But how did Palin do in her first one-on-one with a major news anchor?
Well, it depends on who you talk to. ABC7 Chicago spoke with a lot of swing voter Friday. They're people who, like their counterparts all around the country, will probably decide the outcome of the race on November 4.
Chicago intersects the suburbs of Harwood Heights and Norridge at the shopping center at Harlem and Foster. That's also the area where a mix of blue-collar, white-collar and professional voters are trying to make up their minds over the next eight weeks.
"This is probably the biggest bell-weather you get. Harwood Heights, middle-class, slightly upper-middle class, blue-collar, professional," said 41st Ward Alderman Brian Doherty.
In other words, according to Doherty, the area is the perfect place to gauge the reaction to Sarah Palin's performance Thursday in the first of several interviews with ABC News anchor Charles Gibson.
"She did pretty good. I thought Charlie was a little rude to her, pushy," said Bob Schroeder, a Harwood Heights resident.
" I'm not impressed with her to begin with, and I thought a lot of questions he asked her, she skirted the issue. She didn't answer the questions," said Harwood Heights resident Mary Teister.
"She did very well; [she was] very articulate and to the point," said Joseph Sebastian of Morton Grove.
"The one difficult question he asked her, she couldn't answer. And Charlie went after her a few times. Then, she explained what the Bush doctrine was," Chicago resident Ed Bensen.
" I think she handled it well enough, but it was fairly easy for somebody who has been a TV anchor and been in the public eye," Chicago resident Diane Piron-Gelman said.
A new McCain campaign ad is accusing the Obama ticket of "disrespecting" Sarah Palin, and Obama is hitting back with a tough new ad of his own.
"I'm gonna respond with the truth," Obama said at a campaign stop. He was answering a question from a supporter in New Hampshire who was frustrated that the Democrats don't seem to be on the attack as aggressively as the Republicans.
Obama said that he and Joe Biden are just as tough, but they're not going to "make stuff up" like the Republicans are allegedly doing.
