I thought he looked tired, blank, deer in headlights, and above all else....old.
There is no energy for anything other than an outburst.
As a Pol Sci major who’s volunteered for many campaigns, I always try to look objectively at an opponents TV ads, campaign literature, debates, etc. I can usually say “Wow, the other guy put out some great lit” or “Whoa, we took it on the chin there”.
Biden’s performance was better than expected. I suspect (but can’t say for sure) that they had him wired up on Mountain Dew, Aricept and legal amphetamines. I also suspect that he was reading from a teleprompter.
But at the same time, Biden needed something big tonight. Something flashy, something big that would make people say “Hmmm, maybe there’s more to this guy than I thought”. He smiled a few times and showed brief flashes of enthusiasm (perhaps contrived) but for the most part, his speech was pedestrian.
To his credit, he didn’t stumble much in his speech. But per above, he didn’t say anything that really stood out to me. Maybe he was playing for the angle of trying to look calm, organized and statesmanlike. His handlers knew that he had to appear that way and so he was very measured.
All in all, I give him a C- for a grade.