Obama is Winning

Once again, instant polls, focus groups and many pundits--including Republicans-- agreed that Joe Biden won the vice-presidential debate. By maintaining a camera presence and repeating talking points, vp candidate Palin "survived." But as CNN's Bill Schneider said, "Palin's answers do not lack confidence, they lack coherence."

Biden answered questions and Palin's attacks, while Palin avoided answering the moderator's questions and could not defend McCain policies. Biden was most effective in linking McCain to Bush, and in countering Palin's insistence that McCain is a "maverick." Here are the operative quotes from the New York Times account:

“The issue is how different is John McCain’s policy going to be than George Bush’s,” Mr. Biden said. “I haven’t heard how his policy is going to be different on Iran than George Bush’s. I haven’t heard how his policy is going to be different with Israel than George Bush’s. I haven’t heard how his policy in Afghanistan is going to be different than George Bush’s. I haven’t heard how his policy in Pakistan is going to be different than George Bush’s."

“He’s not been a maverick when it comes to education — he has not supported tax cuts and significant changes for people being able to send their kids to college,” Mr. Biden said. “He’s not been a maverick on the war. He’s not been a maverick on virtually anything that generally affects the things that people really talk about.”

The debate's one authentic emotional moment also belonged to Biden--a moment that Huffpost blogger Leah McElrath wrote: "Joe Biden did more for the equality of the sexes with his honest display of paternal emotion during the vice presidential debate than Sarah Palin's presence on the executive ticket has or will ever do." Biden appeared to choke up as he talked about his young son, injured in the auto crash that killed his wife just after he was first elected to the Senate:

“The notion that, somehow, because I’m a man, I don’t know what it’s like to raise two kids alone, I don’t know what it’s like to have a child you’re not sure is going to make it,” Mr. Biden said. “I understand as well as, with all due respect, the governor or anybody else, what it’s like for those people sitting around that kitchen table. And guess what? They’re looking for help.”

In one of the first published "reviews," columnist E. J. Dionne began: "Early in last night's vice-presidential debate, Sarah Palin said that she might not answer the questions as moderator Gwen Ifill posed them. This was the Alaska governor's way of saying she was going to stick to the talking points she had stuffed into her head, no matter what the subject. " He concluded: At the time of her selection, voters were often compared with 'American Idol' watchers who put personality and stage presence above everything else. But it turns out that Americans take the presidency very seriously. And surviving 90 minutes on a stage with Biden did not transform Palin into a plausible president."

Both Obama and Biden showed in their debates that in serious times, they are serious people, and they are ready to confront the grave challenges we face.

But what also impressed me about the instant polls is that they tended to mirror the percentages by which Obama is ahead in the polls. Even Thursday, McCain lost ground in the polls. His campaign is leaving Michigan completely--a state that two weeks ago looked to be the crucial battleground. For the first time, it's all suggested to me that America may have already made up its mind who will be President.