Opinion: VP Debate Doesn't Alter Race

The economy dominated much of the debate. Biden argued that McCain only in recent weeks converted to a regulator of Wall Street. He pointed to an article where McCain had called for deregulation in the health care industry similar to the deregulation on Wall Street over the last 10 years.

"And while (Democratic presidential candidate) Barack Obama was talking about reinstating those regulations, John on 20 different occasions in the previous year and a half called for more deregulation. As a matter of fact, John recently wrote an article in a major magazine saying that he wants to do for the health care industry deregulate it and let the free market move like he did for the banking industry."

I wrote about this flip flop last week.

Palin refused to discuss McCain's record as a deregulator in Congress. Instead, she repeated the Republican mantra of low taxes as being good for economy and issued charges that Sen. Obama (D., Ill) voted for tax hikes.

"I would like to respond about the tax increases. We can speak in agreement here that darn right we need tax relief for Americans so that jobs can be created here," she said.

She again later avoided discussing McCain's deregulation history by discussing her record as a tax cutter in Alaska.

Obviously, the poor economy has hurt Americans. Both candidates tried their hardest to get sympathy from voters facing tough times by turning to personal stories.

Biden experienced difficulty early in life. "Look, I understand what it's like to be a single parent. When my wife and daughter died and my two sons were gravely injured, I understand what it's like as a parent to wonder what it's like if your kid's going to make it. I understand what it's like to sit around the kitchen table with a father who says, 'I've got to leave, champ, because there's no jobs here. I got to head down to Wilmington. And when we get enough money, honey, we'll bring you down.'"