The Nielson Company reports that Thursday’s vice presidential debate, between Democrat Joe Biden and Republican Sarah Palin, had ‘whopping’ audience – the estimated 69.9 million viewers make the debate the second most watched debate, after the 1980 debate between then-President Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan that had 80.6 million viewers.

As was expected Thursday’s debate viewership surpassed the faceoff between the White House hopefuls - John McCain and Barack Obama – which had 52.4 million, partly because it was on a Friday night, when lots of Americans are otherwise occupied.

Palin drew a lot of interest, both from supporters as well as detractors, clearly driving Thursday’s viewership ratings to their stratospheric heights. In fact, ABCNews.com sought the services of ‘body language’ experts to analyze the verbal skirmish between both the candidates - picking apart every wrinkled nose, winked eye, pointed finger and nuanced voice inflection. 

The experts opine that though Palin’s ‘folksy lingo’ put off some voters, her demeanor and gestures show confidence after a nervous start. Meanwhile, veteran Biden appeared more reserved than usual, restraining himself by putting his hand in his pocket and taking deep breaths.

An expert in nonverbal communication, Patti Wood said the six winks made by Palin during the course of the debate were genuine. She said: “The wink is a natural gesture for her and it works to make the audience feel OK and like we’re in this with her and that Palin understands us.”

Decoding Biden’s toothy smile and fidgeting, Greg Hartley, a former Army interrogator, opined: “Biden showed tremendous restraint. There was no way he was going to attack Palin. When he smiles in that huge way it’s a self-defense method. It was a way to release his ‘angry’ energy.”

While both Biden and Palin took notes during the debate, they differed greatly in the way they used the pen as a prop while they spoke. Wood said: “Biden used the pen more as weaponry, sometimes stabbing the air with the pen,” and Hartley said: Palin had a pen in her hand almost all the time and was taking notes constantly - it shows her lack of polish.”