The much-awaited and the much-hyped Vice Presidential debate at St. Louis on Thursday, according to Nielson polls, had a record number of 69.9 million television viewers, in comparison to the 52.4 million who glued in for the first presidential debate.

So far as the ‘scoring’ of the debate is concerned, the experts give both Senator Joseph Biden and Republican Sarah Palin high marks, for different reasons though – while Biden scores on account of knowledge of policy, Palin scores for connecting with people at home.

The earlier apprehensions about Palin’s nomination and her performance at the debate were eased by Edward Cox, McCain for President New York Chair, who said the Alaska Governor “did just fine” and added that like former President Ronald Reagan, Palin too is “very good on hitting the major points, focusing on the big things and driving those points across with her personality.” He also said: “Policy is about doing that and that’s why she’s going to be a very effective Vice President.”

Widespread reactions to the debate came from the viewers too. About Palin, some people who watched the debate said they were “expecting for Sarah Palin to do a lot worse and maybe stumble a little more - but she did really well - she held her own.” Others differed and said: “She just wouldn’t answer the question, they’d ask her something directly and she would just avoid answering it, so that was strange.”

Reactions about Biden’s performance were quite varied too. While some viewers felt that “Joe Biden pointed fingers too much, he just kept pointing his finger, but didn’t really have anything to say about what he would do”, others when asked who won, said: “Joe Biden - he just seemed more informed and knowledgeable about policies and foreign affairs.”

Most of the likely voters who watched the Thursday night faceoff said that it did not change their vote – it did not “sway” their decision “at all.”

(With Inputs from Agencies)