Yeah, yeah, I know that commenting on the pregnant Palin is so last August ... but the more I see of Bristol, the sorrier I feel for her. I was struck at the end of the debate by her body language. Every single time I've seen her, she's looked so sad and alone. She stood apart from her family and seemed almost left out of the round of hugs and congratulations, in contrast to her little sister who raced to the stage and was lovingly received by her mother. Perhaps she was warmly taken into the bosom of her family after the cameras had been cut away, but it looked quite odd to me.

Also, she always seems to be carrying little Trig, which makes me think that she's been appointed to be his nanny. This is a role that older girls in large families often play, but it strikes me that she could use a bit of mothering herself at this point instead of having to be a substitute mother to her little brother. It just reinforces my initial impression that Bristol has been tossed under the campaign bus by her mom.

Palin's performance, although not a game changer, was good enough that it should ease the pressure on him to drop her from the ticket. Expectations for her were so low that she'd be perceived as doing well as long as she didn't make an idiot out of herself. And she didn't.

Overall, though, I thought Biden came across as better prepared for both the debate and the job as VP. He was more knowledgeable and articulate than Palin and clearly showed how he complements Obama on the ticket. Although they both stuck fairly closely to their talking points, Palin sounded like she'd just memorized them. Biden was the opposite, demonstrating an understanding that she simply didn't have. Palin did zing him on the bankruptcy bill, though, which I view as kind of a karmic justice for Biden. (I thought it was a terrible bill and was ticked off at Biden for supporting it.)

Palin's folksy charm was likeable at first but got wearying as the debate went on. It started to sound kind of artificial, as if she'd been told by her handlers to crank up the "Northern Exposure" factor and got carried away.

Biden seemed at times to be a bit pre-programmed, too. But when choked up when he recalled his wife and daughter's deaths and sons' injuries, that was blown away and he broke through to the audience.

Biden also did a good job of tying McCain to Bush despite Palin urging us to flush the entire Bush Administration down the memory hole. Sorry, Sarah -- the Republicans inflicted him on this country. Like it or not, you own him.

And outrage is like a drug. It short-circuits logical thinking and provides an exciting blast of emotionalism and self-righteousness.

The right wing earns its bread and butter by constantly giving people their outrage fix, and playing the victim card is an easy way to do it. What they say doesn't have to make sense, it just has to push their buttons.

However, now all of the congresspeople who voted against it the first time around can go back to their constituents and claim that their heroic resistance improved the bill enough that they could vote for it. (That is, the ones that won't simply be branded as flip-floppers by their opponents.)

Conservatives always project what they do and believe onto liberals -- the more vile the thought and deed, the more they blame the other.

Thing is, though, the liberals sit there and let this happen instead of standing up for themselves.

If McCain wins, it'll be a big celebration bash with donors coming out of the woodwork to shower the couple with goodies.

If he loses, Bristol (or Levi, depending on your point of view) is probably off the hook. There's no point in going through with the wedding because there'd be no need to uphold the illusion that everything is wonderful in the Palin family.

Altmire's in a grudge match with Melissa Hart for PA-4 and is undoubtably bowing to voter sentiment.

Five kids is not that big of a deal! I came from a family of six and grew up in an Irish Catholic neighborhood where families with 10 kids were pretty common. Her kids aren't why I dislike her. Neither is her hunting; my dad and a couple of my brothers were into it (and a girl I knew in high school shot a 300-pound bear to general admiration).

I dislike Palin because I don't think she's fit to lead this country if McCain should die. Going by her record in Wasilla and Alaska, she's a tin-pot authoritarian who fired competent public servants and replaced them with her flunkies, kept enemies lists, tried to ban books from the town library, treated government as her personal fiefdom, and in general ran Alaska like she was queen bee of the Mean Girls clique at her junior high (down to replacing state officials with her junior high buddies). She was for corruption before she was against it, and sucked the federal teat for as much money as she could extract before (again) claiming that she was against it.

Her religion I could deal with if she didn't have a track record of trying to shove it down everyone else's throats (cf her mayoral campaign). And her fondness of secrecy and disdain for the law are a toxic combination -- she reminds me here of Dick Cheney, only she's a better shot.

Our country needs adult leadership. She's not it.

As for what to do, LW, well, I felt much better after I donated money to the Obama campaign and signed up as a volunteer. I recommend doing both. Action is much better than stewing on the Internet!