Joe Klein's wrap-up of the debate is quite good, particularly in his crystallization of exactly what Palin managed to do last night to be judged competent. "She displayed an ability," writes Klein, "for the first time since her convention speech, to repeat with a fair amount of credibility, the formulations that her handlers had given her." That was it. With no follow-ups to contend with, and so no chance of being caught on the jagged rocks of specificity, Palin managed to repeat her talking points without coming off as something less than sentient. That was a victory of a sort, but only of a sort.
