NASHUA, NH – Eight real-life “hockey moms” plucked from the ice to watch the vice-presidential face-off last night said their high-profile counterpart from Alaska dealt her critics a bell-ringing body check.
The moms – brought together by The Post to watch the debate in the crucial swing state of New Hampshire – spanned the political spectrum, yet gave the victory to GOP veep candidate Gov. Sarah Palin, by 5-3.
Even the three who gave the edge to Democratic nominee Sen. Joseph Biden qualified their support.
“I’m not a Sarah fan,” said Colleen MacVarish, a Democrat from Hollis, NH, who thought Biden won. “But I have to admit she held her own.
“As a woman, I was kind of holding my breath, but I think she did OK.”
At the start, Palin was hardly a favorite to win over this hockey-mad crowd as they gathered at famous Nashua eatery, Martha’s Exchange, after their kids finished hockey practice.
Five of The Post’s judges said they were undecided or leaning toward Barack Obama.
“Being a hockey mom, it makes her approachable,” Republican-leaning independent Michele Boisvert of Nashua said before the debate. “But it isn’t going to make me vote for her.”
Palin, however, quickly scored points with strong comebacks and frequent personal references delivered directly into the camera.
“I’m surprised how well she’s keeping up with him – and maybe even walking over him,” said Dawn Pearson, a Hollis independent, who voted for Hillary Rodham Clinton in the primary.
Dawn Galgay cracked a wide smile when Palin deflected a question about what campaign promises the fiscal crisis would force her to abandon by reminding the moderator she’d only been on the ticket for five weeks.
“It’s honest,” said Galgay, a Nashua independent who supported Obama in the primary but now says she’s undecided. “She’s not pretending to be something she’s not.”
Biden, meanwhile, turned off some of the hockey moms with the Cheshire cat grin he repeatedly flashed while Palin was speaking.
“He looks like a slick politician,” said Heather Ricard, a Democrat who voted for Clinton in the primary. “That slick Willie smile.”
On Palin, Ricard was defensive.
“Personally, I feel she’s gotten a raw deal,” she said.
Yet others were frustrated with what they saw as a refusal by Palin to get into details with her answers.
“By saying that she’s a Washington outsider, she almost wraps a halo around herself, so she doesn’t have to get into the issues,” noted Molly Dix, an Amherst independent who’s leaning toward Obama.
Dix, however, felt Palin’s answers would play better with the general audience.
Moments later, Palin accused the Dems of waving a white flag in Iraq.
“That was a zinger,” Dix exclaimed.