Who's up / Who's down

DOWN Sarah Palin: At times she was a little too cute. There's Gidget in the Belle.

UP Joe Biden: Old pro showed Sarah how it's done in the bigs. Cramming can't cover 36 years in the Senate.

DOWN Joe Biden: Didn't get gotcha on "surge" in Afghanistan. Call it what you will, more troops are heading there.

UP Sarah Palin: "A shout out" to the third-graders at Gladys Wood Elementary. She gets extra credit for that.

DOWN Sarah Palin: Discourse on vice presidency was incoherent. Never agree with Dick Cheney.

UP Joe Biden: Showed his own Joe Six-pack chops on gas prices, fairness and single fatherhood. Two can play the "salt of the earth" game.

DOWN Joe Biden: Lame bid to tag McCain for voting against funding for the troops over pullout timeline. That dog won't roll over, let alone hunt.

UP Sarah Palin: She mentioned hockey moms again, but kept the pit bulls off stage. Admirable restraint.

DOWN Sarah Palin: She talked about mavericks so much viewers started looking for a cattle drive and wayward dogies.

UP Joe Biden: He made "maverick" McCain look like one of the herd with a Bush brand. Ouch.

DOWN Joe Biden: Another "bridge to nowhere" zinger. Clever. Cliche. Enough.