Biden vs Palin tonight

Biden was Bill Clinton-esque today. Which was reassuring coz I thought the Dems had lost that touch. His last line tonight about bringing the troops back home safe was a winner- thought he couldn't trump Palin's 'sittting around the kitchen table' line, but he did, and how. And he got teary with emotion, bonus points there.

Had strong misgivings when he started out- old, boring, stodgy, losing himself in a morasse of legalese like Obama, too polite to the opposition, contrasted with Palin's young skin, shining lipstick, sharp glasses and and that pouffy hairstyle. But picked himself up in the second half, gave credit to Obama, was realistic, spontaneous, and aggressive. Repeated the important parts looking straight into the camera (lessons for Obama there)- 'Money sepent in 3 weeks in Iraq more than 7 years in Afghanistan', 'This is what John McCain is going to do with your healthcare, I repeat, this is what.....' and nuclear control in Iran being with the theology, and the importance of diplomacy. To give Palin credit, she was civil and gave him his due.

I think he'll be a good VP. Obama's strength is not the economy, it's foreign policy-the Left is too embedded in neoliberal economics to say 'working class' without feeling it's committing a sin. It needs to include 'working class' along with 'middle class' in its rhetoric. Or is that an honest admission that it's really not about the working class anymore!

I enjoyed the WashU audience. It was more expressive than the Mississippi U one, but maybe it was because of Palin and Biden's self-depracating humour, and partly because it didn't start off with McCain ignoring Obama's presence from the word go.