So, I was going to do a play-by-play restating of the debate but I really don't have time today.  Got people out at work and tonight's a date night, but maybe some other time.  So here's the short version:

Moderator: Please answer [question].
Biden: Certainly.  [answer].
Palin: Instead let me talk about [some canned, unrelated statement]
Moderator: Senator, your reply?
Biden: Well, that's not true because of [reasonable rebuttal]
Palin: ...

And repeat.

Sorry, I was hoping for better, but it was objectively pretty bad.  Not enough to change my vote but I can't imagine it's going to win a lot of thoughtful, independent voters to the GOP.  I don't believe anyone can "win" a debate like this - the media's insistence on granting one that status aside - since it's never a real debate but just talking points back and forth.  Still, if someone could win the debate, it would be Biden.  Which sucks, but what can you do?

Part of the problem too is that each of these four candidates represents a different point on the likable/knowledgeable spectrum.  To illustrate:

	Platitudes	Real Policy
Likable
Unlikable