Contest in a Teacup

There is no doubt that according to the Oxford Rules, Sarah Palin had her lipstick handed to her last night by Joe Biden. The trouble is that the debate isn't run according to the well established conventions of that august body, and I suspect she did better with much of the audience not answering questions the way the moderator asked them than those of us blogging about it would care to believe.

However, it remains to be seen whether or not that matters anymore. Nothing she did last night seems likely to have advanced the McPalin campaign very much relative to Obiden, although she certainly could have contributed to losing it with another Couric-level debacle. On the morning after, all the anticipation of the Biden-Palin exchange seems curiously misplaced.

So we are left back where we were at this time yesterday, with I am guessing a small polling correction in McCain's favor as Palin demonstrates she is at least capable of memorizing talking points. If McCain is to have any hope of turning the election around, with the polls running against him and his campaign withdrawing from Michigan, we can expect increasingly desperate tactics as he tries to find something that will stick (other than attempting to expropriate the Obama campaign). We can also expect some sort of especially sleazy bombshells are being laid up for the 72 hours before voting day, although even that tactical chestnut may be mitigated by the fact that so many states are moving to early voting periods.

Palin probably reinforced her standing with Republicans last night, did no harm with independents, but failed to repeat the infusion of energy and purpose that accompanied her conference address. McCain needs something more consequential if he hopes to turn around the polling trends of the last two weeks.