I am going to take a different tact tonight and basically score this like a fight with rounds. Each question will be a round and I will highlight the punches laid and how powerful they were. Then I will score the round. I will not be going in depth on the question or the response.

See ya all at the debate in 40 minutes – history is being made tonight and we all have a ring side seat.

8:50 PM Eastern:

One thing to remember is the nation is tuning in tonight to see Sarah Palin – not Joe Biden. This is all about Palin, Biden is playing a bit part in this act of the play. Fox is reporting a message to Joe: don’t screw up. LOL! That’s leadership???

9:02 PM Eastern: Ifill introduces “Governor” Sarah Palin and Joe Biden, what’s up with that? Is Ifill nervous? Palin: “Can I call you Joe?” interesting.

9:05 PM Eastern: Round 1 – Has the financial crisis votes made Washington look good?

Biden: Rehashes Obama points on crisis, Obama-Biden “we will focus on middle class, not the rich”. 

Palin: Ask the soccer parents, you will hear fear. Fear about money to spend on their family. Government has not been providing oversight. Biden and Obama fought the McCain plan to fix the problem

Round 1: Palin, she connected on a visceral level, Palin connected to Main Street.

9:09 PM Eastern: Round 2 (to Biden again) As VP how will you bridge the gap.

Biden: McCain said the economy was sound – missed the question

Palin: McCain was talking about the American people. Get off the partisanship.  She baits Biden on being old old politics

Round 2; Palin

9:14 PM Eastern: Round 3: Who is responsible for this mess – lenders, borrowers or who?

Palin: Predatory lenders, never again

Biden: Obama warned first, McCain did not???

Round 3: Biden (for those who don’t know better).

Palin: Yes, we need tax relief. But Obama and Biden voted for tax increaes or fought reductions. She hit Obama on his tax hiking record.

Biden: Not factual, standard.

Still Biden’s round.

9:21 PM Eastern: Round 4: Biden, you want raise taxes over $250K, Palin you want to raise health insurance taxes (Ifill asked each a different question)

Biden: we will give tax cuts to the middle class, McCain wants tax cuts to “corporations”

Palin: $250K includes in millions of small businesses, which hits jobs. taxes are not “patriotic”, patriotic means telling government “your not the answer”

Ifill: want to address Health care – Palin: yes, if you liked government oversight of other things, you will find it interesting to see the “Feds” run the health care

Biden: Redistribution is “fairness” – not redistribution (liberalsim). McCain wants income tax on your health care – Biden babbling statistics, he is losing the discussion/

Round 4: Palin

9:26 PM Eastern: Round 5: What will you give up with financial bailiout

Biden: Nothing, we need to spend, spend, spend. 

Palin: McCain doesn’t say one thing to one group. Obama voted for oil tax breaks! We had to take them on, Obama voted FOR tax breaks to big oil. No more tax breaks for these big companies. 

Biden: back pedaling, trying to explain the vote (against it, after he was for it). We want to give every Americna a $1,000 check from big oil.

Round 5: Palin

9:30 PM Eastern: Round 6: McCain supported made bankruptcy harder, still support Palin?

Palin: Back then – yes. But much has changed since then. And we need to thank McCain for trying to raise the alarm

Ifill: Biden, you voted for this:

Biden: Policy wonk babble. Obama wrote a letter to treasury (McCain sponsored a bill killed by Dems???)

Palin: Back to domestic oil. East coast politicians block energy producing states send our money overseas and to our enemies.  This is nonsensical. Energy plans are not just tax breaks – energy is more than that

Round 6: Palin

9:36 PM Eastern: Round 7: Snobby liberal question on “Climate Change”, what is your view Governor

Palin: We see Climate Change in Alaska, but blaming man only not the answer. I produced the first climate change board.

Biden: It is all man made (Ifill is tilting questions to each candidate differently). Polar Ice Cap is melting (not really – but he is a politician so how would he know). Need to export clean coal tech to China. Drill, drill, drill.

Ifill: McCain supports carbon limits. Biden not always for coal

Palin: Alaska has green natural gas.  Biden against drilling, called drilling raping (tough word from a woman). 

Biden: Clean coal, look at my record – rope line comment out of line. 

Round 7: Palin

Round 8 – Same Sex Marriages (now supported in Alaska)

Biden: Do not support gay “marriage”.

Palin: Americans chose life style. Not going to stand between visitation, etc. Same choice.

Round 8: Tie – they agree

9:46 PM Eastern: Round 9: Iraq

Palin: Obama voted against funding the troops, and she saluted Biden for calling Obama on his vote. We can win in Iraq, don’t need to lose Iraq.  Travesty to leave too soon.

Biden: Did not hear a plan, same plan as Maliki and Bush (now that we have victory).  We need a timeline to leave Iraq. We will end this war, no end in sight from McCain

Palin rebuttal: Your plan is a white flag of surrender. You opposed the Surge. We will know when we can leave when the Iraqis can stand up, The Iraqis will tell us when THEY are ready. You would run with McCain – until you became a “V”. 

Biden – policy wonk gibverish.

Round 9: Palin wins this round

9:50 PM Eastern: Round 10: Unstable Iraq or Iran more a threat.

Biden: Biden is babbling, even I can’t follow what he is saying. Forget those two, let’s talk Pakistan. Let’s build schools!!!! That will fix Pakistan.

Palin: Both are dangerous (Nuclear Iran and Iraq). Osama and Petraeus called Iraq ‘the central front”. Listen to them. Iran called Israel a stinking corpse. Ahemdinejad is unstable and not sane – we cannot talk to them. That is beyond naive, that is dangerous. (let her debate Obama!!!!). Sarah-cuda came out slashing!

Biiden: Ignore President Mahmoud “I’m-a-nut-job”??? What is the man smoking???

Round 10: Palin – big hit against Obama-Biden

9:56 PM Eastern: Round 11: Supporting Israel

Palin: Two stat solution is right, Sec Rice working this hard. Palin is destroying the liberal caricature of her as a ditz.  

Biden: I have defended Israel. But current administration has failed. We predicted failure when we tried two state option.. How is this a failure? Iran is on the march….  We will change this with diplomacy by backing Israel – what is he babbling about.

Palin rebuttal: Stop pointing fingers and blames, for a ticket of ‘change’ a lot of partisan blame. Smashing.

Round 11 – Palin. 

10:02 PM Eastern: Round 12: When do nuclear weapons come into play

Palin: Our weapons are a deterrent. but nut cases with nukes need to be stopped. Afghanistan – Surge principles will be used. Obama claimed we were ‘air raiding villages’, not helping and it was reckless

Biden: went condescending – surge principle will not work (highly doubtful!).  Biden babbling in DC policy wonk. America: Charlie Brown ‘blah, blah, blah, blah” white noise.

Palin: McClellan did not say surge would not work (Biden doing the Gore ‘Sigh’ can that be anymore condescending).

Round 12: Palin.

10:10 PM Eastern:  Round 13: Darfur, America ready for this?

Biden: I supported Bosnia (that is so 1990’s). Back into the past. Bosnia and Kosovo are ‘stable’ (laughable). Then onto Iraq, he is babbling again. Biden sees he is in trouble, he is just babbling – NATO, Chad, 21,000 forces.

Palin: I am just an outsider. You voted for it before I was against it. I don’t get you DC types. We can agree on Darfur – she is clear, concise and simple. I still have no idea what Biden said???

Ifill when do we go in:

Biden: (a) do we have the resources and (b) WHEN a country engages in genocide and kills our people then they are not legitimate (so they have to kill us before they are sanctioned). 

Palin: You are debating yourself Joe – look at your record. Palin is back talking to America. 

Round 13: Tie or advantage Palin

10:15 PM Eastern: Round 14: What would a Palin/Biden administration look like

Biden: Need to ‘reinstate’ middle class (what does that mean). We need to ‘cooperate’ with our enemies, not follow the Bush doctrine of taking on threats before they kill.

Palin: We are Mavericks, we do not agree. We need Wasilla in DC (damn straight!). Go to Home Depot with me … Why????

Biden: go with me to Home Depot .. Why?

Palin: Joe, look forward, stop looking backward.

Round 14: Palin

10:19 PM Eastern: Round 15 – What is a VP

Paln had the audience laughing, Joe laughing, she owns this debate, she reached out to Joe.  Done typing. Sarah, Sarah, Sarah-cuda.

Biden: Doing the history things again. 

Round 15: Near knock out on Joe, he’s on the ropes, the folks are with Sarah and Biden is causing snores.

10:26 PM Eastern: Round 18: Conventional Wisdom: Palin not experienced, Biden not disciplined.

Palin: Being experienced as an average American with optimism is NOT a deficit. We need to look to the positive of America. She is running hot.

Biden: I haven’t changed in 35 years, but I am change. Going for the single parent crap. He’s babbling again. Palin has thrown him totally off base. 

Round 18: Palin.

Done tonight – going to savour the end folks.

Summary, Palin mopped up Biden. She is not Tina Fey, and Tina Fey could never be her. And Biiden lost big time. BTW, Ifill pretty good. She should have stepped down, but she nudged them both.

10:34 PM Eastern: Closing Statemetns;

Palin: from the heart, proud, working, one of us.

Biden: Not sure what he said, but all we know is America sucks now.

Palin won this big time. And the media caricature of Palin has been destroyed.

Tags: 2008 Election, VP Debate