Palin''s Strong Show Fails As Voters Break Left

Voters were served their last info-meal tonight with the long-awaited Vice President debate of the great ''08 race.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, what texting pundits are calling PHAT (Pretty-Hot-And-Tasty), held her own against Delaware Sen. Joe Biden but earned no measurable victory. Biden, we might twitter, was judged the SC4ST (Serious-Candidate-For-Serious-Times).

By most reports -- from focus groups to phone surveys -- viewers broke 2:1 in Biden''s favor. Palin ran canned Labels (Say it ain''t so, Joe) and self-inoculating Lanterns (I''ve been at this for, what, five weeks?). But it didn''t matter.

Presuming that the McCain-Obama debates #2 and #3 produce no more drama than debate #1 (a likelihood), the Palin-Biden debate marks for most undecided voters the last relevant base to cover. They know enough now to know how they''ll vote. And with results like this, you''d have to think it''s over.

Obama is edging away in the polls. McCain is pulling out of Michigan. Palin impressed but never prevailed. And the economy is caving, bailout bill or not.

These facts aside, Camp McCain will go down swinging. They''ll go negative to wing Obama and, based on their penchant for Crazy Ivans , they''ll surprise us with radical plays to slow their rival. Look for more than grim references to Obama''s inexperience and his edgy friends to fuel the Straight Talk Express. Something more is coming from McCain, we''re sure.

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Post by Alan Kelly

Photo Credit: NYTimes.com