McCain Camp Working On Palin-Biden Expectations Game

The expectations game is afoot in advance of the debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin. The conventional wisdom's wonderment amounts to these two ideas: Will Joe Biden wield his foreign policy expertise like a bludgeon and hurt the frail damsel from Alaska? Will Sarah Palin be able to complete a sentence without offering up an arrhythmic mashup of ancient McCain talking points? Based upon the pre-debate chit-chat, the best thing either Veep candidate can do for their ticket is confound everyone by standing still and saying absolutely nothing!

So what's a McCain flack to do? If you are Nancy Pfotenhauer, you go on Fox And Friends, a mythical land where they still believe John McCain "suspended" his campaign, and where the idea that McCain bravely paved the way on the bailout package instead of dully gumming up the works still roams from glen to glen like a magical unicorn. Gretchen Carlson is especially adorable, telling Pfotenhauer, "I think this debate thing may have gotten in the way" of the bailout work. That's right! This "debate thing!" Yeah, what was that "debate thing" all about, anyway?

The conversation soon turns to talk of Palin's debate prospects, and Pfotenhauer cheerily intones, "If it's a battle of wits, we like [Palin's] chances." Clearly, the McCain camp has a definition of "wits" distinct from mine, but hey, fair's fair when we're talking about a guy who put FDR on teevee in the late 1920s. The thing is, this upcoming "debate thing" will not be a "battle of wits" (we hope!) but rather a series of questions, and the last time Palin found herself facing "questions" ... well, this happened:

Pfotenhauer knows it, too, which must be why she describes the Couric interview as "a series of trapdoor questions." That's right! Asking Palin things like, "But can you give me any other concrete examples [of McCain's record of leadership on oversight]?" and "You've cited Alaska's proximity to Russia as part of your foreign policy experience. What did you mean by that?" -- those are some REALLY CAGEY TRAPS.

Anyway, the McCain camp is going to keep a close eye on this debate. As Pfotenhauer intimates, if moderator Gwen Ifill asks Palin too many foreign policy questions, she's going to have to answer for it. And to think at one point, foreign policy was considered McCain's strength!

[WATCH.]

Comments

[jro660]

Pfuck Photenhauer

[CocoGrrrl]

lol...Well said!

[atciii]

mccain NEVER went to Capitol Hill, he went to the White House at the Invitation of the President, as did Obama. but NEVER went to Capital Hill to "help" instead he went to dinner with the Liebermans.

[missedith]

I talked to a coworker today...sh­e's no fan of McCain but LOVES!!!!! Palin, and for that reason and that reason alone, will vote for them. Ugh!

[atciii]

the republicans pander to the ignorant. people who will vote 180% against their own interest. women will vote their rights away.

[RhinoCrossing]

She loves the marketing buzz that is Sarah Palin. The real Sarah Palin is a mo-ron.

[OkieIntellectual]

"The average person is more concerned with domestic stuff than foreign stuff anyway."

Okay, two things I see wrong with that statement right off the bat.

A.) Its dumbed down... "stuff"? What is "stuff" supposed to mean? Is this jackhole afraid that his viewers won't understand a big grownup word like "issues" or "affairs", so he has to substitute the word "stuff"? Or perhaps it is he who knows not of more descriptive terms than "stuff". He is a FOX anchor, afterall.

B.) I would really like to see some scientifically valid survey data to back up that claim. Otherwise he needs to qualify a statement like that with an openeer like "I get the impression that..." or "It seems to me that..."

I seriously weep for the future of this once great nation of ours. We all better start learning how to speak Chinese, since they're poised top take our place on the world stage as the dominant superpower.

[karmagirl1061]

Is it just me or does this Pfoetenwhatever woman make you want to throw things at your television when she's on?

[ChewyToy22]

No, it's not just you. The woman just grates my nerves. She's as dumb as a rock. OTOH, rocks have use.

[sg096]

plain and simple...I hate this women!

[notb observer]

If there's only 1, it's spelled WOMAN, If there are more than 1, then it's spelled WOMEN !
It's not complicated ! It's the same rule for the girls and boys. If there's only 1 it's spelled MAN, if there's more than 1, it's spelled MEN !!!
Sheesh !

[MMJones]

Does she REALLY believe the drivel coming out of her mouth??? Pfotenhauer seems like a bright, photogenic spokesperson. But she has lost ALL credibility as she goes down this rosy path of rotten campaigning ala McCain/wha­tzhername. I would recommend that, if she wishes to have a salvageable come Nov 5, she reexplore the BS she is propounding.

I'm not saying she needs to vote for or support Obama/Biden. I'm just saying that 90% of what she is saying is sexist (protect the flower), condescending, and plain idiocy in the face of reason. It doesn't play well on TV or elsewhere.

Plus, she may want to lay off the B*t*x and cosmetic surgery for a bit...

[twohearts]

All I can say is that I love and respect Gwen Ifill and she'll ask her questions to both candidates - as good moderators usually do!
I don't include Gibson, Stephanopoulus (sp?) or Blitzer in that list.

Go Gwen!!

[patianneb]

Hey, Hackandfla­ck.... Go easy? Isn't that sexist? And threatening Ms Ifill? Honey, you don't have the creds, street or otherwise to stand up to her, nor does that Pallid Shadowofaman you work for.

[Hatchibakku99]

Nancy, if it's a battle of wits, Palin is walking into it with wet gunpowder and a dull knife!
I keep BEGGING my friends and family who are McCain/Palin supporters to PLEASE listen to the interviews Palin has done. They still haven't heard them, and still think Palin is the best thing since sliced bread.
AAAARRRRRG­GHHHHHHHH!­!!!!
Maybe the debate will open their eyes. Please, God -- PLEASE!!!

[notb observer]

I just saw Fareed Zakaria (who host the new program GPS on CNN) being interviewed by Wolf "Poppa Surf" Blitzer. Zakaria gave an unemotional but dead-on assessment of Palin. He described her litanies of failures, and added that during her last interview with Couric, she did not even understand the questions, let alone know the answers.
So, with the right wing now turning against her, it's really beginning to look like the end is near for Palin. Now we might find out if this whole Palin nomination was simply a cynical last minute tactic (that's "last minute strategy" to you, Sen McCain) by the McCain camp. If it was, then someone there seriously miscalculated how long they could keep her ignorance under wraps !

[SHOPARAZZI]

that's the most sexist, non-feminist thing she can say.

pfot is full of hot air.

[JoDeeVa]

So, McCain chooses Palin to shore up the 'Stepford wife/mom, gun-toting, pro-life, straight-talking, Jesus loves me' evangelical radical right demographic and let her rip to rile up that base. Man, they just loved the media then, eh?.."Miss­ion Accomplished".

Now they accuse media of being 'mean and sexist' and asking 'trapdoor questions' about things that Palin, herself initiated (and McCain played up) in the first place, as a badge of honor...ma­verick guv of Alaska, next-door to commie Russia, earmark-refusing, 'thanks, but no thanks on that bridge to nowhere', accompanied by all her smart a**-talking, family-loving, world-savvy photo-ops that, like the bridge..we­nt nowhere. Whaaat? Media actually dares to question 'the little woman' about her qualifications to be VP? Can't have that now, can we?

Hmm, if the Republicans were not such upright, honest, straight-talking, honorable citizens and representatives of all that is good and fine about Politick Amerika?..­.I'd have to question their motives and suspect that this diversion was the strategy all along..naa­h, what was I thinking? How can it be so wrong, when it feels so RiGHT?

[MontereyDean]

See, this is another reason to not elect Republicans. Along with them come these despicable attack pets like Pffffttenh­offenoodle­, or whatever her name is.

[WolfLady]

Pfotenhauer is a particularly amusing member of the McGang That Couldn't Spin Straight. I've seen three-year-olds lie far more convincingly. Just wait until after the veep debate, when she'll undoubtedly declare Palin the winner for managing to construct one coherent English sentence.
~WolfLady~