Debate Expectations
Tonight, the vice-presidential debate. It’s between Joe Biden, who’s been in the Senate for years and is a foreign policy expert and Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska. You’d think that Biden would win this debate hands down.
I don’t think it’ll be quite that easy.
Joe Biden suffers from what’s been aptly called brain flatulence, tending to speak before processing his thoughts through his brain. There’s no doubt that he has command of the issues, but he will have to watch his tone and his extemporaneous thoughts that just pop out. (I’m thinking of comments like the Franklin Roosevelt and getting on television when the stock market crashed. Of course, Roosevelt was not president in 1929 and television didn’t come along for another decade or so.) Biden cannot afford to come across as a know-it-all and he certainly cannot come across as being condescending to Palin, even if she deserves to be talked down to. I’d expect Biden to attack McCain rather than Palin tonight, to help avoid being nasty to Palin.
Palin, from several accounts, is a much better debater than she’s assumed to be. I heard a quote this morning on the radio from Ann Compton of ABC News (I’ll try to recreate it 100% accurately): “Alaska is littered with the political corpses of those who underestimated Sarah Palin.” She beat Frank Murkowski — her predecessor — in a debate, and won the election. She’s a good communicator, even if she’s coming across as incoherent during interviews. Biden will need to watch himself. Palin is no shrinking violet, despite the McCain campaign’s attempt to lower expectations for her performance tonight.
Of course, of paramount importance to both candidates tonight: do no harm to the top of the ticket. Stay on message.
It’s certainly going to be interesting.
As it turned out, Biden won, but Palin achieved her goal of “do no harm.”