Boulder, Colorado V

VP debate tonight. And it has left me a lot more optimistic than the Presidential one last week (which is a shame, since most pundits seemed to think it was unlikely to have any impact on the outcome of the election).

Palin did ok. She had much better eye contact with the audience (i.e. the camera) than Biden, whose eyes were fixed on the moderator (and therefore downwards, as he and Palin were on a raised stage) for at least the first 15 minutes. And she did a creepy winking thing which some people might like. Her strongest card seemed to be on taxes... which it shouldn't be, given that in fact the Republican tax proposals favour the wealthy minority, while the Democrat ones favour the middle classes (no one cares about the poor, perhaps because even the poorest Americans consider themselves middle class - the opposite phenomenon from the UK). But everyone hates taxes, and the Republicans are the traditional party of tax cuts - regardless of who they actually benefit.

But asked about anything other than taxes or energy policy (she considers energy her strong suit because of being from an energy producing state) she mainly avoided the question. In contrast, Biden had a well informed, and to the point, answer to every question thrown at him. He did not hesitate, as Palin did, faced with difficult questions. He was specific where she was general and woolly. He even managed to choke up when talking about having seen his son severely injured and wondering if he would pull through. On all the important issues - the economy, health care and Iraq - I think he won, both on content and on delivery. He was likeable, believable and passionate.

Perhaps the most striking thing was one significant area of agreement between the two candidates - that the Bush years had been a failure, and that things needed to change. People watching the debate with me wondered aloud if Palin was going off message on this one, because she showed no reluctance to admit, and detail, these failings and then to present herself and McCain as "mavericks" who would do things differently. This seems like dangerous territory, especially as, as Biden emphasised, they are setting out few specific policies to distinguish themselves from the current administration. Their rhetoric is about change, but the policies are not there.

Finally, I was disappointed by Biden on foreign policy - which is his area of expertise and experience. Perhaps he was playing politics, but his attitude seemed cynical, it seemed realpolitik-al... When talking about Iraq, he argued for American withdrawal on the basis that the Iraqis have a budget surplus and a huge army trained by the Americans - why should taxpayers be paying to protect Iraqis when they should be doing for themselves. Nothing about the greater legitimacy of an indigenous army, or the preferences of the democratically elected government. Similarly, on Palestine, he said he had consistently argued against elections in the West Bank, because he knew Hamas would be elected - essentially denying others the democracy he celebrates in America.