The vice-presidential debate wasn't the political car wreck that many had expected.
Republican Sarah Palin looked much more comfortable and confident than she did in earlier television interviews, but Democrat Joe Biden was equally up to the task, being eloquent and polite towards his opponent.
Palin easily exceeded the low expectations she had set for herself after a month of campaigning, but Biden put on possibly the strongest debate of his career.
CTV's Washington Bureau Chief Tom Clark said that Palin did her job, which was not to embarrass her ticket. But he said each candidate performed well and it was unlikely that the debate was an election game-changer.
An early CNN poll after the debate said 51 per cent of Americans polled thought Biden won, verses 36 per cent who thought Palin won.
There was shockingly little back-and-forth between the pair, as Biden in particular refused to criticize Palin, and focused all of his attacks on John McCain.
Palin, as well, did little to attack Biden, and instead went after Barack Obama's record, particularly on tax cuts.
The debate started with the pair walking on stage and Palin asking, "Can I call you Joe?"
As expected, the economy dominated the debate in the early going.
"We're going to focus on the middle-class, because if the middle-class grows, we all do," Biden said.
He called McCain "out of touch" with the common worker.
Palin said that there is a sense of "fear" about the U.S economy that can is being felt by "parents on the soccer field."
She described her ticket as a "team of mavericks" that would work on the economy by going beyond party lines. She slammed Obama as a Democrat who only voted for his party.
Palin repeated the charges that Obama voted to raise tax 94 times, a charge that has been debunked by non-partisan fact checkers.
Biden was asked to defend Obama's plan to increase taxes for those making more than $250,000.
"Simply, its fairness," he said. "The economic engine of America is the middle class . . . if (they) do well, even the rich do well."
Palin responded said that Obama's tax plan was a "backwards way to grow the economy."
Biden said John McCain was "not a maverick" almost as many times as Palin said that her running mate was a maverick.
The debate took an emotional turn near the end, when Biden choked up while talking about how his wife and daughter died in a car accident in the early 1970s and his sons nearly died.
"I know what's it like to be a single parent . . . I know what's it like to wonder if your child might not make it," he said, after catching himself.
He said it was unfair to say that because he was a man, he didn't know what it was like to be a single parent.
Foreign policy
Both candidates have sons either in Iraq or on their way there and clashed on how and when to end the war.
"That has to be a timeline" for an exit out of Iraq, Biden charged.
"For John McCain, there is no timeline is sight for the end of this war," he said.
Palin was noticeably slow to respond to the charge, and then called an exit a "white flag of surrender."
Biden looked very strong and passionate as he spoke about the danger posed by Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Palin looked somewhat uncomfortable at several points in the foreign policy discussion and repeatedly called Army Gen. David D. McKiernan, the top U.S commander in Afghanistan, by the wrong name.
Biden said that those countries were where the central war on terror should be, and said that McCain still thinks it's Iraq.
Palin seemed to respond that central war on terror is in Iraq, citing an Al Qaeda "leader" and Gen. David Petraeus for that statement.
Palin attacked Obama's record on Iraq, which Biden defended.
"Let's get straight who's been right and wrong," he said. "John McCain has been dead wrong. As my mother would say, I love him but he's been dead wrong."
Palin pledged strong support for Israel and protection from Iran and called for a two-state solution.
Biden called the Bush administration's policy in the Middle East "a failure."
Palin disagreed with that statement but said there were "huge blunders" by the Bush administration.
Both candidates supported a "no-fly zone" in Darfur.
Energy over economy
Palin tried to push the debate away from the economy towards energy policies, which is considered to be one of her strong suits.
She touted her record of taxing windfall profits of oil companies in Alaska.
Biden said that McCain's mantra of "drill, drill, drill" is not the solution to the U.S.'s energy problem and touted alternative energy sources.
Palin responded quickly, "The chant is 'drill, baby, drill.'"
Both Palin and Biden played up their working-class roots early in the debate.
Biden mentioned his roots in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the working-class city now well-known for its central role in the U.S. version of "The Office."
Palin mentioned her Alaskan background many times and used colloquial terms such as "Joe six-pack," "doggone it" and the oft-repeated "hockey mom."
