That's what I'm hoping: She attacks Joe, while Joe speaks substance to the people who are struggling to make ends meet. Zingers are cute but Americans are getting impatient and tired of performances and games.
A wise Palin would leave her zingers at the hotel. Independent voters don't seem interested in the kind of mean-spiritedness she unloaded at the convention. Only republicans seemed to have appreciated it.
If she goes on the attack and stumbles or has a few dull moments, people will know that she's plenty confident, but doesn't have the substance to back it up. She just needs one brilliantly dim moment to derail the McCain-Palin ticket for good. People will realize that Country First is just a slogan.
If she cracks on an energy question, an area where McCain's promoted her as an expert, then they're really done for.
Politico: ST. LOUIS — Sarah Palin plans to go on the attack in tonight’s debate, hitting Joe Biden for what she will call his foreign policy blunders and penchant for adopting liberal positions on taxes and other issues, according to campaign officials involved in prepping her for tonight’s showdown.
The Palin camp is projecting surprising self-confidence in the pre-debate hours, despite the vice presidential nominee’s uneven — and, at some points, peculiar — performances in recent television interviews, the officials say. Top advisers to John McCain privately say Palin’s recent CBS interview was a borderline disaster, especially since it played out in several segments over several days. Tonight will be different, they say.
“This is going to finally put her back into a position where we see her like we saw her the first couple weeks,” a McCain official said. “She was herself. She was authentic, and people related to that. ... Tonight, she’ll get into a rhythm. You’re going to see her in a way that you haven’t seen her yet.”
Look for Palin to have a pat answer when she gets flustered or doesn't know an answer. If she responds too many times with the pat answer, she'll be in trouble. She'll be better off admitting she doesn't know an answer, especially if Ifill asks about foreign policy. People will forgive her if she doesn't try to bluff. Throughout the debate she'll probably say over and over that she's a Washington outsider and she'll try and paint Joe as the old, Washington insider. She'll give us that down home accent and play up her values and try to turn the debate toward social issues, where she's strongest.
As for Joe, Im hoping he rattles her early on. She could use a humbling experience. But he'll probably tread lightly at first, and apparently, he's going to keep the focus on McCain. I'm hoping he speaks succinctly and allows Palin enough babbling time. Joe has said dumb things in the past, but everyone knows he's a bright man. It's Palin's intelligence that's in question. Is she really dim? Or just over her head? I think we'll learn that tonight.
Moderator Gwen Ifill just needs to be fair. She doesn't need to be anything else. She's a great moderator. I wish she would take over Meet the Press. Republicans are whining, though. They say that she could be biased because she is writing a book (Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama) that republicans have spun as pro Obama. The book is about the new generation of black politicians. It focuses on four people, including Obama. See Ifill talk about her book in the video below.
The Obama camp continues to tout Palin as a great debater:
"Governor Palin is one of the best debaters in American politics," Plouffe told the press corps traveling to St. Louis for tonight's event.
"I've watched all of her debates; she is an extremely good debater," Plouffe said. "We expect she'll have very, witty biting lines that she'll get off tonight. All of you that are like figure skating judges will give her some credit for that. But we think the American people who are watching at home tonight who are economically challenged who are fundamentally unhappy with the direction of this country, Joe Biden will do a very good job speaking to them."
One was tempted to ask whether Biden should show up at all.
In other words, Plouffe was saying that the press and the public shouldn't be distracted by the zingers.
"But our focus is on the person sitting at home, in Kent Ohio tonight, in Akron Ohio tonight," Plouffe said, "if he is struggling economically, who is delivering the message about an agenda that will most positively impact their lives and deliver the kind of change the country so desperately needs?"
McCain's pre-debate attack on Joe
