Palin Biden debate reactions running thread

I thought both debaters helped their candidates a bit tonight, and I will always like Joe Biden, but I will call Palin the winner, first because she had to prove she is not the caricature being developed by the media, and she did that, but also because of the stunning consensus of the Frank Luntz audience in St. Louis, who declared her the hands-down winner and expressed a real connection. When I saw that audience response to Palin I thought: here in a nutshell is why the other side has worked so vociferously to destroy her, so quickly. What the folks in St. Louis were talking about tonight (and they said they now thought she was “qualified” to be president) is what Camille Paglia saw in Palin’s first, informal speech at her introduction. Sarah Palin unfiltered, is a force to be reckoned with. I don’t know if we’ll see the major shift in polling, that Luntz predicted, though.

And I was really glad to see Palin remark about how she is ill-served by those “media filters.” Heh. Think she reads this blog? I also thought Ifill was fine.

Okay I’m going to just keep adding to this thread as I find things, newest stuff first, so keep checking back. Also, if your prayer was answered tonight, don’t forget to say thank you.

Newest posts first, below:

Obama = Alpha & Omega?: AHEM! Fausta has the latest creepy Obamacult videos

My two biggest concerns this election? Not Obama and Biden, it’s the utter loss of our free press and vote fraud, vote fraud vote fraud

Ed Morrissey: Palin’s Home Run

David Brooks: “The race has not been transformed, but few could have expected as vibrant and tactically clever a performance as the one Sarah Palin turned in Thursday night.” I agree. I’ll be surprised if the polls more more than a smidge.

On why McCain won’t “name names” on the financial crisis: my thoughts exactly. I think some folks are in fantasyland if they think McCain is going to come out swinging.

Egregious Harry Reid: But the above that does remind me of two questions: Did Harry Reid purposely work to hurt the insurance sector, and keep the drama alive? Yes, I think he did; I wasn’t kidding when I called him a fiend. Insty has a poll on that question. And does anyone remember reading about a year ago that the Dems and Soros would be putting in a full-on effort in the waning months of the Bush presidency to insure that his legacy would be garbage, forever? I remember reading it. I can’t find it on the search engines, though.

Jonah Goldberg: Biden wrong on preconditions.

CLASSIC PROJECTION FROM THE LEFT: Reuters wanted to check Palin’s ears for tiny radios…you mean…like the one Obama seems like he might have been wearing, here? Yes. Projection!

Moderate Voice has the press round-up

Gateway Pundit was at the after-debate rally and has tons of pics, of Palin, First Dude, the unhappy media and the empty Obama area.

Mark Levin says Palin must be smart as hell:She has been on the national scene for a little over a month, she has been campaigning everywhere, she has had to bone up on all kinds of national issues, and she has shown class throughout. Yeah…and she’s also post-partum!

Surber: The Moosehunter bagged another, but perhaps too late to save McCain. That’s what I’m thinking. She helped him tonight, but she helped herself more. She broke through the media filter. He also liked her “doggone it, Joe…”

Instapundit has the definitive round-up that puts mine to shame!

Vanderleun: Joe Biden and Obama want to reset mortgage principles? As in, “Your honor, I know I owe $490,000 on this $500,000 house I bought, but could you just knock it back to a round fifty-thousand bucks so I can get a handle on things? Thanks.” Now that’s what I call “adjusting your principles.” Even my half-asleep husband sat up and said, “What? That’s crazy talk!”

Ace asks did Ifill ask a single question about energy, abortion or guns?.

STACLU has Luntz footage and a good roundup. Apparently Dick Morris said, “Palin has connected in a way not seen since Reagan,” but it’s Morris, so there you go. I DO think it very telling that the Luntz audience responded so well to the idea of personal responsibility. I also thought that when Biden said, “people want help,” it would have been Palin’s chance to jump in and say, in a thoughtful way, “yes, people want help, but are you sure that they want so much of it from government, especially when the government can’t run any of its programs efficiently or effectively.” But that’s just me…

Woody’s place: He has a nice roundup, including Noonan on Tape and this observation: Charlie Gibson and Katie Couric and the rest of the MSM/DNC cabal can pose gotcha questions and selectively edit their footage to make you look bad, but they can’t do shit about live TV can they?

Rachel Lucas: I love her She and Sunny are happy and linking to Fact Check

Bookworm, writing at American Thinker: Barack is the bad boy you want to date to be daring, but would be stupid to marry. She has more here.

Andy McCarthy did not like Ifill and thought she was appalling.

Hmph. As we see in every election, the tolerant and compassionate folks are defacing automobiles that dare to show a GOP bumper-sticker and breaking into GOP campaign headquarters, again. They’re all about freedom of expression and fairness, you know.

Jim Geraghty: a tie goes to the moose hunter. “I could picture the woman on stage tonight leading in a crisis.”

Lorie Byrd enthuses: Palin Shock and Awe; she’s no Quayle. Lorie gives you some quotes from the talking heads, so you don’t have to flip the channels and listen to them!

Mere Rhetoric claims another Biden gaffe.

Hewitt approves of Sarah 2.0. I don’t think she’s 2.0. I just think McCain needed to let Palin be Palin, and he wasn’t doing that.

The Great Gerald Baker – who is increasingly the guy I go to when I want Hitchens, but without the bitter aftertaste: [Palin] seemed sure-footed and likeable, erasing many of the doubts that surrounded her and breathing at least a little hope to a fairly demoralised Republican camp…On Thursday night Mrs Palin won her debate by not losing it.

Hot Air: CBS & CNN (predictably) have polls calling Biden the winner. But I don’t know how credible those are since, On CNN, CBS and MSNBC the Democrat is always the winner and that’s been true for a couple of election cycles, now.

The Alaskan Orthodox Patriot (and his bagpipes) seems very pleased and also praises Ifill. Of her, my Li’l Bro Thom emailed and said: “Gwen Ifill should be anchoring CBS Evening News, not Couric!” Hey, it’s not like I didn’t try to tell Moonves a bunch of times. No one ever listens to my good advice, even when it’s free!

Jimmie Bise calls it the flurry in Missouri

Ann Althouse liveblogged; she hoped to see if Palin could acquit herself credibly and seems to feel she did that and more Take my advice, save the Althouse link for last and enjoy her comments with a nice cuppa tea or a glass of wine. I do think she has the best commenters around.

Roger L. Simon says big loser: MSM, and says Ifill gave Joe too many last words. Possibly.

Lorie Byrd reports that flipping the channels, even CNN resisted savaging Palin, although MSNBC tried. I couldn’t watch them. Matthews, Mitchell and Olbermann reminded me of sad, hungry jackals, who had been told a big fat carcass was theirs to tear into and then found themselves denied.

From the McCain Camp: Biden’s 14 lies. I wonder why the McCain camp never sends me stuff. Possibly because of that time I called him a media whore. Man, they’re unforgiving. (Right, as if they even know who I am!) Which reminds me, I liked when Palin heard Biden give one of his Washingtonese replies and laughed, “Man, I’m glad I’m a Washington outsider…”

Steve at Wizbang says, here’s one of the lies Also here, here,

Gabriel Malor at Ace says Biden made an important gaffe on the Constitution and Article 1. Glenn Reynolds also says Biden made multiple constitutional errors.

Michelle Malkin is offering some people their words on a platter and saying “eat them.”

Riehl reads Sullivan so you don’t have to and says he is spinning it and seems sad.

Fausta watched the debate and cursed the rest of us with the Obama Channel