My admittedly biased opinion of the VP debate tonight.

Sarah Palin did an excellent job in showing she’s not the idiot portrayed in her interviews with Charles Gibson and Katie Couric.

In fact, one of the first things she said was she was happy to address the American people without the filter of an editor.

She talked about small town America, where she grew up. She said Wall Street and greedy bankers should be punished for their actions. She stuck up for flyover country and said she didn’t know the ins and outs of politics in Washington very proudly, saying this was one reason she was chosen. This would guarantee change in Washington along with McCain’s maverick streak.

She talked about the time in her family’s life when they didn’t have insurance and had to sit at the kitchen table to figure out what to do. She said the No Child Left Behind Act has not succeeded, and Joe Biden replied that it hasn’t been funded.

Palin is for excellent teachers with pay commensurate with their jobs. She jokingly said her brother’s third grade class would get extra credit for watching the debate.

She held her own on foreign policy, even asking at one point if she could go back to the discussion of Afghanistan. She believes in a two-state policy in Israel, as does Joe Biden. Palin said she wants the US Embassy to be located in Jerusalem.

From a biblical standpoint I disagree with a two state agreement because it is the only land given to someone by God Himself, and I believe any nation that tries to persuade Israel to split the country with Palestinians or anyone else is going against God’s wishes and will lose at least part of His blessing on our country.

While Joe Biden was very senatorial in his speaking style, we got to see the Sarah Palin we saw at the convention and some of the campaign rallies. She briskly walked onstage, was completely at ease, was in a good mood and could be heard asking Sen. Biden if she could call him Joe.

After the umpteenth time of trying to tie McCain to the Bush presidency Palin said the line that will stay in my mind for a long time: “Say it isn’t so, Joe. There you go again talking about the past.” Biden’s response was that the past is prologue to the future and a McCain presidency would be another Bush presidency.

Palin responded that McCain will benefit from the mistakes of the Bush and other administrations in the past and not make the same mistakes.

Biden told some fibs about McCain not wanting to go to Bosnia, which former Senator Fred Thompson refuted later, saying it was McCain who convinced him to vote to go into Bosnia. When reminded by Palin that he had said on a rope line there would be no coal mining in America (something Obama had to refute) Joe Biden claimed he was taken out of context. How do you take out of context a question and answer you heard with your own ears?

Biden insisted all the billions of dollars Obama wants to spend won’t cost the taxpayers and was forced to defend his patriotism remark about paying higher taxes. I don’t recall what he said, so it must not have been memorable to me at least.

Biden insisted Article One of the Constitution talks about Executive Branch powers while addressing what a Vice President would do. Being a senator for so long he should know that article addresses the legislative branch.

This is a synopsis. I admit to pulling for Sarah Palin, so take what I say with a shaker of salt if you wish, but my opinion is it was game, set and match for Palin tonight.

It is now up to John McCain to stop being so senatorially polite and take off the gloves to show what he has done to protect the American public. It’s his to win or lose as the polls are still close, but if he continues playing by the Marquis de Queensbury rules he will be another also ran come Nov. 5.

Video of the debate:

Thanks to CNN.com for the video.