Sarah Palin Seized Her Moment but Still Lost to Joe Biden

C'mon. Did anyone believe that the former KTUU sportscaster and Miss Alaska contestant, after 20 years of striving, was going to step up on a national stage with all those lights and cameras and not seize her moment?

The barracuda knows when to feed. And last night, the moon was high, the fish were out, and the tides were running her way.

There was no Katie Couric to ask about books she's read, Supreme Court decisions, or other pesky facts.

Gwen Ifill, a journalist of true accomplishment, was muzzled in the wake of the predebate chaff about her upcoming book on Obama's historic candidacy.

How could Ifill get tough without the entire political and media communities scolding her for having a financial and creative interest in an Obama victory?

Palin saw the opportunity, and walked all over her.

And Joe Biden looked all night like a man contemplating a live grenade, although—let's be honest—he still won the debate.

Though obviously self-serving to women, the rules of politics still require that guy politicians remain at their podiums and smile gallantly as female foes eviscerate them.

Case in point: Biden's son, an Army officer, ships out today for duty in Iraq. So why did the senator just stand there and take it when Palin accused him and his party of waving a "white flag" of surrender?

Palin's team knew the rules and supplied her with enough platitudes to last 90 minutes. She delivered them with shrewd (and her trademark tangy and perky) aplomb.

This is a young Richard Nixon, folks. Last night was her Checkers speech. She's not going away any time soon.