The XX Factor: What women really think.

PowerPoint Sarah

I think it’s fair to say that gender was just not an issue tonight. Biden didn’t get all weird about it. Palin didn’t, either. Also fair to say that both sides exceeded expectations. By a lot. Biden was as good as I have ever seen him. Palin was almost as good as she was at the convention. Here’s the difference: Biden was like Obama last week: a flatline. OK, maybe a flatline with tears, but, still, he didn’t modulate or escalate or hyperventilate. He just made his points—“a maverick he is not”—and stayed right on task. At his very best moments—talking about Cheney for instance—he was devastating. Whereas Palin was like McCain last week, reinventing herself on the fly. She toggled back and forth between Farmers Almanac Sarah (with the “gol-durnds,” and the “bless-yer-hearts,” and that wacky “diverse family”) and PowerPoint Sarah, who spoke in canned talking points, regardless of the question posed. As was the case with McCain last week, her rhetorical mood swings became ever more jarring as Biden stayed on message. Palin will get props tonight for holding her own. But I have to say I am less certain than ever of which Sarah Palin she was trying to hold onto.