Where Should the Bar Be Set for Sarah Palin?

Recently, I wrote tongue-in-cheek that because Republican leadership has been exalting the Greatness of Sarah Palin, they'd set the bar incredibly high for her upcoming debate.

Joking aside, after her scary-ghastly interview with Katie Couric last week, even Republicans understand the scope of that failure, witness their refusing to make her available to simply praise John McCain's debate performance. Amid the frightened reaction and volatile fallout, it's become necessary to take a more realistic view of her debate with Joe Biden. It is important to see the actual threshold she must reach.

And so -- where is the bar for Sarah Palin on Thursday?

Democratic leadership is trying to place it high, contending that she's an excellent debater, a "leviathan of forensics," in their words, as shown by her 2006 gubernatorial debate.

Let's be honest -- this isn't true. This is gamesmanship. I've watched the Alaska debate.

And let's be clear the other way: the challenge isn't whether Sarah Palin can debate -- she can, sort of, in a way. Her challenge is whether she can debate topics she's never had to deal with before. And then explain why Joe Biden is wrong, about everything

So, then, where is the bar for Sarah Palin?

Common wisdom would be that she only has to beat expectations. The problem is, that's no longer true. The reason isn't because Republicans raised the bar so high for her (though they did) -- it's that she lowered it so far for herself. Consider: three days after her awkward interview with Charles Gibson, her approval dropped 12 points. Her scary-ghastly interview with Katie Couric then opened the nation's eyes to the threat she poses to America if elected. A Research 2000 poll taken after that interview not only showed her favorable-to-unfavorable rating the lowest of all candidates, but she dropped to minus 10 points! Even in Alaska, her popularity plummeted a stunning 14 points. John McCain may still like to say how popular she is, but his words only keep serving to show how out-of-touch John McCain is.

As a result of her alarming interviews, doing better than expectations is no longer the bar for Sarah Palin. That ship has long passed. If she uses English in her sentences, she has a good chance of exceeding expectations.

At this point, the bar is that Sarah Palin must prove to a concerned American public that she is qualified to be a heartbeat from the presidency. Most especially under a 72-year old candidate with serious health issues.

Sarah Palin must convince the American public that she can actually lead the nation. Not simply do better than expectations. At this point, there are primitive life forms that could do better than her expectations. She must convince Americans that she won't destroy America.

This is no simple task beyond even the obvious barriers. The first hurdle is that America is in the midst of its biggest economic crisis since the Great Depression, and people are especially desperate for serious leadership. The greater difficulty, however, is that after eight years of George Bush, Americans now understand what happens when you give the presidency to someone just because you'd like to have a beer with them, and are demanding substance, unwilling to risk the nation again.

That's where the bar is.

Sarah Palin has to convince Americans that she can handle Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Russia, North Korea, a crushing economic crisis, the $482 billion national debt, health care, education, the environment, nuclear proliferation, the housing crisis, global warming, immigration, abortion, the FBI, Armed Forces, CIA, and every single aspect of national security.

That's where the bar is.

Forget even her childish insistence that she is experienced because she can see Russia. Giving her the benefit of the doubt for her deeper explanation that she really knows all about foreign affairs by reading books -- she has to tell us what books those are. Americans will want to hear what books she has actually read about Pakistan, Iraq, China, Russia, Iran, Latin America, and Venezuela that have made her an accomplished expert. As she claims.

That's where the bar is.

After fearfully avoiding the danger of all major press interviewers, merely wanting to ask her opinion...she has to convince Americans that she can face down the leaders of Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran.

That's where the bar is.

And she set is herself.

It is a bar that focuses on John McCain. Because he chose her. He put America at risk. It was his craven act that put America Last.

The bar isn't to beat low expectations. The bar isn't to show that Sarah Palin can stand for 90 minutes while continuing to breathe. The bar is for Sarah Palin to convince Americans, who have seen her flounder and are at this point terrified of the consequences, that she can actually be President of the United States.

That's where the bar is.

Beating expectations? This isn't about beating expectations. You might not expect a mynah bird to be able to sing "Yankee Doodle," but if it exceeded your expectations, you still wouldn't bankroll it with your life savings star in "Das Rheingold" at the Metropolitan Opera.

This isn't a game show. If you beat expectations, you're safe and invited back next week. You have to prove to Americans, who are now wary, that you can be the Leader of the Free World.

That's where the bar is.

Only weeks before becoming the Republican nominee for vice president, Sarah Palin said she didn't even know what the vice president did every day. What she has to do is convince Americans that she not only knows what the vice president does, but that she understands what the President of the United States does.

And that she can do it.

That's where the bar is.

Comments

[aki]

anywhere the shot glasses are!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[tuttlemsm]

All Joe Biden has to do is show up and refrain from saying a few words about the Great Pumpkin, and he will be fine.

[whitegoldwielder]

He will be fine as long as he doesn't have to talk.

[dagdavid]

No matter how low you set the bar, Palin will find a way to slither under it. How low can you limbo?!

[Infokronea]

Amazing assessment. Very clear. So much so that you have to ask yourself...how did the Bush McCain camp miss making all these important observations themselves in the privacy of their own campaign and wind up with the likes of Ms. Palin for the VP slot? I fear that we have but one answer. We must conclude that the Bush/McCain faction of the GOP has gone off the reality standard. Which brings me to the following: Sen. McCain claims that Sen. Obama doesn't know the difference between a tactic and a strategy. We tend to take that insult at face value, but what if the rules in the Bush/McCain realm are not the same as those of us who are still reality based? So I'm asking you, Sen. McCain: In your special universe, which is Ms. Palin? Is the use of the political equivalent of a female suicide bomber a strategy or a tactic? (And do you get to advance to the next game level if you slay the Congress dragon and rescue Bush's $700 billion princess?)

[notthistime]

"At this point, the bar is that Sarah Palin must prove to a concerned American public that she is qualified to be a heartbeat from the presidency. Most especially under a 72-year old candidate with serious health issues."

Thank you.

[studioh!]

wherever the bar is, I certainly don't want to have a beer with her.
maybe johnny can't wait to introduce her to his favorite bartender in dc.
god help us!

[teacheng]

Don't get overconfident just cause WE can see what a nightmare Palin is. We must keep spreading this knowledge to everyone in the country. People still love her.

This person must not be allowed anywhere near the White House. Our complacency might let it happen.

[WolfLady]

The only people who still "love" Palin are the fundie Kallikaks, who see embodied in her a huge uplifted finger to all of us awful snotty elitists who have the ability to reason on a higher level than a cherrystone clam.

~WolfLady~

[whitegoldwielder]

"People still love her."

Yes many do. And the faux liberals that democrats have become will just have to assuage their sexist angst some other way.

McCain/Palin 08

[UCLAdy04]

Finally someone has said what I've been saying for a week now. The purpose of this debate isn't to prove that she can speak without crapping in her pants, she has to prove that she is qualified and informed enough about a variety of issues to be VP. Where is the evidence that she is capable of doing just that? There is none. The pundits will be falling all over themselves to say how charming and folksy she is and how she won the debate...that's already a given. But the question is will the American people fall for it? The self-inflicted damage is already done. This woman hasn't be attacked the way that Obama has been attacked for 18 months yet her credibility and favorability are destroyed simply by her own stupid words. Yet suddenly she is going to get a clue by Thursday? Yeah right lol.

[joshuahmcdonald]

Elisberg nailed it. This isn't the high-jump. There shouldn't be any bar-setting. I'm so sick of the "politics as a game" mindset that we allow ourselves to fall into.

The expectations SHOULD be the same for both candidates: To prove to the American people that they are ready to step in as President if the head of their ticket becomes unable to serve and thus convince Americans that the ticket is solid enough to vote in to office.

Biden comes into the debate with a much stronger resume and much better known public persona. Thus, the onus really is on Gov. Palin to convince the American people that she has what it takes to lead. She not only needs to tell us what her positions are but to explain why those positions are correct. In contrast to her opponent, we don't know her well at all, other than to know that every time she has gone off script she has ended up deep in the weeds.

[whitegoldwielder]

"Biden comes into the debate with a much stronger resume and much better known public persona. "

Thats a joke, right? He is a goofball that the media loves because he doesn't know when to shut up.

[joshuahmcdonald]

Uh. Ok. Believe what you want, but he is the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and is the former Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Those sound like better bonifides than mayor of Wasilla and 20 month Gov. of Alaska. And he has been in national public office since 1972.

I stand by my statement. And if you really want to argue that specific sentence then frankly you look like a fool.

[tlgeiger62]

I think the bar should be set up backstage because she is gonna need a STIFF drink following this gathering.

[palealien]

I *know* where the bar is. It's finding home afterwards that's the problem.

[DeeDeeDaGumby]

LOL!

[saami]

It is difficult to believe in a nation of this size that there isn't someone else in the Republican party more qualified to run as Vice President with John McCain. This is a scary situation that makes any historical scary situation pale in comparison.

[DeeDeeDaGumby]

Or hey maybe they can get say Romney to just pitch hit for her on the nite of the debate?

[dkerrice2861]

Better yet, Bullwinkle...he's kinda cute and a funny,too!!

[WhiteHat]

Spiro Agnew was pretty far down the evolutionary scale too...

[super]

At this point a mynah bird seems like a good choice. Or see this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jf1y9s73Nos
Palin for President!

[demtotheend]

a must see video - - catching newt's position on Palin during his appearance on 27Sep on This Week (ABC).....this is a must see vido - must see....watch it......psssst....do something
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=RAKjJOnVD60

[ballina]

Palin has a very important bar to clear - she has to prove to me that she is capable of being Commander-In-Chief. My nephew and my son are currently in Iraq and the thought of her being their CIC makes my blood run cold. There are many other issues, but if this was the stated bar for Barack Obama, it should be the bar for Sarah Palin.

[whitegoldwielder]

"My nephew and my son are currently in Iraq and the thought of her being their CIC makes my blood run cold."

Then you must be having night sweats with the thought of the empty suit Obama being the commander in chief. The closest he ever came to the military was an army/navy store in southside chicago. He is dangerous.

[Pegi]

scary stuff - hopefully, after this debate, the election will essentially "be over".

obama/biden