A Preview of Sarah Palin's Debate Game Plan

From the hints that I have picked up on from the McCain camp, here is a glimpse of what I believe the Palin (Republican) VP debate strategy might be (nothing too unexpected).

She will likely be feisty

She will tout her exec. experience (lol)

She will appeal to those who respond to style over substance. She knows that she might struggle when it comes to command of the issues, so she will likely opt to compensate with distractions, and will gloss over facts & specifics with generalizations. The American public is just as clueless as Palin on many foreign policy issues...so viewers may not recognize all of her mistakes. The Republicans understand this... so they will opt for style.

She will hijack Obama's change message & co-opt it as if it was her own all along.

She may attempt to cast Biden as an old timer; a Washington insider who is part of the problem in government. This was one of the main problems that I had with Obama's decision to pick Biden. In many ways, it undermines his change mantra, as well as the perceived distance (ideologically) from Washington D.C. that he enjoyed. Republicans will attempt to exploit this contradiction, just as I suggested.

She may mention the low approval rating of Congress and will attempt to tie that negative perception to Joe Biden (and perhaps even Barack Obama).

Just as McCain has done, Palin will recreate herself in front of a national and international audience. She will cast herself as a Maverick who took on corruption and mismanagement in her own State (barely half true). She will repeat lies that have already been told and debunked....with the hope that Americans won't be paying attention - which unfortunately will probably be the case. The strategy of McCain/Palin seems to be to repeat lies & misinformation over and over again, with the hope that with repetition, voters will begin to believe the lie, even when the lie has been debunked. (the Debunkers never have the same size platform as the liar, so the facts won't reach everyone). This strategy will be at work tonight...watch as she lies about issues THAT HER CAMPAIGN KNOWS are untrue and THAT THEY KNOW have been debunked.

Don't be surprised if Palin is condescending she seems to be at her best when she is patronizing & condescending, just as she was at the Republican Convention.

She may try to bait Biden into a trap by being condescending. Republicans may try to illicit an angry response from Biden or a response that they can later frame as sexist or patronizing. This will help to paint Biden as a Bully.

She will attempt to cast herself as a fresh face, and as a regular everyday American who is looking out for the average Blue collar Middle Class American. Biden will be framed as an elitist New England Democrat. (This is how they will label him because he is well traveled, knows foreign leaders, etc).

Palin may make comments directed at women... as an appeal to women. Don't be surprised if she mentions Hillary Clinton and the glass ceiling.

Be prepared for an attack on Biden... regarding some item from his past that no one is expecting. There is no certainty that this would happen, but it should be seen as a possibility. Any politician with 35 years of experience probably has at least a small graveyard in his/her closet. Obama will also be fair game for Palin. And just about anything goes. McCain/Palin will do anything to win.

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In addition to the above strategy, Palin will also be tasked with remembering her lines. She will feel more pressure at this debate than she felt at the Republican Convention or in any of her previous debates when running for Governor. We know that under the added pressure of the national spotlight and when forced to talk about specifics, she can be rattled. If she gets rattled by the cameras, the crowd, the national spotlight, and the questioning... then all bets are off. This might cause her to forget her lines and lose her footing.

Another pitfall for Palin could be the strict format. The McCain camp put all sorts of restrictions of the debate process, including limits on response times, thinking that this would be helpful to Palin. But it might end up being more harmful. The time limitations will only add to the strain that Palin will be under. She will have less time to formulate her thoughts... this could end up making her shaky.

There will be no lifelines for Palin tonight... all of her lifelines have been used up.

Biden? Biden must maintain poise, must be a gentleman at all times, must avoid patronizing Palin, and must not fall into any of the traps that I mentioned.

The Post Debate Strategy

Spin, Spin, Spin, Spin, and more Spin.

The Republicans are already prepping for this. They have been lowering expectations all week. They have lowered expectations so much that even if Palin does a poor job it won't be so bad afterall. They are also attempting to invalidate the importance of the debate itself. One argument they may use is that Gwen Ifill is Pro-Democrat/Pro-Obama and therefore the debate is invalid (these seem to be the talking points).

Republicans may also attempt to label Biden as sexist and arrogant. There will be no shortage of excuses for Palin, if she gives a poor or mediocre performance.

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NPR Discussion About Past Debates...and Pitfalls that Biden May Face

Now That Vetting Has Taken Place, Palin's Star Is Fading

Favorable/Unfavorable Rating Track

Source of Graph: DailyKos from Research 2000 Polling Data


Now that the public (led by bloggers) and eventually the mainstream news media have put Sarah Palin through some sort of vetting process - although not complete- her star has begun to fade. (see other data from FiveThirtyEight, and Research 2000, ). Her image is falling so fast that it is starting to go through the floor. It appears that McCain may have gained all that he can from his rash VP choice. I wonder if the McCain team now regrets (behind the scenes) the crude political stunt pulled by their candidate.... or if anyone was against those who advised it (Rove is probably in the mix somewhere in all this). Will this be another case of McCain gambling and losing? It depends on what happens in November. There will be plenty of time to look back and evaluate what went right or wrong after election day. But Conservatives are beginning to go into panic mode.

Perhaps Palin can redeem herself and regain traction in the upcoming VP debate. The staging of the event seems to be aimed at bolstering her image, and showing that she can handle the job of VP...or of President. I am looking forward to the debate...even with the phony staging (strict rules, the staying on script approach, and short leash) that the Republicans fought for. The VP debate might be Palin's last chance to show that she can do the job.

I have noticed that she is good at following a set script...But she sometimes gets nervous... and gets rattled. Once she is rattled...once nervousness sets in, she begins to forget her lines. She is currently being coached and taken through crash courses on foreign policy... but that is only good if she can remember her lines...and remember issues surrounding certain topics, certain Countries, etc.

My guess is.... she won't be able to remember all of her lines or what line goes where. LOL The crash courses can only do so much. Cracks might start to form somewhere...and I hope Biden is able to sense it... (without coming off as arrogant).

But of course, all of this depends on what kinds of questions will be asked by Gwen Ifill. Will the questions be substantive and serious requiring substantive and serious answers, or will they be fluff questions designed to make Palin look good for Prime Time? That's what I really want to know... the first 5 minutes will determine whether or not I listen to the rest of the event. If it's fluff, I plan to change the radio station (unfortunately i'll be tuning in via radio).

Special Rules For VP Debate Designed to Help Palin

Exactly how does it benefit women when the VP candidate has to be given special treatment? I don't recall Hillary Clinton getting these special debate arrangements... because she was actually expected to know the issues.

If anything, this sets women back. I suspect, that this is exactly what women DIDN'T want to see happen... at least I would hope that a significant number of women would feel that way.

I was excited about the VP debate being held in St. Louis next month... but it appears that it will be just another dog and pony show. I suspected that something like this would happen, because Palin is such a lightweight. It didn't take Republicans long to take over the debate and impose their own rules.

But even with the new rules and with the cue cards, i'm pretty confident that Palin will still be beaten by Biden; unless he does something really stupid. But then again, Palin doesn't have to win... there is always a lower standard for Republicans. All she has to do is basically show up....and not stumble over too many questions. If she manages to do that, then the whole affair will be seen as a huge success by the McCain campaign... because they'll be able to spin her like a top... touting her foreign policy credentials, her poise under pressure, and other assorted nonsense. And of course these will also be the talking points for the media... they will likely spin it the same way.