The much maligned Sarah Palin showed up for last night’s VP debate with Senator Joe Biden and much to the chagrin of the mainstream media she didn’t fall flat on her face. After lowering expectations for Barack Obama’s debate with John McCain the media tried to convince Americans that a tie for their hero somehow translated to a win.

Conversely the media called the “election over” prior to Palin’s appearance on the big screen with Sir Gaffalot Joe Biden. While the narrative is that Palin did good but Biden won (insert laughter here) Obama’s water carriers in the media are starting to look foolish.

Meanwhile the House is going to vote on a financial bailout plan that grew from a couple of pages to 451 pages overnight. Not content to simply concentrate on the economy the Senate wedged in a stunning amount of pork and special interest handouts.

The audience for the debate last night hada 45.0 rating compared to Obama and McCain that had  a 31.6. Nearly 11 million viewers tuned in to watch the debate on CNN alone.

The following entries were voted into the winners circle by the Watchers Council:

Winning Council Entries

• First place with 3 votes – Cheat-Seeking Missiles – McCain’s Needed New Messaging Strategy
• Second place with 1 1/3 votes – Wolf Howling – A Doddering Fool
• Third place with 1 vote – (T*) The Glittering Eye – System Failure
• Third place with 1 vote – (T*) The Colossus of Rhodey – I thought the Left wanted to talk about issues?
• Fourth place with 1/3 votes – (T*) Joshuapundit – The Crap Sandwich
• Fourth place with 1/3 votes – (T*) Bookworm Room – When God closes a door, he sometimes opens a window
• Fourth place with 1/3 votes – (T*) Soccer Dad – McCain’s role

Winning Non-Council Entries

• First place with 2 2/3 votes – Submitted By: Cheat-Seeking Missiles – American Thinker – Barack Obama and the Strategy of Manufactured Crisis
• Second place with 1 1/3 votes – (T*) Submitted By: Rhymes With Right – St Louis C of CC Blog – Obamination: Obama Supporters Bob McCulloch, Jennifer Joyce Threaten to Prosecute People For Criticizing Obama
• Second place with 1 1/3 votes – (T*) Submitted By: Joshuapundit – ShrinkWrapped – Everything Is New Under The Sun
• Third place with 1 vote – Submitted By: Wolf Howling – Dinah Lord – Then The Gods Of The Market Tumbled . . .
• Fourth place with 2/3 votes – (T*) Submitted By: Soccer Dad – Q & O – Learning from history
• Fourth place with 2/3 votes – (T*) Submitted By: The Glittering Eye – Infectious Greed – Voltaire, Batman and the Precipice
• Fifth place with 1/3 votes – Submitted By: Bookworm Room – Wall Street Journal – Debates Don’t Always Reveal Character

* – T denotes a tie