Joe Biden

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Grade: B

Talked a lot — but in a good way. Biden decided to let Biden be Biden and gave the audience a chance to love him or hate him on his own terms. Got off more laugh lines than all the other candidates combined, showed passion on Darfur and Iraq, and, while somewhat shrill and muddled, probably won over some viewers. Rolled the dice and went for broke in repeated confrontational calls for telling the "truth" about the options for ending the war, blamed Ted Kennedy — via a backhanded compliment — for his own support of the maligned No Child Left Behind bill and ended the night with an eloquent answer about faith, public policy, and values.

—by Mark Halperin