Sarah Palin and Joe Biden clashed last night over Iraq, the economy and the qualities of their running mates in the only vice-presidential debate of the US election campaign, showing flashes of humour, passion and sharply contrasting styles, writes Denis Stauntonin St Louis, Missouri.
Ms Palin confounded expectations following a series of difficult television interviews by delivering a confident performance, addressing many of her remarks directly to the camera in a folksy, vernacular style.
Mr Biden appeared uneasy during the first half of the 90-minute debate, often lapsing into political jargon but regained his footing later to make an impassioned case for a change of direction in Washington.
The Democrat said that Ms Palin and Republican presidential candidate John McCain promised nothing more than a continuation of the policies of President George Bush.
“Say it ain't so, Joe, there you go again pointing backwards again,” she replied during the debate at Washington University in St Louis, Missouri.
“You prefaced your whole comment with the Bush administration. Now doggone it, let's look ahead and tell Americans what we have to plan to do for them in the future.”
From the start, Ms Palin sought to frame the policy debate in accessible terms, answering a question about the current financial crisis by talking about how average Americans are faring economically.
“You know, I think a good barometer here, as we try to figure out has this been a good time or a bad time in America's economy, is go to a kid's soccer game on Saturday, and turn to any parent there on the sideline and ask them, "How are you feeling about the economy?" she said.
“And I'll bet you, you're going to hear some fear in that parent's voice, fear regarding the few investments that some of us have in the stock market. Did we just take a major hit with those investments? Fear about how are we going to afford to send our kids to college? A fear, as small-business owners, perhaps, how we're going to borrow any money to increase inventory or hire more people.”
Ms Palin, who had sometimes appeared uncertain about policy in interviews, was confident during most of the debate as she was questioned about the economy, energy, health care, gay rights and foreign policy. She smiled at her opponent throughout the debate, but she was quick to attack, characterising Mr Biden as a conventional Washington establishment figure.
“We're tired of the old politics as usual,” she said.
“And that's why, with all due respect, I do respect your years in the US Senate, but I think Americans are craving something new and different and that new energy and that new commitment that's going to come with reform.”
Mr Biden mangled some of his early responses and sometimes became bogged down in explaining Senate voting procedures but he delivered sharp responses on Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. When Ms Palin said she shared Dick Cheney’s understanding of the role of the vice-president, suggesting that its powers could be expanded further, Mr Biden issued a blistering response.
“Vice President Cheney has been the most dangerous vice president we've had probably in American history,” he said.
“The idea he's part of the legislative branch is a bizarre notion invented by Cheney to aggrandise the power of a unitary executive and look where it has gotten us. It has been very dangerous.”
When Ms Palin invoked her experience as a mother as evidence that she understood the concerns of ordinary Americans, Mr Biden spoke of his experience as a single father of two boys after his wife and daughter died in a car crash when he was 29.
“When my wife and daughter died and my two sons were gravely injured, I understand what it's like as a parent to wonder what it's like if your kid's going to make it,” he said, choking up with emotion.
“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 - is going to make it. 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. They're looking for help. They're not looking for more of the same.”
Although instant polls on two television networks suggested that Mr Biden won the debate, the McCain campaign was clearly relieved following Ms Palin’s performance.
"She came across as strong and knowledgeable," campaign strategist Frank Donatelli told The Irish Times.
“She demonstrated to the American public why she was chosen by John McCain.”
Independent Democratic senator Joe Lieberman, who is supporting Mr McCain, acknowledged that the debate had presented Ms Palin with a “crucial” test.
“There were doubts being raised about Governor Palin and she proved tonight that those doubts were not justified,” he said. “I think part of what people were wondering was: is she informed? Is she smart?”
Mr Obama’s chief strategist, David Axelrod, dismissed Ms Palin’s debate performance as a “folksy rendition of the same old policies” that had governed the US for the past eight years.
“it’s not enough to offer homey aphorisms about working people if you support policies that work against them,” he said.
Mr Axelrod acknowledged that Ms Palin had been impressive during the debate, although he suggested that she had simply demonstrated her political skill.
“Governor Palin is a talented politician. She’s good in debates. I think she did very well tonight,” he said. “She’s good at this. She’s good at looking at the camera and delivering lines and she did it tonight.”
John McCain and Barack Obama meet in Nashville next Tuesday for the second of three presidential debates before the election on November 4th.
* For comments and video footage of the debate, see Denis Staunton's Campaign Trail 2008 blog.