Joe Biden answered questions.  Sarah Palin avoided them.

That about says it all.

Senator Biden was the only one to show a human face, choking up briefly:

“The notion that, somehow, because I’m a man, I don’t know what it’s like to raise two kids alone, I don’t know what it’s like to have a child you’re not sure is going to make it,” Mr. Biden said. “I understand as well as, with all due respect, the governor or anybody else, what it’s like for those people sitting around that kitchen table. And guess what? They’re looking for help.”

Gov. Palin responded by talking policy, ignoring Biden’s remarks.  Instead, she botched names:

Although Ms. Palin name-dropped several times, presumably to show fluency in foreign affairs, she did not always drop the right name. At one point, she referred to the top American commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David D. McKiernan, as “McClellan.”

Biden took some pointed shots at John McCain:

Mr. Biden replied by linking Mr. McCain with Mr. Bush more crisply than he had done previously in the debate.

“The issue is how different is John McCain’s policy going to be than George Bush’s,” Mr. Biden said. “I haven’t heard how his policy is going to be different on Iran than George Bush’s. I haven’t heard how his policy is going to be different with Israel than George Bush’s. I haven’t heard how his policy in Afghanistan is going to be different than George Bush’s. I haven’t heard how his policy in Pakistan is going to be different than George Bush’s.

“It may be, but so far it is the same as George Bush’s,” he said.

Mr. Biden also turned tougher in the final half-hour after Ms. Palin had, several times, referred to Mr. McCain as a “maverick.”

“He’s not been a maverick when it comes to education — he has not supported tax cuts and significant changes for people being able to send their kids to college,” Mr. Biden said. “He’s not been a maverick on the war. He’s not been a maverick on virtually anything that generally affects the things that people really talk about.”

The last lines referenced must have been tough for Biden.  He genuinely respects McCain, but I have no doubt that he believes what he said.  John McCain is no maverick.

Palin also opined that the Constitution of the United States actually gives more power to the vice president.

Barack Obama is the true maverick waiting in the wings.

Now that the sideshow is over, we can return our focus the two central figures in this election: Barack Obama and John McCain.

We still question McCain’s judgment in choosing Palin.  In the event of the “unthinkable,” would she serve us well as Commander-in-Chief?

Not at all — No way, no how, no McCain, no Palin.  Once in office, they would both forget the poor and middle class, seizing more and more power like Mussolini at a garage sale.

I’d rather have Tina Fey in the Oval Office.

Senator Obama, sir, our country awaits your innauguration.