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MmeGigs -> RE: Low expectation as they apply to Palin (9/29/2008 8:45:47 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: slvemike4u
Sarah Palin's abysmal interviews recently have lowered expectations to the point where all Palin has to do is not trip walking up to the podium, is this enough for you?
I don't think that this is what's happening. Rather than lowering expectations, Palin's abysmal interviews seem to be raising concerns for a lot of folks. It's raising suspicions about the McCain campaign's stated reasons for keeping her in a bubble. There are certainly folks who will love her no matter what, but they aren't the people the GOP has to worry about. kittinSol's quote from Kathleen Parker's article isn't an isolated phenomenon.
I don't think Palin will have to win the debate to come out of it a credible candidate, but she'll have to come across as confident and reasonably well-informed which doesn't seem very likely in light of the interviews. She might be able to pull that off if the debate format was like many in the past, where the moderator asks a question and the candidate recites their talking points, but that's not how it's going to be. The format will be the same as in last Friday's debate. She'll have to be ready to discuss specific issues at some length and not just respond to the moderator's questions but to Biden's comments. Biden can be counted on to shoot from the lip at least a time or three, but I suspect that it will not go well for her or for McCain no matter what Biden does.
quote:
Does not McCain's selection of this train wreck prove he is unfit for the office he seeks?
No. Part of fitness for office has to be ability to get elected. These are very political times and he made a political decision. Things were looking pretty bleak for him last spring. They started looking up when the Democratic contest heated up. They looked even better when the Clinton supporters started getting angry about being told to sit down and shut up. I imagine he figures he has to go for broke, and that's what he did in choosing Palin. It definitely solidified his support among social conservatives and it got the attention of the pissed off Clinton supporters. It was a decision that would have paid off for him big in 2000 when the economy was good and we weren't at war, but the world's a lot more troubled and complex now.
I believe he made a mistake in thinking that they could pluck her out of nowhere and plop her onto the national stage with virtually no preparation. While I have no doubt she's politically savvy, she doesn't seem to be particularly quick on her feet when it comes to issues. Her handlers haven't done well by her - they haven't made the most of her strengths. They should have taken a page out of Jesse Ventura's playbook. Jesse wasn't up on every issue but he turned it to his advantage. That he didn't have positions on some issues meant that he was going to listen to what the voters had to say. Admitting that he wasn't an expert gave him a stable spot from which to question the professed expertise of his opponents. I think that Palin might have been able to pull this off.
It's still a long way from Nov 4, anything could happen, but I suspect that Palin will be a net loss for the McCain campaign.
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