Sarah Palin seen as winner of vice presidential debate.  Here are the results of the online Drudge Poll:

WHO WON THE VICE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE?.

BIDEN

Palin scored even higher in a Fox News Channel text cell phone poll.  While the poll may have been weighted heavily to younger persons, who frequently use text messaging, Palin was seen as the winner of the debate by 86%.

A focus group conducted by pollster Frank Lutz that watched the debate was close to unanimous in declaring that Sarah Palin did better than Joe Biden.

An AOL News online poll showed a narrower Palin win:

Who won the debate?

Note on Poll Results

Total Votes: 555,670

Andrea Hopkins, Reuters

"The Palin-Biden debate appears to stand as the most watched of any nationally televised political debate in 16 years, far surpassing last week's first debate between McCain and Obama.(V)iewers almost universally said Palin held her own against Biden in Thursday's debate."

David Broder, syndicated columnist

"In fact the surprise of the night was that the candidates for the No. 2 job were much livelier and more impressive.than Barack Obama and (John) McCain had been.But it created a mystery of its own.  Why in the world has the McCain campaign kept Palin under wraps from her debut at the Republican National Convention until this debate?  What were they afraid of?.

"(Senator Lindsey) Graham (R-SC).was more forthcoming when I put the question to him.'This campaign will go down in history as stupid if they don't unleash her now.'

"That is an understatement.  McCain has been battered in the past two weeks by the collapse of big chunks of the American economy.If ever a candidacy needed bolstering, it was this one.  And based on what she showed against Biden, Palin might be able to deliver some help."

Fred Barnes, The Weekly Standard

"The moment when Sarah Palin knew she was winning last night's debate with her vice presidential opponent Joe Biden came after the subject had turned to nuclear weapons. Palin had talked about nukes as a deterrent and said it was important to keep them out of the hands of dictators who are enemies of America. Then she turned to moderator Gwen Ifill and asked, ‘Can we talk about Afghanistan real quick?'.

".(B)y that point in the debate--two-thirds of the way through--Palin was brimming with self-confidence.  She knew she could handle any issue likely to be thrown at her by Ifill.  She knew Biden would not outmatch her."