Biden cited Obama's detailed plan, excoriating deregulation and lack of oversight. Palin mused about what parents at their children's soccer games feared most and championed her guy's suspension of his campaign.

Biden touted his bipartisan legislative record, citing the Violence Against Women Act, Bosnia and funding 100,000 additional police. Palin accused Obama of voting the party line and actually winked at the audience.

The pattern for the debate emerged quickly with the second set of questions. Biden answered Gwen Iffel's questions directly and forcefully, zeroing in on McBush's penchant for deregulation and Bush's abysmal economic policies.

Palin regurgitated learned pablum and openly refused to answer any question she deemed inappropriate. And my, did she ever deem it necessary to avoid answering. She perkily parroted attacks on the "liberal media" and predictably averred straight talk.

Perhaps her handlers recognized they could never prep her fully for the wide array of possible questions and so fed her this trite aside to assuage any concern viewers might have about her staid refusal to either answer questions or directly debate Biden.

When asked about what promises their respective administrations might not be able to keep given the massive Wall Street bailout, Biden learned from the failure by both presidential candidates to answer this question effectively and had an answer ready at hand, decreased foreign aid.

Remarkably, Palin seemed unprepared for this obvious repeat, offered a snide aside about the bailout, blessed some hearts, and completely avoided the question. She did manage to force in a few unrelated talking points, oft-repeated throughout the night.

She appeared stunned by the bankruptcy question and started talking about energy policy. Biden stayed on point, devastated McBush's financial record, and defended his and Obama's policy on Chapters 7 and 13 bankruptcy laws.

Biden anticipated and refuted so many of the answers heard from McBush in the first debate I lost count. In response to Palin's stock answer about Obama's tax plan hurting small businesses, for example, Biden argued that most had incomes less than $250,000. Palin unsurprisingly ignored his answer in her rebuttal.

Biden found the sweet spot between bullying and patronizing Palin. His answers were passionate, convincing, and knowledgeable. He did not lord his superior policy experience over her and never talked down to her even when her mistakes were glaring.

A most telling moment came when Palin tried to defend McBush's pathological Iraq policy. Iffel asked for a plan. Palin, smiling broadly, celebrated the surge, castigated "Shia extremism," and repeated the party line about how America cannot afford to lose in Iraq.

Biden correctly observed that she provided no plan and then he proceeded to sketch his own for drawing down troops and shifting control to Iraqis, offering support from a wide variety of experts. Palin haughtily dismissed their plan as waving the white flag.

McBush's litany of mistaken military and cultural assumptions about the war again took center stage. Biden raised serious doubts about McBush's strategic and tactical judgment, handily upending long-held beliefs about Republican security credentials.

The question about where to locate the "front lines" in the fight against "terrorism" revealed Palin's extreme naivete about foreign policy. She honestly said she believed "that leader of al-Qaeda" could best inform us on this issue. Wow!

In a debilitating exchange, Palin agreed with Cheney about the constitutional basis for expanding VP authority, implicitly authorizing his imperial reign. Biden instead described Cheney as the "most dangerous" VP in American history.

Biden gave us a glimpse into his true character when he talked about the tragic crash that left him a single parent. He was insightful about his principles, values, and character. His rant on why McBush was not a maverick was beautiful.

Palin struggled to find anything introspective to say about herself. Don't be fooled by a polished, uninterrupted delivery. In her words, oratorical distinction is never enough. She failed to demonstrate a command for anything but canned rhetoric and stale talking points.

Sarah Palin did not freeze last night, nor did she spit up on herself. Is this really the measure of a successful VP? The road ahead for America is perilous, and this is a historic election. Beware beauty queens bearing gifts of smug colloquialism and snide sarcasm.