Biden looked relaxed and in calm command during the debate, didn't he? I thought his tone and demeanor toward Palin was perfect. Palin did well in a more strident way, managing to get in all her soundbytes while avoiding direct answers to much of anything. My hubster got Bingo! twice during the debate, doggonnit. I would have had a Bingo! if she had only said "bad guys" or "gosh." She did manage a "you-betcha," a "heck," and of course a "doggonnit." And, did you notice the way she pronounced nuclear? Seriously? About five times! Did no one on her team catch that during the rehearsals, or did they just let it slide, preferring to pick their battles in what little time they had to prep her? Just wondering.

Palin came to our fair city on Saturday for a $1K a plate fundraiser. There were 1K diners. You do the math. Oh yeah, she got lots of what Big D is known for. What was unexpected, though, was a protest. As one local newscaster put it, "How often have you seen a Republican VP candidate's visit to Dallas prompt a Democratic news conference?" We were about 400 strong (I wish it had been more), and we were outnumbered (this *is* Dallas, after all), but the good thing is that our side was perfectly situated because we were directly across the street from all the diners arriving for this affair (wow - look at the trophy wives!), AND, unlike the Palinistas, we could be seen and heard by the motorcade. So ... tons of press coverage + Palin had to have seen and heard us = Mission Accomplished.

I just have to make an observation here. Most of the people in both camps, and I mean like 98%, were white. While our side occasionally chanted, "Equality for All!" I couldn't help but ponder the fact that we were facing a line of mostly Black cops. Isn't that something? I remember a time when Blacks couldn't have gotten on the force in Dallas. Yet here they were, Black men and women in uniform, keeping the peace while a bunch of liberal white people demonstrated for equal rights. Whoddathunkit.

The truly strange thing to me were the number of Palinstas holding homemade signs with the Virgin Mary on them. Okay, was that the usual anti-abortion thing, or were they somehow - please no - equating Palin with the Christian goddess? Again, just wondering.

Just one month 'til the election. So instead of focusing on the economy or the war or healthcare, Palin's going after the important stuff. Yep, Obama's terrorist connections. Will it work?

UPDATE: This from The Back Forty:

Palin’s final quote was from Ronald Reagan, warning that without vigilance, “you and I are going to spend our sunset years telling our children, and our children’s children, what it once was like in America when men were free.”
In fact, Reagan was not warning about a general lack of vigilance about freedom, he was warning what would happen if Medicare was enacted.

Please circulate far and wide.