Don't Underestimate Palin's Chances In the Debate

[trynotto_giveuphope]

I've posted comments about this before but I just want to make it clear:

Don't underestimate Palin's chances in the debate. There's a reason that campaigns play the "expectations game" and we're doing the Obama camp a disservice.

Right now, everybody's expecting Palin to make a fool of herself and, if she comes off even halfway intelligent without any major gaffes, this will be a win for the McCain camp and we could find ourselves right back where we were after the Republican convention.

"Hmm...Maybe she's not as dumb as the librul media wants me to believe," says the undecided voter to herself.

Go youtube Palin's performance in the Alaska governor debate. She doesn't do bad, even if I hate everything she has to say.

We ought to be building her up, so we can tear her back down :)

[tblue]

1. Sarah is a FABULOUS debater. I have ENORMOUSLY HIGH EXPECTATIONS of Sarah!

[Bucky]

35. I can see Russia when I stand on top of my expectations for Sarah

Which is why I qualify to be her national security advisor when her term starts in 2010, don'tcha know.

[BOSSHOG]

41. Mr we could use a man like Herbert Hoover again

didn't need no welfare state
everybody pulled his weight
guys like us we had it made
those were the days

[Davis_X_Machina]

2. Doesn't matter...

...bubbles don't un-pop. She's the electoral-politics equivalent of Beanie Babies™ -- a few folks will always want her, but she'll never trade for $90 on eBay again....

[BOSSHOG]

6. I think Pet Rock is a better comparison

[Cha]

30. Pet rock is

good.

[Union Thug]

3. Yup. And Biden has been playing it the right way...

..she's a formidable opponent. I hope I do as well as Obama, etc.

[hamsterjill]

28. Yes, Joe is right!

He has been very respectful in his discussions about Palin. As he well should be.

But I'm not as gracious as Joe is, and I hope he whoops Palin's disrespectful ass on Thursday. I think the comment that Palin made referring to Joe's age and length of service in the Senate was just horrible, considering who her running mate is.

[Richardo]

4. that's what the campaign is doing, but it's a hard sell (and pretty transparent)

Too many people have seen the stammering simpleton.

[CakeGrrl]

13. As long as the Obama/Biden team preps as if she's "the great debater", it's all good

Even if she manages to string together coherent sentences, Biden should be prepared to show people that that isn't enough to fill the VP role given our dire economic situation and our numerous foreign policy challenges. Now is not the time to learn on the job.

[rucky]

5. We already know she'll have some rehearsed zingers...

the question is, will they make any sense in context of the the questions she's supposed to be answering?

[trynotto_giveuphope]

16. Yes, She's Gonna Be Rehearsed Beyond All Belief

It's gonna be about the zingers period!!! As long as she can get some genuine laugh lines, that's all they're expecting of her. So expect the MSM to replay those sound bites ad nauseum.

And, btw, I like your ref-attired Touchdown Jesus pic. I used to live not too far from that thing. A few years back, my friends had the bright idea of stringing some balloons together and putting them around the Big Jesus's neck for Mardis Gras. But the security around that place is ruthless.

Fun Fact: About 200 yards away from Touchdown Jesus is the Traders World Horse, a life-size, anatomically-correct stallion atop a billboard that all the kids giggle at whenever driving down to Cincinnati. So the joke is: maybe Touchdown Jesus has his hands spread apart like that b/c he's praying to be "built" just like the horse?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

7. Sarah Palin supermen are our superiors.

Our Joe Biden untermensch have no hope. It's a trap. The cake is a lie.

[apnu]

8. You are correct, everybody thought Obama was going to make a fool of McCain...

... in the first debate and he didn't. Obama won, IMO, but he did not embarrass, nor did McCain embarrass himself during the debate (outside of that not-looking-in-the-eye thing)

Palin, will not be the spectacular blunder that everybody thinks she will be. I expect flubs from her, but nothing crazy.

[apnu]

9. You are correct, everybody thought Obama was going to make a fool of McCain...

... in the first debate and he didn't. Obama won, IMO, but he did not embarrass, nor did McCain embarrass himself during the debate (outside of that not-looking-in-the-eye thing)

Palin, will not be the spectacular blunder that everybody thinks she will be. I expect flubs from her, but nothing crazy.

[Cooley Hurd]

10. Palin's gonna win the debate...

.






..






...




:rofl::spray: I just CAN'T keep a straight face!:rofl:

[oviedodem]

11. THe format is to her advantage, there is no back and forth so she is shielded and can attack

[jberryhill]

12. I'm just hoping she goes for the "snarky zingers"

Those are so off-putting, and hardly reflect the temperament that independents are looking for.

[Viking12]

14. Yep. Soft landings come with Low Expectations.

[Sodan]

15. I'm concerned, game over, man, game over!

[trynotto_giveuphope]

18. Now Don't Get Me Wrong

I don't think she's gonna win. I'm just saying that we can't expect a 90-minute Katie Couric disaster. If she holds her own, we'll get a week of the MSM narrative: "Have we all underestimated Palin?" And the McCain camp will milk any such narrative for all it's worth.

[yellowcanine]

17. Don't overestimate her either based on Alaska gov debates. That is the bush league.

This is the big leagues. Biden is a big league player. Sarah isn't. The difference will be stark indeed. Sarah will be Sarah, spouting generalities and canned answers about issues she knows little about and repeating things that have already been shown to be untrue. Biden will be Biden and he will not need to show Sarah up - she will hang herself with her banality.

[trynotto_giveuphope]

19. That's What I Hope Too, But!

But! The fundie base scares the hell out of me.

Remember when we ridiculed the Shrub for saying Jesus was his favorite philosopher? The fundie base ATE that shit up! For breakfast!

She doesn't have to sound smart to win the debate.

[yellowcanine]

22. The fundies aren't who she has to win over. She could bark like a dog and the fundies would say she

won. It is the moderate Republican women and independents that she has to win over. They tend to think so she is in trouble.

[ginnyinWI]

20. most viewers favor a reality-based view of the world.

Heck they're living in it day by day. The la-la land view won't hold up too well except for Sarah's fan club.

[Stop Cornyn]

21. Too late ...

[paparush]

23. I'll bet you a full set of moose antlers and a brand new 30.06 that she

has more "cringe moments" than John McCain at a Chris Rock show.

[H2O Man]

24. Her chances of what?

[uppityperson]

25. Are you advising us to start talking positive about Palin?

Please clarify. If we start talking positively about her, how will this help?

[H2O Man]

26. "She sure has wonderful shoes.

Don't underestimate her shoes, until you have walked barefoot for a mile in them." See?

[uppityperson]

27. It just seems, um, counterintuitive.

[Rectangle]

29. We should not lower the bar for ANYBODY!!!

He/She has to get over that Commander-In-Chief threshold-Period!
He/She is running, basically, for President of the United States :rant:

[DCBob]

31. It won't matter. In fact I am hoping she does just well enought that McCain won't drop her.

She is a huge liability. We do not want Mittens or Rudy or Jeb Bush in there now.

[CoopersMom]

32. Don't forget Palin is a former media announcer

back in the day. Doesn't matter that she wasn't very good, but she's had that training and uses it every time she steps up to a podium. All I remember is how everyone was yukking it up before Bush's first debate, speculating on how badly he would do. Although he didn't debate well, the MSM said he won 2 of the 3 debates based on Gore's mannerisms. Basically, for the MSM, it's not the content of the response but the delivery, and for that reason I think everybody should be prepared to have the MSM call Palin the winner unless she starts speaking in tongues. I frankly don't think it matters that she's as dumb as a sack of hammers, as long as she has a pulse when the debate concludes and hasn't declared war on Iran or Pakistan, she's the winner. I can just feel a trap being set for that "gamechanger" the media keeps saying McFalin need.

[Bucky]

36. Welcome to DU, Mom.

Tell Cooper high for me.

On edit: Oops, subconcious drug related type

[renate]

42. welcome to DU!

:hi:

And I think you're right about how it's not the content of the response but the delivery. I do hope that because the media has spent so much time slamming her already, they have a certain amount of motivation to not give her much credit in the post-debate discussion, because that would make them look like they'd been wrong all this time. But the average viewer is just going to see a confident response (assuming she gets it together enough to offer one) and not listen to the actual, you know, content.

[blue_onyx]

33. Well, I don't think she'll do well

I'm not trying to underestimate her but just look at her performance in the month or so since she was picked. She hasn't been able to give good answers for any questions....all she is able to say is the scripted BS she memorized before the interviews. She may not do as horribly as some think but I don't see her doing well.

[HughMoran]

34. I'm going to cringe when I hear her spewing one of the right-wing talking points

Of course, the hope is the entire country will cringe, but there is no guarantee of that, so vigilance!

[Rosa Luxemburg]

37. I wouldn't underestimate the people who are training her

[onenote]

39. exactly

as somone who has prepped really bad witnesses for hearings, depositions, etc., you can get almost anyone to the point where they will get a passing grade if you find their comfort zone and instruct them to stay within it, no matter what happens. She won't sound like she knows a lot, but she won't come off as a doofus either, I suspect.

[A-Schwarzenegger]

38. That is the most beautiful story I ever heard.

[casus belli]

40. We have nothing, I repeat NOTHING to worry about.

You can not feign that sort of stupidity.