KEY POINTS:
Even before she reached the podium, the first words out of Governor Sarah Palin's mouth set the tone for her debate night: "Hey, can I call ya Joe?"
It was an unabashedly, one might even say relentlessly folksy and down-home Palin that greeted Americans yesterday, with phrases like
"Doggone it," "You guys," "Darn right" and, one she must have been saving until the end, "Say it ain't so, Joe!".
And whether viewers loved or hated it - a result likely to split down party lines - it was clear this was a more comfortable candidate than the one who faced CBS News' Katie Couric in those painful interviews.
But if Palin made ground in repairing her shaky image, Senator Joe Biden was just as effective in reining in his tendency to occasionally appear overexcited or, as moderator Gwen Ifill put it, undisciplined. He was generally focused and forceful, and seemed to take painstaking care not to appear disrespectful in the least.
And so he'd merely smile broadly when she'd issue a zinger and if he wanted to challenge her facts, he was likely to use Ifill as a buffer as in "Facts matter, Gwen," when he really meant "Facts matter, Sarah."
For those paying attention, it was hard not to notice that Palin was often speaking in generalities and less comfortable than Biden on a number of questions - on a question about Israel and the Middle East, for example, she seemed to be reading a laundry list of talking points off a card.
Biden, though, assuming he noticed, chose not to correct his opponent when she twice referred to the top US commander in Afghanistan as "General McClellan," rather than David McKiernan.
In all, it was a much warmer debate than the contest six days ago in Mississippi between Senator Barack Obama and Senator John McCain.
So did the debate change any minds? It didn't seem likely. For one voter, each candidate scored points. "I think Palin talked more like a person, and Biden more like a politician," said Michelle Lamar, a writer and mother in Kansas. "Palin connects with the people - she reminds me of Reagan."
But, Lamar said, Palin also sounded "like she was spewing a PR-ish tone. We saw her spark a little in the middle, but overall she was not as strong. Biden sounded intelligent, worthy of leadership. Overall, I think it was a draw".
Committed Obama supporter Tim Quigley, a microbiologist in New Jersey, found Palin's tone offensive.
"I found her folksy talk insulting and inappropriate for someone running for the vice-presidency," said Quigley. "
While Biden didn't sweep the floor with Palin as I had anticipated, I feel like that was more a function of him toning it down to avoid being perceived as a Washington bully. He refuted her non-answers of the questions with facts, and carried himself in a much more executive manner."
Palin fans who were wavering in recent days, or at least becoming concerned by her falling poll numbers, had reason to sit back and sigh with relief, if just for a moment.
"I'm thankful Sarah Palin held her own," said Jean Pirovic, a real estate agent from Maryland.
Biden and Palin each sought to claim the mantle as the person who best understood the problems of middle-class America.
The clash over Iraq was the most personal. Palin has a son in Iraq; Biden's son will deploy there soon.
Palin charged Obama with voting against funding for US troops in combat and chastised Biden for defending the move, "especially with your son in the National Guard".
Biden said McCain had been "dead wrong" about Iraq, and the US was wasting US$10 billion ($15 billion) a month in that country while ignoring the centre of terrorism, Afghanistan and its border with Pakistan.
Biden attacked the Republican Party's handling of the economy by the Bush Administration, which he said would be continued by McCain.
In a further sign of McCain's troubles, his campaign yesterday confirmed it was pulling staff out of Michigan, conceding a state he once hoped to win. That leaves McCain fewer opportunities to win over traditionally Democratic states.
* The next debate is between Obama and McCain in Nashville on Wednesday.
