellan instead of McKiernan. If she didn't know who he was (I'm not sure she even reads newspapers), it's likely she didn't know what he said. I had to wait for Keith Oberman to point out how off base she was. I'm sure the campaign told him hands off and not to beat up on her. I think Biden should have shut Palin down last night. Bless his heart. Senator Biden showed her respect that she clearly hasn't earned and, IMHO, does not deserve.

I will say that say-it-ain't-so Joe did a remarkable job balancing a realness (fighting back the tears) with obvious qualification to be president. I know Barack had star power going for him, but I'd even say Biden may be better suited for the post than my dear Obama. Hmmm, this means that Barack chose someone who definitely compliments his prez bid. McCain picked the governor Barbie from Alaska.

Biden did get a great point in with the health care explanation - that's a bridge to nowhere if I've ever heard of one too.

Remember his last statement about John McCain's maverick status when it counts? I thought that was the strongest point of the entire night.

I initially thought the debate was a draw. Palin reminds me of cotton candy...looks good in the package, but after a momentary sugar rush, you're left empty and wholly unsatisfied. After marinating over night, I'll have to agree with my friend Chuka. Senator Joe hit this one out of the park.