A Heartbeat Away -- live blogging the Palin-Biden debate

10:29: Questions on bipartisanship never produce interesting answers. Palin gets in one last dig at the media and then quotes Reagan -- she is learning well. Look (heh), I don't think she won the debate here, but I do think she represented her points well enough to salvage her campaign from where it was a few days ago. Biden, by the same token, seemed gaffe free. Neither really laid out a clear vision of what they plan to do in January 2009. Could it be that none of them has a clue.

OK, I have to hustle to get a story in the newspaper, but please offer your own perspectives in the comments below.

10:26: The Cubs really suck. I think the Phillies can take the Dodgers in the NLCS -- but I guess that's what they said in 1977...back to the debate.

10:19: Ifill not asking good questions here -- this question on "Achilles heel" is an invitation for the two of them to ramble and for Palin to talk about Reagan's shining city on the hill, etc., and for McCain to talk about his family's car crash and his dad, etc. Did you know that John McCain is a maverick? Look at Giuliani and Lieberman and Romney supporting McCain: In other words, he's so great that even Jews and Mormons and Italians like him! Biden slamming down "maverick" now.

10:16: Shorter Palin: I agree with Dick Cheney -- not a good answer. Biden: "Dick Cheney has been the most dangerous vice president we've ever had in American history." Ding ding.

10:15: Biden on Palin saying there should be more money for schools: McCain has never supported that. I believe that's correct.

10:12:  "Whatdaya know, Joe, there you go again," looking to the past. Still waiting for "where's the beef" and "you're no Jack Kennedy" but trust me, it's coming.

10:09: Palin: "Whaddya expect from a team of mavericks!" Hey, we're crazy! We just do and say anything? Biden: "Look..."

10:04: Palin said Biden was "for the war before he was against it." Hard to disagree -- but there's such a thing as cutting your losses. That's what Ronald Reagan did in Lebanon. I think Biden is right that he never supported "John McCain's policies" -- McCain wanted to bomb bomb bomb Iraq weeks after 9/11.

10:02: Did Biden just say "Bosniacs"?

9:58: Palin: We're not killing civilians in Iraq, we're building schools. Uh, there's tens of thousands of Iraqis who would beg to differ, if only they were still alive.

9:54: Palin on Bush -- yes, big blunders "but there's too much focus on looking backwards." That's like the Monty Python line: "Let's not bicker about who killed who." Now Biden is hitting one out of the park -- "The past is prologue." Says McCain hasn't shown how any of his policies will be different from Bush.

9:50: Biden points out that Ahmadinjad isn't the surpreme ruler of Iran -- how come people don't bring that up. Hammering McCain on the Spain issue -- the McCain camp really screwed up on the way it handled that one.

9:46: Biden: "Look....John.....look....John......look."

9:42: Whoa! Palin on Iraq: "Your plan is the white flag of surrender." Well, if you want a real debate, we're seeing some differences. Also accuses Obama of not honoring the military -- ouch. Biden knows a little too much, in that sometimes he lapses into Senate jargon. "As my mother would say, John McCain -- God love him but he's dead wrong."

9:38: Shorter Palin: Some of my best friends are gay, but.... On the whole, Palin -- while rehearsed -- is holding up very well. Why was this so hard with Katie Couric?

9:35: "Drill baby drill" is what Palin hears across the nation -- she's talking to nation of oil addicts. Meanwhile, another "look" from Biden, who I think Palin just called "O' Biden."

9:33: It seems like Biden has adopted Obama's annoying habit of starting every answer with the word "look."

9:30: So apparently the energy crisis is the fault of those "East Coast" politicians. Translation: McCain had abandoned hope of winning any East Coast states. Palin on climate change: "We've got to convince other nations to come along with us." I thought the problem was the other way around.

9:27: "Greed and corruption on Wall Street" -- again from Palin! I hope that's not in the Vice Presidential Debate drinking game or there are some very wasted people out there. Glad that Ifill pressured Biden on his wretched bankruptcy bill. 

9:22: Biden gets off a "bridge to nowhere" jibe at the McCain-Palin healthcare plan -- good to see all the rehearsed lines being used.

Palin: "John McCain isn't somebody who says one thing to one group and another thing to another." Are you kidding, he just contradicted himself 5 seconds apart in his bailout press conference. It's funny to hear Republicans complain about "tax breaks for oil companies" and the "greed and corruption on Wall Street."

9:17: Biden says taxes on the rich will not be higher than they were under Ronald Reagan -- good talking point. Meanwhile, Ifill is what I would have expected, tough on both candidates and their non-answers, ignoring Palin's veiled swipe at her. Meanwhile, I think Biden should stop calling McCain "John."

9:13: Barack Obama voted for the largest tax increase in American history -- I missed that. Biden said McCain voted for the same tax measure that Obama did. Now Sen. Biden (D-MBNA) is railing about out-of-control Wall Street, which he also did little to stop.

Palin "I may not answer the question the way you or the moderator want to hear but I'm going to talk to the American people." That's THE LINE -- her entire strategy that the media and everyone else is out to get her.

9:10: "Joe Six-Pack and hockey moms across the nation"? I think Palin has some phrases written on her wrist. There's nothing like when a Republican goes all populist -- who was responsible for that lack of regulation. Biden is hammering this point, albeit in this Qualudes voice.

9:09: Phillies win!!!!!!!!!!

9:07: Palin unspectacularly solid on bailout question -- talks about McCain's "bipartisan effort.' Did McCain talk to any Democrats besides Lieberman?

9:03: Biden: "And Governor Palin, it's nice to meet you." Translated: Where on earth did you come from?" Meanwhile, Biden talking about the bailout, sounds like he's on some kind of sedatives. Mentions middle-class for the first of about 191 times tonight.

9:02: Here we go! Palin on the mike -- "Hey, can I call you Joe?" Nice move!

Palin's first "betcha" of the night...Phillies two outs away...

8:48: How's this for multi-tasking -- two live blogs at once! You can follow the Phillies here:

As for Palin-Biden, I don't know what to expect -- and anyone who tells you that they do is fibbing. I think Palin will try to stall, and Gwen Ifill may ask general enough questions to help her in that task. The complaints about Ifill over the last 48 hours have amounted to the political version of "working the refs" -- and it probably worked. I doubt she'll ask any of those Katie Couric "gotcha questions," which I thought were just "questions."

The wild card of course is Biden -- God knows which one will show up. Hopefully he'll give us another line like "noun verb and 9/11," or FDR talking about the Wall Street crash on TV. See you at 9.