Can I Call You Joe?

Golly, ain't she folksy? Yet worldly enough to know a homosexual or two. Yet arrogant enough to say she may not answer the questions tonight. Yet stupid enough to criticize the MSM (wow, is she pissed at Couric or what?). And dangerous enough to want to expand the powers of the vice presidency. Yikes!

IFILL: Governor, you mentioned a moment ago the constitution might give the vice president more power than it has in the past. Do you believe as Vice President Cheney does, that the Executive Branch does not hold complete sway over the office of the vice presidency, that it it is also a member of the Legislative Branch?

PALIN: Well, our founding fathers were very wise there in allowing through the Constitution much flexibility there in the office of the vice president. And we will do what is best for the American people in tapping into that position and ushering in an agenda that is supportive and cooperative with the president's agenda in that position. Yeah, so I do agree with him that we have a lot of flexibility in there, and we'll do what we have to do to administer very appropriately the plans that are needed for this nation. And it is my executive experience that is partly to be attributed to my pick as V.P. with McCain, not only as a governor, but earlier on as a mayor, as an oil and gas regulator, as a business owner. It is those years of experience on an executive level that will be put to good use in the White House also.

IFILL: Vice President Cheney's interpretation of the vice presidency?

BIDEN: Vice President Cheney has been the most dangerous vice president we've had probably in American history. The idea he doesn't realize that Article I of the Constitution defines the role of the vice president of the United States, that's the Executive Branch. He works in the Executive Branch. He should understand that. Everyone should understand that.

And the primary role of the vice president of the United States of America is to support the president of the United States of America, give that president his or her best judgment when sought, and as vice president, to preside over the Senate, only in a time when in fact there's a tie vote. The Constitution is explicit.

The only authority the vice president has from the legislative standpoint is the vote, only when there is a tie vote. He has no authority relative to the Congress. The idea he's part of the Legislative Branch is a bizarre notion invented by Cheney to aggrandize the power of a unitary executive and look where it has gotten us. It has been very dangerous.

Wow, Sarah Palin's reply to that question was the most disturbing moment tonight. I started to have one of those panic moments reminiscent of when Bush was reelected. I'm seeing a grim future for our country in one sudden flash.

Joe Biden, however, was impressive tonight. He has command of the issues. His answers were clear and crisp, and he defended Senator Obama when necessary. His best quip was "past is prologue" when Palin complained Democrats were constantly looking backwards. Well, the world is still suffering for the crimes of the Bush administration! Palin, in here folksy twang, brushed off these crimes as "huge blunders." Yeah, let's not hold any high-level officials accountable. Let's not look at what went wrong and how to prevent it from happening again. Let's not look back because we might realize McCain-Palin would be as disastrous as Bush-Cheney.

Oh, Palin tried to push the myth that they would somehow be different than Bush-Cheney, but she couldn't offer one single example how. Neither did she offer to "get back to ya on that one."

She also pushed the other myth that our enemies hate us for our freedom. Can we get over this childish explanation offered by... BUSH? (I thought they wanted to distance themselves from Bush?) Let me just make it clear. Our enemies hate us for our foreign policies and they hate us for our airstrikes.

I suppose you can say Sarah Palin exceeded expectations tonight if you were expecting her to cry or pass out. She did neither of those. Instead she met my expectations. I fully anticipated the fake folksy cartoonish personality. I expected the awkward nonanswers mechanically sticking to talking points and attack lines. I expected that she could not explain anything in detail. But I never would have expected Palin's indifferent response to a very personal story from Biden (if video doesn't show, click here):



Where was Palin's folksy hometown response to that? Nowhere. You can read the debate transcript here, and a few more of my own comments on Twitter.

Biden won. Doggone it, that's the unvarnished truth.