US News
PREVIEW: Low expectations, high stakes in Biden-Palin debate
By Gonzalo Espariz Oct 2, 2008, 2:56 GMT
Alaska Governor and Vice-Presidential nominee Sarah Palin speaks to supporters at a rally in Blain, Minnesota, USA, 19 September 2008. EPA/CRAIG LASSIG
Washington - Lowering expectations before a political debate is an old trick to make the outcome seem more positive.
Ahead of Thursday's debate between the vice-presidential candidates, expectations are indeed very low.
Following the initial enthusiasm after they were picked a month back, Democrat Joe Biden and Republican Sarah Palin have seemed to compete for who can commit the worst mistakes - Palin for her poor oratory or Biden for his excessive oratory.
Be it for the joy of seeing a public figure fail miserably or for the chance that their performance might in fact improve, the truth is that the vice-presidential debate is highly-anticipated.
Some 3,100 journalists have been accredited to cover the debate at Washington University in Saint Louis, Missouri, and the event is set to be broadcast by all major US television networks.
Palin stands to win the most, and not just because her two years as governor of Alaska - the third-least populous state in the country - will be facing the 36 years that Biden has sat in the Senate.
Despite being protected from the media by the campaign of Republican presidential candidate John McCain, Palin's gaffes in three recent interviews have provided much fodder for late-night comedians.
Her comments citing Alaska's proximity to Russia as foreign policy experience or mixing the 700-billion-dollar proposed rescue plan for the US economy with job creation, healthcare reform and tax reductions have led some conservative commentators - who are supposed to be on her side - to publicly ask that Palin bow out of the race for the good of McCain and the country.
'It's going to be very, very hard to erase the impression she's given in the network TV interviews that she is in way, way over her head and she's not ready for prime time,' said commentator Rod Dreher.
If anyone looks like they can save Palin, it is Joe Biden, chosen by Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama for his international expertise.
The senator from Delaware is a great orator with an extensive vocabulary and a talent for improvisation. He is almost equally skilled at taking his rhetoric too far.
Last week Biden said the current economic crisis needed a leader like US president Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who calmed down the country after the stock market crash of 1929 with just a television appearance.
It would have been a great story, but for the fact that Herbert Hoover was president on that Black Tuesday and no US citizen had a television set at the time.
Biden is older and has a longer record of mistakes. The most famous dates back to 1987, when his first presidential candidacy collapsed after it was discovered that he had plagiarized parts of a speech by a British politician.
The veteran senator has an additional problem. Facing a woman with a lot less experience than himself, Biden will have to avoid adopting 'a posture of being aggressive toward her or, worse, condescending,' said Bob Shrum, who helped John Kerry prepare his presidential debates in 2004, in an interview to Newsweek.
Palin should exploit her more personal side, put herself forward as 'a likable, caring person who believes what she says,' said Stuart Stevens, who helped Republican Vice President Dick Cheney prepare for debates with Democrats Joe Lieberman and John Edwards in 2000 and 2004 respectively.
Stevens may well have left his best advice for last: 'Her goal should be to not make news.'
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Older Talkback
page: 1
palin offer more in the backpocket than obama then you will win,but drum it into us day after day.most people like you two but youre coming of as scrooges increase welfarepayments huge taxcuts etc etc.
All Joe Biden needs to do is play nice and prove he's competent.
CORRECTION: All Joe Biden has to do is play nice and prove he's competent, because Sarah Palin is not likely to do either. :|
palin reminds me of sp4 dumb and stupid
After 9/11, Bush gave over $10 billion to military dictator Musharraf,so Pakistan could hide osama bin laden and the al qaeda terrorists. McCain seems to support the delusion that Pakistan is a wonderful ally. Why don't you complain about it?
This denizen from the arctic wastes who looks like a walrus with glasses
is just about as useful to poor old Johnny as a carbuncle on his bum.
This infernal electoral circus is an outrage to American dignity.
PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN !!!!!! It`s a bloody catastrophe.
Some old guy over 70 who squealed his guts out in Hanoi and betrayed everything American. Plus a chosen VP - some ugly old cow from the frozen north, mounted by a pair of HUGE glasses, who knows bugger all about politics at high level and is WAY OUT of her pathetic female depth. She does`nt even know where Canada is !
A juvenile brained immature black guy - chosen because HE IS BLACK above dozens of decent other candidates who deserved the nomination better. He is a Muslim, a confessed traitor to this country, he loves Al-Qaeda and Osama - damn it, he almost has the same name ! He loves all the terrorist scum in Guantanamo and is a disgraceful embarrassment to the entire nation. A modern day poor-man`s Al Jolson without the ability.
Plus some ancient old guy called Biden as a chosen VP - who the hell is Biden ? Some dusty bargain picked up from a flea-market ?
AND THAT collection of human crap, my American friends - IS YOUR FUTURE !
You would be better off inviting Osama bin Laden to be President, at least there would be NO MORE American deaths, injuries or the reduction of large parts of our national collateral to rubble.
Have a nice vote, you poor sods. God, I think I`ll go and get pissed and forget it all.
..do you guys really watch these things? I am painting my house and I think I'll go watch it dry...
LET'S HEAR MORE FROM PALIN
COURIC: 'Why should the government spend 700 billion dollars to bail out Wall Street instead of giving the funds to ordinary citizens?'
PALIN: 'Ultimately, what the bail-out does is help those who are concerned about the healthcare reform that is needed to help shore up our economy, helping the - it's got to be all about job creation, too, shoring up our economy and putting it back on the right track. So healthcare reform and reducing taxes and reining in spending has got to accompany tax reductions and tax relief for Americans.'
WOW.... BAILOUT EQUALS HEALTHCARE?...WHAT A GRASP OF CURRENT EVENTS!!
..assuming you federalize health care, she'd be correct.
Good old SP4 ,the only person in the world that actually understood what
y Palin meant,I didn't ,soo please SP4 explain to us what she means,take your time,we are patient....
you seem to speak Palineaze. I've never been able to master it, so would you please explain in detail exactly what she means here:'
'Ultimately, what the bail-out does is help those who are concerned about the healthcare reform that is needed to help shore up our economy, helping the - it's got to be all about job creation, too, shoring up our economy and putting it back on the right track. So healthcare reform and reducing taxes and reining in spending has got to accompany tax reductions and tax relief for Americans.'
Have you no answer?????
When I listen to politicians, in either party, I seem to understand them perfectly. Perhaps if you do not start out biased, it becomes much easier.
Sara, no matter how it came out, seems to correctly understand how healthcare affects job creation and the labor pool, not unlike Mitt Romney, my pick for VP. Perhaps it is her own experience as Governor of Alaska that shapes her views, or Mitt Romneys attempt to level the playing field for workers in Mass. perhaps it's her relationship with the aboriginal citizens of Alaska, and their condition that affects her views. Another factor is the isolation of Alaska and how it affects care in that region. Remember, this is a country that has flying doctors, and has to provide care into very remote places. Their needs are far different than the other 56 states. (a joke, unless you are Joe Biden or barak Obama)
This of course, does not make her right, but her view of Healthcare, and how it impacts the economy has real merit. Mitt Romney is trying this as we speak, with checkered results, but I tend to think the Swiss model has real merit in the USA. People can transfer their care, uninterupted, and get corporate rates for individual policies and charges.
Alaska has a lot of what might be called corporate socialism, and I think Palin is influenced by this i.e. oil payments to citizens, etc. Her view on this is becomeing more popular as a solution for a lot of Republicans and even dems as in Mass. as a solution for the whole nation.
Tonny, I'm surprised at you. Here is someone who seems to think more like you than you might be able to admit and you simply write her off.
No, I guess I'm not really surprised after all.
Great Palinesqe answer, but as usual it has little to do with the question. What sir does your answer or hers regarding health care reform have to do with the $700 billion bailout?
'Ultimately, what the bail-out does is help those who are concerned about the healthcare reform...' This is as stupid a statement as you can find for any politician, and you have yet to explain away it's stupidity. Not even a decent try at it really.
We're still waiting for a real answer from the self-appointed head-neocon and Palin-apologist for this website.
Palin to Couric re: $700 Billion Bail-out plan : 'Ultimately, what the bail-out does is help those who are concerned about the healthcare reform...'
So Once again oh sp4 , what the hell did the Bail-out plan have to do with Health care reform ?
Could it possibly be that she was absolutely clueless about what the 'bail-out' was about and so started into a incredibly nonsensical babble?
Or maybe she purposely made herself appear to be a total dingbat beacuse she was 'annoyed' with that mean old bullie Katie Couric?
What's it going to Oh Knowledgeable One??
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david e. millerOct 2nd, 2008 - 04:11:57
maybe its time to see someone who has not been exposed to the washington d.c. crowd. I'm waiting to see how she does in this debate. Regardless of the coaching, the only things she can say will be what she feels and believes. Like many people, I respect the life she has led. It is the typical american story, and she has the courage to speak her mind. Biden has done things that show why he is disliked by so many people in penna.,such as right after 9/11, he wanted to give Iran 200 million. Palin will give an honest debate.
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