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Most Polls Agree: Biden Beat Palin In Debate

Posted by JOE GANDELMAN, Editor-In-Chief in Politics.
Oct 3rd, 2008 | Comments

Most polls now show that Democratic Sen. Joe Biden beat Republican Gov. Sarah Palin in last night’s Vice Presidential debate. The Kansas City Star reports:

Non-random (unscientific) polls on AOL and MSNBC web sites show Biden winning 48 to 45 and 78.6 to 18.9 respectively.

Randomly selected subjects on three other polls also show Biden winning:

CNN/Opinion Research Biden 51 Palin 36
CBS Biden 46 Palin 21
Fox Biden 61 Palin 39

In the CBS poll, of the uncommitted voters, 18% now say they will vote Obama/Biden, 10% now say McCain/Palin.

Post-debate reaction seemed to agree that Governor Palin gave a good account of herself in being able to deliver prepared answers, though often not responsive to the question at hand.

Biden was able to draw on extensive experience from his long experience as a Senator.

The KC Star’s George Harris then writes:

The McCain/Palin ticket will likely drop into attack gear for the remainder of the campaign in a last ditch effort to stop Obama and Biden. I think it’s likely to become really ugly but hope that McCain chooses instead to recover some of his dignity as Palin did in a good effort Thursday night.

Yes. If the pattern holds of political campaigns and what they do when they are falling behind in polling — particularly of the McCain campaign since Labor Day — it’s likely to get quite ugly and persona. The question: given recent events on Wall Street and how late it is now getting in the campaign 2008 game, will these kinds of attacks work?

And two more debates remain between McCain and Obama. Look for McCain to seek to shake the race up to generate a game changer.

Meanwhile, TV pundits were talking about Palin’s performance. NBC Political Director Chuck Todd (who you can see evolving into another solid and authoritative Tim Russert) talks about the seeming-disconnect between the pundits’ verdict and the polls of debate viewers — and what may be going on:

h/t Americablog

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Silhouette

It seemed overall like a draw. But Biden is ahead in the polls so I guess it goes to him right now.

He can of course accentuate that lead by doing regular interviews with the press to be ultra-availible to the People while Palin's wilfull sequestering will paint her as negligent of the People in comparison. Comparisons between her hiding and Cheney's hiding might draw a "four more years" argument out of the mothballs that the GOP keeps trying to shove it back into.

Just some thoughts..

ChrisWWW

It's pretty easy to tell when someone is bullsh***ing, and my guess is that most Americans could tell that's all Sarah Palin did for the 99% of the debate.

Think about it this way. When prepping for the debate, Biden had to learn how to articulate his views in a way that would effectively reach the national audience.

On the other hand, Palin had to learn what to actually think about the vast majority of the issues that came up last night, not merely how to properly talk about them.

Silhouette

So you're saying she's a more qualified empty-suit in a pinch?

Careful, empty suits being manipulated by strong and evil personalities is exactly the combo we have in Dubya/Cheney.

We are seeing the fair and pure Palin being corrupted right before our very eyes. It makes me sick to my stomach to watch how the GOP machine gobbles up souls and spits out empty suits with talking points.

ChrisWWW

Sil,
Fair and pure? She did some questionable things before being selected by McCain.

DLS

The pundits (I haven't made a determination yet about lefties on this lefty site) are just engaging in wishful political-conformist thinking. It was a draw. If we _have_ to name a winner, it was Biden, but not to any meaningful extent (those claiming it is reveal their wishful thinking).

ChrisWWW

DLS,
I suppose if you ignore things like the polls, and basic questions of honest and competence, then you're 100% Exactly Correct!

Silhouette

OK, nobody is totally fair and pure. But Sarah Palin is, we can all agree, a babe in the woods when it comes to the immense shrewd and mechanical soulessness of the GOP spin machine. And she is in grave danger of losing her soul like most of them have.

It's like we're all flawed but career democrats are flawed but for the most part with souls still intact and career republicans are flawed but for the most part with souls absent; replaced by a singular reptilian agenda: deceive in the name of greed while wearing the cloak of innocence.

It's just sad to see Palin fully commit to that path without giving a thought to where it will ultimately lead.

Lit3Bolt

Remember, the CW rules teh nation.

Appalled_with_Palin

Palin needed an intellectual Extreme MakeOver to even stand there in this debate. Biden needed stylistic prep, which is typical. But with Palin: I'm supposed to be impressed that she can cram her head with facts, look at her notes, and deliver cutesy sounbites like "Say it ain't so Joe" or "darn it..." or God help us, wink** ?!!!

I do not want a VP in office who needs such intellectual cosmetic surgery to function.

JSpencer

Let's see, gushing generalities, reading from a script (literally), winking and BS-ing, avoiding answering the actual questions (which Ifill allowed for some reason) and pandering to what she wrongly imagines the middle class to be. That, in a nutshell, is your GOP recipe for the next VP.

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