She passed.

He passed.

Palin fared better going against Joe Biden than Katie Couric.

Sure, she had moments when she seemed to be working too hard trying to remember what she was supposed to say so she awkwardly regurgitated a string of campaign buzzwords. Who cares? She didn't crash. And she showed Americans a candidate who does not speak Beltway-speak.

Democrats used to crow about that common touch with Bubba. Well, meet Bubbette.

Biden showed more fluency on foreign policy, to be sure. You know he would do a better job on a pop quiz on Israeli-Palestinian relations. When he talked plain, however -- as when he hit the McCain $5,000-per-family health care tax credit -- Biden scored.

But Biden also stumbled when he too theatrically stifled laughter at Palin's answer to moderator Gwen Ifill's question about executive authority. "Do you believe as Vice President Cheney does, that the executive branch does not hold complete sway over the office of the vice presidency, that it is also a member of the legislative branch?" Ifill asked.

Palin clearly did not understand that the question was a swipe at Cheney's assertion that his office did not need to comply with national security disclosure rules required of other executive branch agencies. And she gave a school-kid stalling answer to the question.

That said, Biden's theatrics were, well, undisciplined. Arrogant even.

Some Americans tuned into the debate to find out whether Palin could go toe to toe with Vladimir Putin. The answer, I think, is that she would know how to take advantage of being underestimated. (I can hear her now: "Can I call you Vladimir?" Okey dokey.)

Thus Biden felt safe to claim, "With regard to Iraq, I indicated it would be a mistake to -- I gave the president the power. I voted for the power because he said he needed it not to go to war but to keep the United States, the U.N. in line, to keep sanctions on Iraq and not let them be lifted." Continued...