Debating Sarah Palin: A First Hand Account

Christian Science Monitor :

When he faces off against Sarah Palin Thursday night, Joe Biden will have his hands full.

I should know. I've debated Governor Palin more than two dozen times. And she's a master, not of facts, figures, or insightful policy recommendations, but at the fine art of the nonanswer, the glittering generality. Against such charms there is little Senator Biden, or anyone, can do.

Read the whole story: Christian Science Monitor

Comments

[Budokan]

Interesting article!

[jaslyn]

Unfortunately for Palin, Tina Fey has already sounded the alert and people will actually be listening and waiting for coherence; should be something new for her. She is a master of b.s. but we're primed to seek that out, so it's not gonna be a cakewalk for her, and hopefully she'll be called out this time, because this isn't about whether a new ice rink will be installed or not.

[siciliabel]

"Against such charms..."??? What? Who is she there to charm? Gwen Ifill? This isn't the Miss Congeniality portion of our pageant. She's there to debate her and her party's platform with her opponent. My hope is anyone who would find her rambling, brittle incoherence charming aren't watching the debate anyay and instead are high-fiving each other in the hope that Joe Six-Pack is finally going to get the representation worthy of him.

[zendem1]

Joe needs to throttle back a gear. He's been looking too angry lately.He needs to relax, and just answer the questions, and let Wingnut girl hang herself .

[FirstShirt]

What you have here is an old stud and a young filly about to race. The front runners are not in the picture. It is all about them. And, you have two people with big egos and a vita to match. Make no mistake. These are two winners and they don't like playing second fiddle.

I suspect the old stud Chairman will grate at his Obama handlers trying to suggest that he should keep his stupid comments to himself and just stick with the freshman backbench senator's crib notes.

And, Sarah will probably feel that if she doesn't win this gig she still has hockey practice and a state to run. Nothing to lose. Plus she will be on a future primary schedule you can bet.

[Unrepentant]

It's true: she's going to string together a buch of talking points in incomplete sentences, attack Obama without answering a single question, and those that support her are going to love it. Will the rest of Americans be smart enough to see through this charade? We'll find out on Friday.

[Sloane7]

After seeing the Katie Couric interview, I can see this is really accurate. Sarah Palin is filled with LOTS of confidence and bluster with absolutely no content. Her response on the papers she reads "All of them! Alaska is so much more! I read them all!" What paper specifically? "I read all the papers and you know..." It makes you wish Katie had just hung on to that question and said, just one name! Because you know the Anchorage Daily News is not a fan of Sarah Palin, not at all. They expose her on a daily basis.

I hope Joe Biden is shows what an empty shell Sarah Palin is. And I hope they go all out on healthcare with Sarah Palin. I cannot believe McCain wants to tax employer paid healthcare and I cannot believe it's received so little attention.

[OneVoiceOfReason]

Don't worry about Joe. He's never been one to pull punches. I believe he'll give her a good bitch-slapping and follow it up with a big smile.

Go get her, Joe !

[CostaMesaJoe]

Non-answers aren't going to work.
Voters will see that as just another one of Palin's uninformed, incoherent ramblings.

[BlueInARedState]

Non-answers always work on idiots. Lots of them out there. Maybe enough to win an election.

[SKonnery]

Sad but true!

[unpoetaloco]

Palin has tried the nonanswer tactic in her interviews and, so far, it has not worked. She didn't (couldn't) name a single magazine/newspaper that she's read, a Supreme Court case other than Roe v Wade.

So I'm not sure people will be fooled by her nonanswer strategy.

[grantlingel]

yeah well with that said, people are beginning to see through her attractive charm and rhetoric... americans are that stupid..

http://grantlingel.blogspot.com

[herhonor]

THIS EXACTLY WHY I AM SO AFRAID OR PALIN, SPECIFICALLY, AND THE OLD CLICHE" NEVER OVERESTIMATE THE INTElLIGENCE OF THE AMERICAN PUBLIC"


"Andrew, I watch you at these debates with no notes, no papers, and yet when asked questions, you spout off facts, figures, and policies, and I'm amazed. But then I look out into the audience and I ask myself, 'Does any of this really matter?' " Palin said. ' "

"While policy wonks such as Biden might cringe, it seemed to me that Palin was simply vocalizing her strength without realizing it. During the campaign, Palin's knowledge on public policy issues never matured – because it didn't have to. Her ability to fill the debate halls with her presence and her gift of the glittering generality made it possible for her to rely on populism instead of policy. '"

You notice the press has quit calling Obama the "celebrity", when the true celebrity the beauty queen arrivided.

[Mattjoe]

She deserves to be politically and intellectually rag-dolled.

No sympathy.

Self inflicted.

[classicalmusicman]

Warning taken. No minimizing that. But isn't that what McCain did in some ways? Oh he "answered" questions, but he also blustered and bloviated, in effect filling up air time, killing the clock, and boring people to death. This was noticed. If Palin indulges as suggested, it will eventually be noticed as well. For a while I wondered about why Obama acceded to the Republican request to limit the debate--short answer periods, no followup, etc. But I sense this may work out. Palin's spinning narratives take time (amazing, considering their vacuousness) she won't have. And limiting Biden's time may not be such a bad idea.

Someone noted that the writer came equipped with tons of data and that Biden may fall into the same trap. But Biden is no dry wonk. He's a passionate guy, if anything too passionate. I don't see the magnetism in Palin's personality--she seems like a nut to me--but she's not the only one here who can fill the room with her presence.

Elsewhere, I read the suggestion that Biden should avoid responding to attacks, if for no other reason, that they waste the little time he has for each session. That is a suggestion he should take. If Obama's performance in his debate is any indication, it's probably safe to say that Biden has heard this advice often.

[Sloane7]

You're right, McCain did do that, but McCain also loves to say POW. Some immediately bow down and say, "of course, POW, how could we upset you after all you went through" and others, like me, get completely annoyed by every war reference because he is all about war, all about declaring half the world a potential threat and always eager to go to the POW well.

[SKonnery]

Every time he says "POW' just think "Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome".

[Yve72]

You're absolutely right! McCain is no different.

[timezone]

Sexism can work both ways: my concern is that a segment of the population believes it would be "mean" of Biden to call her on policies. If they won't be debating back and forth like Obama and McCain did, that will lessen the impression he's "picking" on her! But for all those who believe she shouldn't be held to the same standard of knowledge and political savvy, there's the says " If you want to play with the big dogs, you can't stay on the porch".

[gladys46]

Biden is a father who went home everyday ... "sexism" gender bias!!? ReThugs sheltered this VP pic from day one ... and, now they use her being so sheltered as excuse for "Sarah not being Sarah" bull Sarah has been Sarah ... she's totally rediculous!???

[herhonor]

I agree,Biden MUST play hardball with Palin. We will havce to accepot that the McCain camp will try to eleict sympathy that Biden beat up on the hockey mom, butthis is for the futre of our country. Hopefully, the Obama camp will not sacrifice our country for Palin's hurt feelings and some "bad press" After all she is one that described herself as a pitbull with lipstick; lets see the fight in this dog.

[DebB]

I agree - with that line "pit bull with lipstick" she basically said "Bring it on!"

[DebB]

"But then I look out into the audience and I ask myself, 'Does any of this really matter?' " Palin said. Wow! Well she isn't going to be looking into an audience of moose hunters and "Joe Six Packs" in fact she isn't even going to see most of the audience - but she will be addressing people who are looking for answers!! This time her audience is going to be millions of well educated Americans who DO care about the issues at hand. She is going to have to also "fool" the media evaluating her responses who are actually looking for some substance to grade her on - except maybe Faux and the like. (Sorry to you well educated Alaskans - but she started it!)

[mema01]

Which Sarah will show up Thurs. nite? Sarah the ditsy, cutsey wanna be beauty queen (she lost you know). Sarah the pit bull, snide, sharp, mean and ballsy. Or, Sarah the well rehearsed, memorized, robotic, rovian clone. What do you think?

[Sloane7]

It really depends on the questions. What was brilliant about the question Katie Couric asked, what newspapers do you read, was it was unexpected. It was a great question and Sarah Palin tried to bluster, checking her palm for any newspaper names, then tried to generalize with how sophisticated Alaska is. It's all about the questions.