Politics | Election 2008 Wolverine? Weathergirl? Pundits Reach for Words Palin didn't lose, didn't win By Kevin Spak Posted Oct 3, 2008 11:25 AM CDT Copied Sarah Palin and Joe Biden talk with each other after their vice presidential debate Thursday, Oct. 2, 2008 in St. Louis, Mo. (AP Photo/Don Emmert, Pool) Think Sarah Palin's performance was folksy and colorful last night? Pundits reached to do it justice: "I always wondered what a wolverine would sound like chewing through plywood," writes Howard Fineman of Newsweek. "Now I know: like Sarah Palin 'debating' Joe Biden." “Somewhere in heaven, Norman Rockwell is smiling,” writes David Brooks in the New York Times. “The perky weather girl was more appealing than the gray politico,” writes Daniel McCarthy of the American Conservative. But listen to any slice of Biden’s performance and it’ll make sense and make a point. “Palin … not so much.” "What she showed was some folksy charm and some energy—qualities that might get her selected for Dancing With the Stars, if not Jeopardy," allows Joe Klein of Time. But Biden’s gimmick-free, commanding performance proved him the only plausible president onstage. Read These Next 'Butt-breathing' could be the future for struggling patients. Plane windshield partially shatters mid-flight. There's a suspect. He's set to die Thursday, but wants one meeting first. A well-known nutrition influencer died after a home birth. Report an error