America's Reaction to the VP Debate

When the stage went silent in St Louis' Washington University, the internet went totally wild. From the CBS Webcast with Katie Couric, Huffington Post, Twitter and more, America weighed in on the Debate. From coast to coast and around the world, the opinions were as varied as the places they came from.

Twitter.com(one of the fastest growing blog sites this political season) was moving so fast, you had to pause it just to keep up. I couldn't type fast enough to keep up myself. It was completely mad. I was trying to read and make notes and contribute to the fury and get the most info I could from everyone on what they thought the outcome of the debate was. If you haven't gone to Twitter.com, go now. It is almost addicting.

I think overwhelmingly I heard how Fox News didn't even blink before they gave Sarah Palin award winning marks. Fred Thompson on CBS Webcast with Katie said he thought Sarah did very well. MSNBC gave the kudos to Joe Biden.

Most of the news stations stayed within the party lines have have already drawn. The conversation of what the Average Joe Six Pack thinks can be found in blogs like Twitter.

I watched Twitter for about 6 hours after the debate and have been there this morning. With the hot topic of the debate still fresh on people's minds, Twitter is still rockin.

From the millions of comments, I have put some from both sides. In order to present a fair representation of both sides of this issue, I will list a few.

"Maybe Sarah Palin doesn't understand the difference between an interview question and a scripted speech. Or just blame Katie. " by pictou on Tweeter.

Markkimbriacio said, "Even though I think Palin completely controlled the debate, I don't think she's capable of peforming as president. McCain disqualified."

Hymnsinger wrote, " Myself I liked Huckabee & Giuliani vs Edwards & Biden. Why are you so intent on making history when so much is at stake, the war, economy?"
Cotez left this comment: "Even though I don't live in the states if McCain and Palin get in, it will be a scary day. G. Bush was voted in twice!!

Those are just a very small portion of the millions of comments just like this about Sarah Palin and the VP Debate. The number of comments that were negative for Palin outweighed the positive. Though there were positive statements by either dedicated Republicans or people who had been straddling the fence and now have decided. Those comments also ranged in content. Such as:

Evizaer on Twitter.com said this about Sarah Palin, " Election Checklist: 5. If Sarah Palin doesn't absolutely collapse, she's a boon to the Republican Party."

Thatguyfsu blogged, " I was referring to RETWEET: Palin being more "likeable" than Biden"

Politico.com's Arena had a variety of guests and several of them gave Sarah Palin glowing remarks. Here are a couple of those from Politico.

Steven G. Calabresi, Professor of law, Northwestern University:
Palin was likeable, warm, knowledgeable, and well informed on every issue contrary to all the predictions of the mainstream media. I predict she will connect better with swing voters in the West and Midwest than does Biden who often seemed angry and like someone tooting his own horn.

Bradley A. Smith, Professor, election law and campaign finance:
Well obviously Governor Palin was the winner. How do we know? Because all the Democratic analysts are whining about how, "she didn't answer the questions." Well, since when did that matter in Washington, or on the campaign trail?

That was about the extent of comments in the general blog scene in her favor. I honestly watched for hours. There were other comments like, she looked nice, she was forceful and seemed knowledgeable. There is a following for her for whatever reason, people do like her for the most part. She appeared to many people to hold her own in the debate.

John Biden also got mixed reviews. The positive comments for him were more numerous than Sarah Palin but there were some bad ones as well.

Levilong on Twitter wrote: "Did anyone else think that Biden might have had a little plastic surgery?"

According to the Arena at Politico.com: Ken Goldstein, Political scientist, University of Wisconsin:
We saw best Biden could do and best Palin could do. In other words, Biden was Biden and Palin was Palin. Palin beat expectations, but hard to argue that she is ready to be President. Biden did much better toward end. That said, this election not about VP and will be decided by fundamental factors that still advantage Democratic ticket in huge way.

Also on the Politco Arena site:

James Carville, Democratic strategist:
Let's be honest. Senator Biden won this debate by all measures. It's all pretend talk to act like this was even close. They pulled out of Michigan and lost a debate in the same day, and people are talking like it was a good day for the McCain campaign.

Patricia Schroeder, President, Association of American Publishers: Senator Biden had the gravitas, he was very comfortable and knowlegable. Governor Palin served up a folksy cocktail with no substance just slogans.

Across the board the reactions were mixed. There were not as many party lines as there were issues lines. There will of course be staunch Republicans who will only vote that way regardless of the candidate. There are just as many Democrats that will vote that way as well.

It is apparent in this historic election though that Americans are paying more attention than ever. The Giant called the American Spirit that has been asleep for so long has awoken in this 2008 election year. No matter which candidate you supported in the VP Debate, Americans have taken their voices back and have blasted the internet with the response.

Both candidate were given good and bad marks. The decision will be made soon and all Americans should be proud for their participation.