Don't misunderestimate Sarah Palin.

I admit that the bar has been lowered so much that just by showing up, Palin will be proclaimed the winner by the media. But watching her nonanswers to Katie Couric, one gets the feeling, backed up by evidence, that she's really, really good at filibustering.

In one debate, a moderator asked the candidates to name a bill the legislature had recently passed that we didn't like. I named one. Democratic candidate Tony Knowles named one. But Sarah Palin instead used her allotted time to criticize the incumbent governor, Frank Murkowski. Asked to name a bill we did like, the same pattern emerged: Palin didn't name a bill.

And when she does answer the actual question asked, she has a canny ability to connect with the audience on a personal level. For example, asked to name a major issue that had been ignored during the campaign, I discussed the health of local communities, Mr. Knowles talked about affordable healthcare, and Palin talked about ... the need to protect hunting and fishing rights.

So what does that mean for Biden? With shorter question-and-answer times and limited interaction between the two, he should simply ignore Palin in a respectful manner on the stage and answer the questions as though he were alone. Any attempt to flex his public-policy knowledge and show Palin is not ready for prime time will inevitably cast him in the role of the bully.

Comments

[Frogspond]

You know, if she is declared the winner of this debate then my joke about only the stupid people breeding may not be a joke.

[JimmyDean'sFuckedUpCousinClyde]

Living next door to the dangerous Russkies has produced a ferocious debating warrior in our much beloved Governoress Palin.

[zoe]

Read this interview, and watched her debate. Outcome may turn on whether she is allowed to dish out platitudes, with no followup or challenge. Difference with this and alaka debate: way way more information she has to have at her fingertips.
Woman frightens me.

[Caveat]

She's a winner, alright. A real winner, as we used to say in high school.

I once worked with a complete ditz who didn't know jack about diddley. She had the big hair, the makeup, the overdecorated fashion sense that you associate with that demographic.

The big difference between her and Mooselini was her warmth and open-mindedness, not to mention her awareness of her intellectual limitations.

[queek]

I think I might switch my popcorn tomorrow night with a bowl of valiums!

[Duros Hussein 62]

See, I'm thinking they've got Biden in a real box here. Almost ANY responses he may have to Palin will automatically be ascribed to sexism. If he's too aggressive, they'll say he was picking on her because she's a girl. If he's too passive or conciliatory, they'll say he was pulling his punches because she's a girl.

It's gonna be tough for him to strike the right balance, but it will still be fun to watch the meltdown, nonetheless.

[liberaldemdave]

i may need to watch the debate with queek.

[queek]

...and don't forget "Nobody manipsnapes Sarah Palin or her fambily!"

[demit]

I watched the clip of that debate and I don't remember a thing Sarah Palin said. I found myself marveling at how quickly she spoke—in complex sentences, too—and how well she modulates her voice (her accent was far more subdued, by the way), and how relaxed she was. She commanded the room.

You end up being utterly fascinated at the optics—how unlikely she is, pitted against politicians with the bland kind of looks and manner of speaking we are used to, and you don't remember a thing she said. But it doesn't matter. You're mesmerized, and that's the impression you take away. She scares me shitless.

[Duros Hussein 62]

Remember to close your eyes when she talks, that's the key.

DON'T LOOK HER IN THE EYES!

[pansypoo]

but now that the rite wing palin fan have filled her nazi heart, she may fuck it up.

at least we hope.

[Elspeth R]

There's nothing to remember her saying - it's just talking points or blather. On a personal level, she doesn't scare me, I could take her if she were to threaten me.

However, if Goddess forbid, McInsane wins...I will be ground up for chum by her fundie policies. That is, unless I am sent to the ducking pond or stake for burning. :(

Hey, here's a thought/question - what are her views on hysterectomies? Tubal ligation? Isn't she getting close to 'the change'? What are her chances of becoming pregnant again? Did she have a sterilization procedure after Trig's being born from her body (allegedly)? If she wanted to call off the reproductive dogs from hounding her uterus again, how dare she preach against birth control for others!!! :(

Elspeth

[Caveat]

"..you don't remember a thing she said. But it doesn't matter. You're mesmerized,"

You've just described Adolf Hitler, and Godwin can bite me.

[demit]

Caveat— well, yeah. And yeah on Godwin, too, lol.

I've been turning it around in my mind whether all the inane interview responses are just extremely clever rope-a-dope—but you'd have to be an awfully good actress to do it, in the way that only really skilled horsemen can be rodeo clowns. Meryl Streep could do it, maybe. I don't think Palin is good enough. But the contrast (between the interviews and this debate) is so striking.

Just a day before we find out, I guess. And it is only one debate appearance, there's still a month left. Even if she puts in a gonzo performance, that will fade, and the public's attention will turn back to Grampy McCain. And the public is onto his shtick now, pulling dramatic stunts, so he can't risk even one more. Or shouldn't, anyway. Hopefully, his pathology is such that he won't be able to resist.

[queek]

Trig's being born from her body (allegedly)?

Elspeth, thanks for floating this to the surface...

It's just about time to "rush" back to AK to console Trig's mom on the miscarriage she's about to have!

[Buskertype]

good call queek.

I think the main difference in the Alaska debate clip is that she doesn't have that note of pure panic in her voice that she seems to have had in all the recent interviews. Probably easier to appear calm when you have some clue of the subject matter at hand, and I don't think her grasp of economic policy is going to change much before the debate.

[bubbajoebob]

I still think Sarah and Cindy should pull a *Britney Blitz*, both slide outta the suv tomorrow night and flash the *Clean Campaign in Cooterville* ... kinda keep everyone occupied so no one really listens to the debate ya know?

[xpurg8d]

I was just listening to the radio a couple of hours ago and someone who is a Dem. consultant (sorry I didn't get in the car soon enough to catch the name) said (paraphrasing here):

The best thing Biden could do is say something upfront about how he's heard some things people have said about her and it's just disgraceful that some people would stoop so low as to question her mothering skills or disparage her family and where she's from, that has no place in the important discussions we need to be having, and she needs to be accorded the respect she deserves. And the best way to show that respect would be to treat her as any other candidate in any debate and expect, as Joe Biden does, that she will do well. Then Biden should NOT ignore her because that's condescending and will make people feel sorry for her. What he should do is stick to what Obama and Biden will do for this country as opposed to the policies set forth by McCain and Palin, and don't let it get personal.

I think Biden will do something along these lines. And then he will win.

[Max Power]

We'll see the return of the culture-war lipsticked-pitbull at the debate. And I think the very first moment she sneers at him for being too old, for having too much experience, or for not being a real American because he's not from Alaska, he should call her out.

She has no right to tell Biden or anyone else they are not a "Real American" and they don't count. No-one who's running for President should be dedicated to dividing the country the way she personifies.

[Ruthie]

Palin's "dumbitude" metrics are so low that all she has to do is get in one good solid piece of REAL factual information to make it seem as though she'd been persecuted by the MSM all along. I mean, surely they can't expect people to remember the sorts of periodicals they regularly read at the drop of a microphone! And yes, I think that her not answering questions is deliberate. It smacks of Rovian machinations. After, all, if you don't speak to the question, no one really knows how superficial your knowledge is. Expect her to wow Joe and the PETA people with her awesome knowledge of the breeding cycle of salmon.

[JimmyDean'sFuckedUpCousinClyde]

Biden should admit that he's been a sellout to the rich moneyed interests for years, and that his opponent in the debate is a "...psychopathic cunt."

This will refreshingly clear the air, and allow the two of them to exchange meaningless prattle before a mindless crowd of millions of cud-chewing hypnotically brain-dead zombies in their ElectroMagneticFields.

Then the whole thing can be discussed for several days or even weeks and after some time little or nothing will be remembered about any of it and no one will care about anything they said.

VOTE NADER

[pansypoo]

fuck nader.