The Debate in St. Louis.1

(This post has been updated. Please see comments below.)

After battling severe traffic that caused me to listen to the first half hour of this debate on my car radio, I'll try to catch up.

The difference between listening and seeing is the ability to pick up their body language. More on that in a minute.

The candidates are on climate change now. Palin did a good job of avoiding the red herring of whether she thinks climate change is man-made. But Biden has proved to be far more articulate and effective during the extended conversation.

Oops. On to same-sex relationships, hopefully this one will not become a major issue in the campaign. Basically, the candidates tied.

Now, they are on to the Iraq War. Palin, first, is flat-lining this one, no points scored whatsoever. Whereas Biden is hitting a double by using the old tactic of Iraqi-bashing. Wow! Now he has escalated a home run on the issue.

Palin is blowing it. She pandered, calling the Obama plan a "white flag."

Now on to Iran and Pakistan, and which is more dangerous. Biden is hitting a grand slam home run. How can Palin possibly respond? Palin is arguing that the "central war" on terror is in Iraq. That is her second huge error.

So here she is playing the anti-terror card and not scoring any points. Biden is delivering a sound spanking to Palin on an issue that he is so much more informed that she looks like a naughty schoolgirl. (Sorry to sound condescending.)

Now we are on to Israel and Palestine. Palin is doing a credible job. Biden panders in response, claiming he is Israel's best friend in the Senate, he bunted a foul ball. In style and substance he smacked her down. Now Palin is a great lover of Jews! Wow! Somehow I do not think it is resonating among any of the Jewish constituencies that I am personally in touch with.

So, both tickets are pandering to AIPAC. Disgusting.

Now we are on to nuclear weapons. My sense is that Palin is reaching the end of her pre-debate preparation limits. I worry that she may start deconstructing from here on out, which would be sad, because, even though to my eyes she is clearly losing this debate, I feel she has done a creditable job, given her lack of experience.

Now, they have entered the doldrums of any 90-minute debate, where they are trading jabs over obscure fine-sliced lunchmeats, and neither one of them is gaining anything right now.

Now, Darfur, an issue that is probably far from the minds of most American voters. Biden is again nailing the issue. Palin is playing the old "I'm so cute, I do not know what to say..." which does not work. After that, she is mumbling...

Biden is demonstrating, in a respectful and intelligent manner, that he has been deeply engaged in foreign policy for a long time.
Palin fumbled.

Now, onto the main question. "What if you become V-P?"

Biden has consistently succeeded in this debate.

Now, Palin. She is scoring her main points right now by claiming that she would improve the lives of regular folks once John McCain died.

But, of course, this is not a good line of reasoning for her to pursue. She's hitting her first double, by talking, eloquently, about her views of education. I think she is doing a good job on this.

Biden is doing a big service to himself and his ticket with a very strong answer about what kind of VP the would be.

Meanwhile, Palin just voiced support for V-P Cheney. An error.

Biden is slamming an easy dunk that the inexperienced Palin didn't see coming.

Ending statements: Palin bats 50%

Ending statements: Biden hit 75%.

It's all over. Palin did a good job, but Biden won the debate.

The final round:

Palin gave her best shot. Very emotional and pretty effective.

Biden has beat her logically but only tied her emotionally.

I give Palin a B- and Biden a B, which will probably not change any polls whatsoever. But there is one final caveat and it's back to that intangible -- body english. Palin looked great on camera -- energetic, smiling a lot, seemingly having fun. This will have helped her connect well to everyday people, who often act as if they do not listen when they "watch" TV. Biden, by contrast, conveyed gravitas.

If I am right about this difference, then it will be Palin who gets the bounce in the polls. If that happens, it is style over substance; perception ovr reality. We've lived it before. It was called Reagan and the Age of Know-Nothing, part 2. For the good of America, we can only hope this is not another case of image over content, because the country faces far too serious problems in 2008 to go backwards, once again, to the idiocy of transferring more wealth upward than in any era ever before seen.

The'80s sucked. Palin represents the '80s on steroids.

-30-