Pundits On Debate: Palin Won On Style, Biden On Substance

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was charismatic and articulate in her debate against Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE), but her refusal to directly answer questions during the forum irked some pundits. Biden effectively laid out his arguments and committed no game-changing gaffes. Noting that the Palin at Washington University in St. Louis was "not the one who sat down with Katie Couric," CNN's David Gergen rated Palin's overall performance an A minus.

"While she made a few small mistakes and often avoided direct answers, she deserves credit for performing as well as she did in a moment of huge pressure," Gergen said before declaring Biden's performance "the best debate performance of his life."

"He was extremely well informed, especially on foreign policy, and he argued his case with force and occasional eloquence," the analyst said, while giving Biden an A plus rating.

Politico's Ben Smith cited Palin's "emotional connection" with viewers and said the first-term governor "passed a pass-fail test." Biden was "a more effective presence, and a more lucid one."

But Smith also concluded that the two candidates' performances are not likely to significantly affect the presidential race. Palin "likely returned herself to the same status as Biden and every other running mate in memory: not, ultimately, a major factor at the polls," he said.

ABC's George Stephanopoulos agreed, saying, "There was nothing to this debate that is likely to change the trajectory of the race."

He said Palin was "very appealing" and gave "the sense that she really was connecting with the people back home." But Biden "coherently, consistently and effectively" made the case that McCain as a continuation of Bush's presidency.

The New York Times' David Brooks had a different assessment of he debate, saying Palin's strong performance satisfied Republicans' "primal need for political survival." He described Biden as having been "smart, fluid and relentless" but also OF having failed to effectively speak about his message of change or praise Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL).

"On Thursday night, Palin took her inexperience and made a mansion out of it... On matters of substance, her main accomplishment was to completely sever ties to the Bush administration. She treated Bush as some historical curiosity from the distant past," Brooks said.

Time's Mark Halperin said there was no clear winner. His overall rating for each candidate was a B, although Palin had the better style: "Her days of intense rehearsal were apparent, but she was much smoother than in recent media interviews when unspooling pre-canned lines and opinions."

Palin's deflection of some questions earned her criticisms. CBS Bob Schieffer said he found it "a little disconcerting, time and again, Governor Palin would just choose not to answer the question and launch into some dissertation, sometimes talking points, and not really address what Gwen Ifill had asked her."

MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell simply stated, "She didn't answer the questions. And, in fact, she would say, I want to talk about taxes, which hadn't even come up."

Both the McCain and Obama campaigns declared their candidates victorious from the debate Thursday night. McCain-Palin 2008 Communications Director Jill Hazelbaker said Palin put Biden "on energy, foreign policy, taxes and the definition of change" and was "was direct, forceful and a breath of fresh air."

But Obama-Biden campaign manager David Plouffe said it was a clear victory for Biden, who "made a passionate case for change from the disastrous economic and foreign policies of the last eight years, and Sarah Palin defended them."