Minutes ago, the one Vice Presidential debate concluded. The debate featured John McCain's running mate--Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, and Barrack Obama's running mate--Delaware Senator Joe Biden.

As alluded to in the title of this article, one thing that was prevalent in the discourse of the debate was the strangeness of how Palin speaks.

OK, saying "Nookyalur" instead of "nuclear" is a pronunciation that is typical among many Americans. However, in the political sphere, it certainly calls to mind the way President George W. Bush says the word. And that works against what Palin was trying to accomplish.

In all seriousness, Sarah Palin proved to many that she is no political slouch. In the very least, she is a quick study, and could demonstrate a wide range of knowledge applicable to her possible position as the Vice President.

Rhetorically, though, she was not the polished politician Americans have come to expect in executive elections. Not since Admiral Stockdale, running with Ross Perot, participated in the 1992 Vice Presidential debate did a debater seem so over matched. The distinct difference between Palin's participation and Stockdale's was the level of confidence Palin exuded in herself and in her candidate.

The thing about Palin is that when she is searching for words to say, she has substituted political jargon as her verbal pauses. Whereas others who use a lot of verbal pauses say "uh", "um", "like", or "you know," it seems Palin has trained herself to use phrases like "in America, at least in some of our states," "put more attention in that", "things that we stand for that we can be put to good use," or "we are a team of mavericks". Then at times she sticks to colloquialisms that she is used to, and at those times, she seems the most genuine and identifiable to the average American.

Joe Biden had an exceptional debate. He sounded knowledgeable and earnest, while at the same time, did not seem overly aggressive towards Palin. Although Palin has experienced tough debaters in Frank Murkowski and Tony Knowles in her election as the Alaskan governor, it would seem Biden's years of experience in the Senate may have prepared him better for a Vice Presidential debate. After all, some of the greatest orators in America sometimes find their way into the Senate.

Biden's speaking style was described by the media prior to the debate as problematic for the Obama campaign. He has plagiarized speech material in the past, which is a strong discredit against him. He has also been accused of rambling on a little, and there were fears he would seem patronizing to the over matched Sarah Palin.

Biden never went over the edge, and kept his focus on attacking McCain's positions, while Palin attacked directly quite a few things brought up in Biden's dialogue and record. Conspicuously absent were any references to Palin's legal issues in Alaska, or for the most part anything she has done as Governor of that state (unless it was brought up by Palin herself).

Palin's competence in the debate fortunately allows Americans to consider the issues. Americans are concerned about the economic conditions. Obama-Biden wants to approach the systemic problem created by the last 8 years through reducing taxes of the lowest paid and placing a larger burden on the highest paid Americans. McCain-Palin acknowledges the problems with the economy, but how it wants to fix the economy is less clear from Palin's statements. Palin says the greed of Wall Street must be curbed (although it arguably the buying and selling Wall Street does is based on the guiding principle of greed.) Whether you believe Biden or not, as Palin did not address it other than to say he sounded warning signals about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, McCain also is for the same kind of deregulation that has disrupted the world financial markets. McCain also will apparently not be reducing taxes for anyone except big business, as Palin believes that will result in the movement of the economy and the creation of jobs. Biden was quick to point out that this was the same idea proposed by the Bush Administration, and we can now see the results.

Americans are also concerned about health care and education. Palin and Biden pretty much stated the standard beliefs of their respective political parties on these issues.

Americans are concerned about the war in Iraq and the international standing of the country. Biden stated a clear exit strategy on Iraq, and Palin went with the approach that an exit strategy was akin to sending up the white flag. Palin and Biden both believed Iran should not be able to obtain nuclear weapons, but Biden insisted on the importance of diplomacy and discussion, while Palin focused on economic sanctions with friends and allies against the Iranians. On Afghanistan, Palin wanted to institute the same surge strategy that was successful in Iraq, while Biden was adamant that the surge would not work, as the ground commander in Afghanistan has stated.

All in all, issues were more distinctly divergent than they were in the first Presidential debate. While it is possible that Palin's inexperience in major debates may have caused a little drifting towards head to head confrontation, it is just as likely that the major contributor was Biden coaxing it that way with his direct communicative style.

Hopefully, the next two presidential debates will be a little more representative of the two candidates' political beliefs. Suggestion for Obama and McCain--be less of afraid of losing the debate. This means that minutes after the debate, neither one of you should release on your websites or in email that your candidate won the debate. It means that when moderators Tom Brokaw and and Bob Schieffer ask a question, be as informative to the voters as possible. A little "straight-talk" perhaps...