I do believe Biden handled the gaffe beautifully. I also believe that his staff did a very poor job of prepping him if they had the name of the state senator but didn't mention any physical issues.

As to what would have been said had the gaffe been Palin's, we don't know. She may have been given credit for handling the error with style and grace (and I do believe she would have been able to do that). She may have been blasted out of the water.

Whatever the case, Biden made a mistake, he recovered and turned the mistake into a class act.