I think she will do better than expected. In an interview she doesn't have facts and figures or policy positions handy to use as an attack and distraction against Charles Gibson. In a debate she will be chocked full of points to use to attack Biden. She will use those and do so to get around not having a clue about the issues. It may not make her look great and dominate the debate, but she won't be there just saying policy sounding words in a random order.
If it's a draw, the GOP wins again. Biden could deliver the knock out blow that "I agree with John" couldn't do last week.
If I'm an Obama strategist, I tell Biden to be clear and specific in all of his answers, but avoid getting to wound up and long winded. The less he stands out or makes an impression in this debate the better. Beat it into his head that his performance tonight can't win Obama any votes, but if he goes crazy and makes up some bogus story or gets too passionate, he could easily make headlines about himself instead of Palin.
Expectations at this point are so low it's impossible for Epic FAILin' Palin to underperform. Plus she'll just spout a bunch of pre-canned, utterly non-responsive soundbites, written down on a card in front of her, that will sound coherent. Since the Repubs have been beating up on Gwen Ifill all week for being black, I don't think she'll be too forceful in trying to get a real response out of Palin the way Katie did.
[dream]Biden is going to be seen as a bully no matter what he does. So I say he should just go for it! Pound Palin into the ground, hang her on a wall and laugh at her.[/dream]
Watching some highlights from her previous debates Palin certainly held her own -- she was far from the inept twit that was interviewed by Katie Couric. I think if she can keep from stumbling over early questions she will surprise a lot of people. If Palin does bungle an early question badly -- we could be in for some serious entertainment. I think Biden will play it very low key -- not safe -- just very non-confrontational.
Palin is a joke at this point. Even if she says something smart, everybody is going to think what she says is stupid because she will say it with the same tone and mannerisms that we have seen when she says ridiculous idiotic things. Biden is going to roll.
Whoever wins.... we lose. This will be a terrible debate. With the expectations game (Palin has shown herself to be completely unprepared for anything but a teleprompter) I have a hard time seeing Palin lose this one.
As far as those suggesting strategy for Biden, I think you can potentially employ some strategy, but the reason Biden was such a perfect choice for Obama is because he is truly an experienced, knowledgeable, articulate candidate. I really don't think you have to "prep" him much at all, for anything really. Besides the fact that he was running his own campaign, this is just a guy with a lot of expertise and knowledge. He just needs to be himself...which he will be, because that's who he is and what he does. He is truly genuine, without having to let anyone know it. Palin has to seriously seriously seriously show a good performance. The downside of the Couric interviews, etc. is that any type of good performance will likely seem even better. "Oh, see, she's not that bad, she knows her stuff!" The truth of the matter is, that even if Palin didn't come across as a bumbling nincompoop, even if she was a somewhat knowledgeable, well presented, new, exciting and fresh politician, Biden would still likely outperform her in the debate. If you go back and watch some of the earlier Democratic primary debates, two guys consistently performed as well as anyone else - Biden and Richardson - but it truly was impossible to get any attention past the Obama vs. Hillary circus that was the obvious road the party was going down. But Biden performed very well, imo. Perhaps I'm just too much of a Biden fan. I just really really respect him as a politician and have a hard time believing he can possibly come out of a debate with Sarah Palin looking like the loser.
During lunch, Fox had Palin's Democratic opponent for governor on. His advice for Joe Biden: "Find some excuse to not show up." He said that he thought he did a better job with facts than she did, and post-debate polling showed that she wiped the floor with him and the other Republican.
If Palin just shows up and doesn't trip on her dick dittoheads nationwide will be hailing her as the second coming of Reagan. With enough prep time and memorization any moron can temporarily look intelligent. Thats how I passed the taxonomy section of Botany 312.
I see a 50-50 split. Because Palin's ignorance has been so completely exposed, it's almost impossible for her to not do better than she has thus far. However, this is a double edged sword, observe: Because Palin's ignorance has been so completely exposed, people are going to demand considerable detail, which Biden will provide much more readily than Palin. Ergo, 50-50. That being said - Biden wins in the long run as long as the emphasis remains on Palin following the debate.
as long as Biden doesn't blabber out "The best thing about you is your husband" rant, I'll be very happy . Btw, who did he say that "the best thing about you is your wife" to during a democratic debate?
Please. I'm not doubting that she's given good debate performances and that her interviews may not give an accurate picture of her abilities, but to think that Biden would be scared of debating her is just laughable.
I expect Palin will at least have one gaff that will be memorable, to go along with a bunch of ummms and ahhhhs between answers. Biden just has to be himself.
