Why Sarah Palin Is A Better Debater Than You Think

Sarah Palin might not give a good interview, and John McCain's advisers might not trust her to give a press conference, but in a highly structured debate like the one we are going to see on Thursday night, she has the ability to be dominant.

Because the format allows for very little give-and-take between Palin and Joe Biden, her "values"-oriented debating style stands a good chance of succeeding. The central feature of her debate style is that rather than getting bogged down in facts and specifics, she instead says what she is for and what she is against using terms like "healthier," "stronger," "more prosperous," and "fairer."

Andrew Halcro, who has debated her, explains his experiences debating Palin:

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.

That sounds like a backhanded compliment, and perhaps it is, but that doesn't change the fact that Palin's debating style works, as you can see for yourself in this video that I edited together.

For the video, I looked at her past debates and randomly grabbed six answers that I thought were pretty good. These weren't cherry-picked answers, they were just the first six answers that I thought she handled effectively. (I only rejected one answer in which I felt she was too defensive about her experience.)

Given the debate's format on Thursday night, I expect Palin will do just fine. I will be quite surprised if she gets caught off guard or has a moose-in-headlights moment.

I don't think she'll display much in the way of specifics, but she will get the values-oriented language right, and that should be good enough at least for a draw, and that will mean she beats expectations.

Of course, the real political issue in the debate isn't whether or not Palin meets or beats expectations, it's whether she is able to make a case for John McCain that John McCain hasn't yet been able to make for himself.

That's something no vice presidential candidate in history has been able to do, and should serve as a reminder that in the end, this election is still between Barack Obama and John McCain.

Comments

[pomawg]

08:49 PM on 10/02/2008

DONATE NOW: http://www.barackobama.com

[utopianleft]

06:07 PM on 10/02/2008

Running for office is Alaska, the 47th largest state in America in terms of population, and running for the vp office of the United States. No comparison. Stay in Alaska, Sarah. Pleaasseeee!!!!

[pollyrobin]

06:57 PM on 10/02/2008

I'm still wondering how she became governor of Alaska, after only being mayor of a town
of 5000. In any case, she can not answer a question, does not understand the questions,
and is totally unqualified to be anything other than a mayor of 5000. I am still wondering
what they were smoking or drinking when they voted her governor of Alaska. Oh, I got
it, her staff was able to fill out all those government forms to get government money.

[papaobe]

06:04 PM on 10/02/2008

I disagree with the last point. Make no mistake about it - this election is no longer Obama vs. McCain. It is Obama vs. Palin. We would not be worrying about the outcome of November's vote if McCain had picked another running mate. Choosing Palin galvanized the Republicans who were less than enthusiastic about this election. As you may recall, many Republicans were threatening to stay home this election. Now Plain is on the ticket, and the right wing is giddy with glee! However, the polls seem to be showing that Palin's veneer is peeling. This is a good sign because anyone who believes that dinosaurs walked the earth with humans 6000 years ago should be kept as far away form the Presidency as humanly possible!!

[JenMI]

05:39 PM on 10/02/2008

Palin's debate performance in the governor's race is clearly no indication on how she will perform tonight. She was speaking to a much narrower range of issues...bottom line.

[cruisepuppy7452a]

04:09 PM on 10/02/2008

Palen is no debator. She is the consumate BS artist who refuses to do the work, learn the material. She cannot expect to run a country on crib notes. She better be able to spew more than the party line as right now, the people of American don't want to hear it. Her own party thinks she is unfit for office. They want her out, she is too radical in her beliefs about getting to heaven fast. We don't need someone who is willing to kill millions of innocent people becuase her religeon tells her so. If that doesn't scare you it should. She is mentally unfit. As for the debate, she can try to mislead the best of the best, try to change the subject, confuse him, but it won't work. This guy is a pro. She can't BUllshit her way through it as he knows his facts. Schools over Palen,you are in the big leagues now. This isn't a beauty contest in which you can bat your eyes, wiggle your ass and think you can fool anyone. Not going to work here. We expect someone who has it together mentally and with ability, and you lady have neither.

[MountainBiker818]

02:43 PM on 10/02/2008

Why is it democrats don't see any problem with Gwen being the moderator but refused to have the democrats debate on fox news?
  
Double standard?
  
Or hypocrites?

[yannb]

05:24 PM on 10/02/2008

No. We're simply smart. And we're becoming crafty, cunning, double-faced schemers.
We learned from the best. It seems to be the only way a US election is won these days. Thanks to the standards which the Republicans have set.

[MountainBiker818]

02:40 PM on 10/02/2008

So Palin is a better debater than democrats thought?
 
No surprise. Democrats have never been good at predicting. (see fannie mae & freddie mac for proof)
 
Is this the first step to making excuses for the human gaffe machine looking less than deserving of the veep slot?

[Swedishgal]

03:41 PM on 10/02/2008

Most intelligent people understand what he means. Name one person that hasn't ever made a gaffe. Joe appeals to these people. He is very deserving of the veep slot and more. I suppose you love Palin and her non gaffes huh? She's perfect in interviews, answers the questions with incredible intelligence and she's very knowledgeable according to those that think like you. Lay off our guys! They're a thousand times smarter than your team. Our guys weren't involved in Freddie or Fannie. Keating 5 anyone?

[Rumba]

04:02 PM on 10/02/2008

She is a terrible debater, but demonstrates defensive cunning in not answering questions. Hopefully she will not be allowed to get away with that nonsense tonight.

[ImagesAndAdjectives]

01:21 PM on 10/02/2008

Well, she understands Alaska. Good for her!

[csms42]

02:07 PM on 10/02/2008

Regarding Palin being a representative of the common person , "Joe Six-Pack or the ordinary peron.
Well, that is the problem we have with some of our leaders in the military, congress and in the business sector. Real leaders are not ordinary, joe six-pack nor common, they are extraordinary and uncommon people!
Look around or research the leaders you may know and I will guarantee that the most successful do not have common or ordinary back grounds. Then on the other hand look at Bush, failure in the oil business, a common governor of Texas, and do not forget he barely made Cs in college. MCCain was about 994 out of a class of 998 at the Naval Academy and while a POW, gave comfort and aid to the enemy by making statements to the North Vietnamese, that he had "committed war crimes against the people of N. Vietnam", not an extraordinary POW, right?
Do not fall for this ordinary person bull****. Thats why sometimes ordinary people vote for extraordinary people to be their leaders. When they vote for ordinary men like Bush, well, get the idea?

[p marie]

04:46 PM on 10/02/2008

She does seem to do a hell of a lot better on issues she knows a thing or two about ie. Alaskan issues. However, as we've all heard in her interviews, she knows nothing about national or international issues, nothing. She has spent her political life concerning herself exclusively with issues close at hand, Alaskan issues, and that's truly understandable and commendable if that's where she wants to stay but once she turned her ambition to VP of the nation her ignorance was glaring and this is not something remedied overnight. It would take years for her to be at the knowledge level of Obama, McCain, Biden, Clinton and so on and so on.

[flatus]

01:03 PM on 10/02/2008

I had a chance to see Palin's competition for governor last night. The man was clearly an a-hole. That rarest of breeds, a Demcratic a-hole!. Her path the governors mansion (log cabin?) was made easy by this. As to her debate performance, respectable for sure. But then the issues were narrow . As narrow as one would expect in such a sparsely populated state. No, the defining factor for Palin seems to be access to a teleprompter or cue cards. Without one or both of these, she is anchorless.

Question: why do we allow speech writers in our political process? Anyone want to field this question?

[Carsy]

11:48 AM on 10/02/2008

I am not really concerned how someone does in a controlled setting after days of prepping for expected questions. I want to see how she does when surprised? Oh, wait we have seen that.

[standforpeace]

10:29 AM on 10/02/2008

I'm hoping that Gwen is going to ask the kinds of questions that require specific answers and that Biden will use his time to give those answers and demand specifics from Palin. This is a time when we need to know where the candidates stand and get the information that we require to assess their readiness to serve as president. I hope that the American people hold each of the candidates responsible for providing that information and punish any candidate that uses the debate to obfuscate.

[WritusMaximus]

01:38 PM on 10/02/2008

Gwen is on notice to be "fair" to Palin, don't you know!

[flatus]

12:33 PM on 10/03/2008

Was Ifill responsible for those softball, easy-to-prepare-for, mundane, pedestrian, run-of-the-mill, hackneyed, trite questions? Very disappointing.

[Needrealchange]

09:53 AM on 10/02/2008

I feel that Sarah CAN debate and hold a decent conversation about things she is well-versed in. The issue is SHE IS NOT WELL-VERSED in American issues. For Alaska's 600,000 people that is just where she belongs. The entire state of Alaska's population is SMALLER than the CITY of Detroit.
Now does that give you some perspective?
We all feel confident and can speak for days and nights about things WE KNOW and have FACTS to back it up. But on the contrary, things we DON'T know, we tend to stay away from, as well we should.
Well as a VP candidate, I am sorry, it is not sufficient enough for you to JUST KNOW ALASKAN POLITICS.
I need you to be able to speak clearly, confidently and precisely on the issues that the entire country faces....not just Alaska.

This is totally obsured!
Matt Damon said it best "this is like a bad Disney movie."

Sarah please step down if you really LOVE this country. Please.

[OleHippieChick]

07:00 AM on 10/02/2008

When she starts her BS, Joe B should use ONE of his answers to mock her, saying something like, "Roof shingles! Meatloaf! Clown car! Dingleberries! Pie!," to make it obvious she's blithering.

[ImagesAndAdjectives]

01:23 PM on 10/02/2008

LOL!

[dkerrice2861]

05:23 AM on 10/02/2008

All reports say she was a great debater when she was running for governor, but this is a totally different stage. Never in history has a VP debate been as important as it is today. I truly believe people are taking this seriously and are beginning to see right through her. People are EXPECTING her to answer the questions, not side-step them! Oh, don't get me wrong she will definetly try to charm her way through the whole debate, with her "I'm just like you" stories, but I think people (outside her base) are really fed up with the BS she is dishing out!!

[TRichards]

03:27 AM on 10/02/2008

"Winning" the debate through charm and folksy give-em-hell bluster is something that may be possible, but the fact remains is that one cannot govern when bone ignorant on the issues. We've had eight years to prove that. Should McCain die in office, we'll have more of the same -- an inarticulate, incurious, and dangerous bluffer at the hands of the neocon handlers. (Should he not die in office, we'll have international Hail Mary passes that are fearsome to even consider since McCain is barely in control of his emotions and -- surprisingly -- any issues other than warring.)

The key thing to be learned from Sarah Palin is the sheer audacity of McCain's empty claim that he puts America first. Young McCain may have. Old McCain has become a very rich (by marriage) political hack who wants the presidency TOO much. His campaign and message are dishonest, reckless, and shameful.