This was a personal highlight for me.

Alessandra Stanley in today’s New York Times, wrote:

The debate wasn’t so much between Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Ms. Palin as it was between the dueling images of the Alaska governor: the fuzzy-minded amateur parodied — with her own words — by Tina Fey on “Saturday Night Live” or the gun-toting hockey mom who blazed into history at the Republican convention.

There was a little of both on stage Thursday night, though Ms. Palin spoke far more fluidly and confidently than she had in her devastating interviews with Katie Couric of CBS. Ms. Palin did stumble into a few loop-the-loop non sequiturs, but mostly she stuck to practiced talking points. She didn’t answer questions directly, but she spoke out with self-assurance and even cockiness, correcting Mr. Biden when he tried to repeat the Republicans’ slogan about oil exploration in Alaska. “The chant is ‘drill, baby, drill,’ ” she said…

Mr. Biden made few mistakes; he appeared more measured and thoughtful on substance, and made forceful points that contrasted with Ms. Palin’s slogans. But she provided the more vivacious, visceral television performance: it was a 90-minute sprint to reclaim her identity as a feisty, folksy frontierswoman ready to storm Washington. And she did it like a reality show contestant — broadly, with stagey asides to the camera, including an assurance to some third-grade students, in what she called a “shout-out,” that they would get extra credit for tuning in…

As I have said many times in the past few weeks, I can only hope that in a media age populated by reality shows the American people don’t vote for a reality star unsure of her own image.  A character from a reality show, no matter how much you can relate to that hockey mom with the folksy sayings and annoying wink, should not govern our nation.

Read here.

Listen here.

I don’t know about you but I thought Joe Biden was superb this evening!  I had to cheer him for taking on the annoying, repetitive and inaccurate claim that Palin and McCain are “mavericks,” especially since I was just complaining about that fallacy in my post from earlier this evening.

BIDEN: I’ll be very brief. Can I respond to that?

Look, the maverick — let’s talk about the maverick John McCain is. And, again, I love him. He’s been a maverick on some issues, but he has been no maverick on the things that matter to people’s lives.

He voted four out of five times for George Bush’s budget, which put us a half a trillion dollars in debt this year and over $3 trillion in debt since he’s got there.

He has not been a maverick in providing health care for people. He has voted against — he voted including another 3.6 million children in coverage of the existing health care plan, when he voted in the United States Senate.

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.

He’s not been a maverick on the war. He’s not been a maverick on virtually anything that genuinely affects the things that people really talk about around their kitchen table.

Can we send — can we get Mom’s MRI? Can we send Mary back to school next semester? We can’t — we can’t make it. How are we going to heat the — heat the house this winter?

He voted against even providing for what they call LIHEAP, for assistance to people, with oil prices going through the roof in the winter.

So maverick he is not on the important, critical issues that affect people at that kitchen table.

Another point that hit home for me was Biden’s authentic and heart-felt comment about his ability to understand what it means to be a single parent and that you don’t need to use folksy sayings to demonstrate your ability to understand the concerns of the bulk of the country.

Look, I understand what it’s like to be a single parent. When my wife and daughter died and my two sons were gravely injured, I understand what it’s like as a parent to wonder what it’s like if your kid’s going to make it.

I understand what it’s like to sit around the kitchen table with a father who says, “I’ve got to leave, champ, because there’s no jobs here. I got to head down to Wilmington. And when we get enough money, honey, we’ll bring you down.”

I understand what it’s like. I’m much better off than almost all Americans now. I get a good salary with the United States Senate. I live in a beautiful house that’s my total investment that I have. So I — I am much better off now.

But 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 — is going to make it — I understand.

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. They’re looking for help. They’re not looking for more of the same.

For the full transcript of the debate tonight, click here.

I appreciated Leah McElrath Renna’s immediate post on this very issue.

Joe Biden did more for the equality of the sexes with his honest display of paternal emotion during the vice presidential debate than Sarah Palin’s presence on the executive ticket has or will ever do.

Biden visibly teared up when he rebutted the idea that “just because I am a man” he didn’t understand what it was like to wonder whether or not a child would “make it” in recovering from a life-threatening medical situation. At the time, he was likely recalling the tragic automobile accident that killed his wife and daughter and severely injured his two sons. It was an authentic, moving and powerful moment. It was, in fact, the strongest expression of real paternal love we have seen from a public official in recent memory and maybe ever.

By bringing that reality to a national political stage, Biden demonstrated that — for all of us, not just feminists — the personal is political, that women alone do not have the sole responsibility for caring about the future of our children and that the concern of fathers is a largely untapped pool of political energy. In his acceptance speech, Barack Obama paved the way for this when he talked about fighting for equal pay for equal work because he wants “my daughters to have the same opportunities as your sons” — and said this while looking with protective ferocity straight into the camera. He has continued this message on the campaign trail with great impact.

McElrath Renna said and I say it: thank you, Joe,  Thank you for your honesty.  Thank you for representing the feminist men in our lives.

Posted today at the Huffington Post:

“The View” heated up over politics again Wednesday morning, specifically around the subject of Sarah Palin’s readiness to be President.

“She doesn’t know anything about it!” Whoopi Goldberg said, which set off co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck.

“In terms of experience, she’s actually been leading a microcosm of the United States of America,” Elisabeth responded.

Things heated up even more after Elisabeth took a swipe at Joe Biden, prompting Barbara Walters to say, “Every single day you never ever say, maybe there’s another point, so this is your chance….Tell us now why you think that Sarah Palin would make a very good President.”

Elisabeth’s response? “Tell me why Barack Obama is qualified to be President.”

Click here to view the clip.

Read the full post at Feministing.com