Veep Debate

After all the pre-debate hype, including how prepared Governor Palin would look, what verbal gaffes to expect from Senator Biden, and whether or not Gwen Ifell would show her own political leanings while moderating the debate, none of those scenarios played out.

What we did see was 90 minutes of polite quasi-exchange of campaign slogans. Senator Biden chose to debate John McCain. Governor Palin chose to give slices of stump speeches directly to the television audience. Gwen Ifell appeared to not direct (nor redirect) the candidates' time toward each other or back to the underlying point of her questions with any poignancy.

When I watched the debate live I didn't feel Gwen Ifell overtly slanted the questioning for or against either candidate, but her own analysis of the debate sure makes me feel uneasy about her moderating, let alone Tom Brokaw's role in the next Presidential Debate.

But neither Senator Biden nor Governor Palin had any major faux pas, so both camps can claim victory. Then again has anyone - ever - voted for a ticket because of the VP nominee?

I sort of wish that we'd stop calling these events debates at all. It would be more accurate to call them joint campaign appearances.