Detroit Free Press columnist:

So Sarah Palin didn’t indulge the critics’ lowest expectations in her Thursday night debate with Joe Biden. She didn’t stumble or stammer, commit any awful gaffes or make a fool of herself.

But it’s only by the shallowest of standards that her performance could be called creditable or impressive.

Palin surfed through the questions by skimming over the topics, offering little in the way of depth, context or understanding. When she was asked for substance, she too often respond with clichés. When she was asked something directly, she too often dodged with a change of subject…. Palin did score some style points with her consistent efforts to connect with ordinary Americans; she kept her delivery folksy and salted her answers with colloquial phrases and jabs at Washington insiders.

If it had been coupled with any sign that she has given serious thought to the issues that face this country, it would have been a slam dunk win for her.

As it is, her biggest accomplishment was to heighten the fears that she is woefully unprepared for the job she is seeking.