Politico: "You betcha Sarah Palin can debate"

Roger Simon writes about last night's vice presidential debate in this morning's "Politico" ... and he was impressed by Sarah Palin:

Sarah Palin was supposed to fall off the stage at her vice presidential debate Thursday evening. Instead, she ended up dominating it.

She not only kept Joe Biden on the defensive for much of the debate, she not only repeatedly attacked Barack Obama, but she looked like she was enjoying herself while doing it.

She smiled. She faced the camera. She was warm. She was human. Gosh and golly, she even dropped a bunch of g’s.

Gauging from the reaction of the crowd at my house, she was a hit. Yes, we're partisan ... but we laughed, we hooted in approval when she said, "Say it ain't so, Joe...." and we groaned when Biden screwed up his face to draw out the word "Spaaaaaa-in." What was that? He looked smug at time and condescending at others ... who was this little lady who was using the "gee-golly" terminology of the common people? Joe Biden acted like the 30-year politician who had the facts ... but maybe not the heart.

She said her strength to the ticket was “my connection to the heartland of America, being a mom, having a son going off to war, a mother of a special needs child.” She said there were times she and her husband sat around the kitchen table wondering how they were going to make it without health insurance.

Who among us on a budget has not gone through something like that?

The folks over at the Weekly Standard liked her. Editor Fred Barns (who will be speaking at next week's Americans For Prosperity Summit in Northern Virginia) wrote in "Comeback: Sarah Palin changed her image overnight":

For sure, she did one remarkable thing aside from handling Biden with ease. She undid the negative impression that had been created by her avoidance of most of the media and hardened when the two TV interviews went poorly. Her image was that of someone unqualified to be vice president and uninformed on major issues.

Changing an image overnight is difficult. Ronald Reagan managed it when he debated President Jimmy Carter in 1980 and blew away the widespread notion that he was a warmonger. But I can't think of other examples of this, at least in presidential or veep debates.

Two more things. Palin appeared to be in a good mood during the debate, just as she was when delivering her acceptance speech at the Republican convention four weeks ago. That made her more appealing than Biden, who came off, at times anyway, as less cheerful than he normally is.

And Palin wrote her own closing statement, or so I was told. It included what seemed like an invitation to Biden to have more debates. "I would like more opportunity for this," she said. I suspect Biden wouldn't.

Sarah. She held her own, she showed she is ready for the big leagues, and she reemphasized why middle America loves the fact that she is on the GOP ticket.

Go, Sarah!

McCain-Palin 2008