I have said this in a couple of other places, but it is nothing less than brilliant that the job of publicly eviscerating Sarah Palin has been given to Katie Couric. For starters, it instantly obviates the slightest charge of sexism, as Palin herself readily admitted. Secondly, since much of America still thinks of sweet little Katie Couric as “America’s Morning Sweetheart”, the frothing-at-the-mouth right-wing bloviators have a hard time making the claim that Palin is being picked on by Commie Pinko New York Liberal Media Elites. Thirdly, and best of all, Couric hasn’t had to even ask a difficult or controversial question; she’s lobbing big, fat puffy softballs, so nobody can say that she is taking advantage of Palin’s complete and utter lack of experience.
I know everybody and his brother is linking to yesterday’s clip, but it really has to be seen to be believed:
Despite the McCain campaign’s strenuous objections, tonight we are apparently going to be treated to her being unable to name any Supreme Court case other than Roe V. Wade.
And we’ve yet to even get to such topics as dinosaurs co-existing with human beings.
But now there’s a PR effort to make us think that she’s just lulling everybody’s senses and is somehow a brilliant debater who is going to slice and dice Joe Biden. She can’t answer questions about what newspapers she reads or what her running mate has done as a Senator, and somehow her ability to blow smoke out her ass is going to save her on Thursday night?
I have a five-spot that says by Monday morning next week she will be on her way back to Wasilla for good. Any takers?
You serious about the fiver? I’ll take that bet… I’ll give you all the way up to the election. Then she goes home.
McCain is just too stubborn to let her off the hook.
McCain has let the Rove/Bush people call the shots since June, and if they freak out after tonight, she’s out.
That’s my call. You’re on.
No qualifier. Gone by Monday? Right? No extension to election day? U.S. Dollars or interesting equivalent legal tender?
Done.
1. Palin blows the debate.
2. Backlash is enormous, press goes on a total bender through the weekend while campaign freaks out.
3. She quits “for personal reasons” by end of day Monday. (Let’s say 9:00 p.m. Eastern)
I think this scenario has a 75% chance of coming true.
$5 or equivalent alternative (iTunes, Starbucks, whatever)
Accept 1,2,3.
Legal Tender only. Any country.
BTW: I think Biden loses points no matter what: he probably will make one major gaffe, he will come off condescending or preachy or old or all of that.
Palin will be adorable.
Swing women voters eat her up.
Oh, yeah. Biden is in a total no-win situation. All he can do tonight is make sure he doesn’t screw up on his own. He needs to not try to score any points on her, let her strangle herself with her own inability to put together a coherent sentence, and walk away.
People were eating her up, but these clips with Katie Couric have been like a series of small nuclear explosions. People still like the illusion that their politicians are at least minimally competent. Look at how the people in Minnesota turned on Jesse Ventura as he stumbled from one public embarrassment to another as governor. That “she’s just like me!” stuff wears off when people remember that these are elected officials and not sitcom characters.
Legal tender is fine with me.
She did indeed manage to not completely meltdown, so I suppose you’ve probably made five bucks, GLS. We’ll see how things play out over the weekend.
I sat through the whole thing and thought Biden did just exactly what he needed to do — he maintained his focus, sounded in command of his facts (even when he was wrong), and came across as someone who would be a decent vice president.
Palin skated right to the very edge of losing it several times and only managed to save herself by totally changing subjects and returning to the notecards she was reading from. She also tried the “increasingly adorable” tactic that SNL nailed her on in the most recent skit, but without any audience reaction it fell flat and made her look desperate and pathetic.
I also agree with the sentiment I’ve seen in several places that Gwen Ifill did a TERRIBLE job as moderator. I suspect she had been spooked by the favoritism claims regarding her Obama book. The next debate will be moderated by John McCain’s good buddy Tom Brokaw, so I expect that Obama will have to play defense all evening for that one.
The hocker mom spit out a nearly flawless performance!
She IS adorable.
Hold onto your fiver…