Have Dems set up Palin to "win" debate?

"the left's initial vicious freak-out over Palin's selection" consisted of what, exactly?

Yeah, I know about the Kos diarist who did the "Trig is really Bristol's baby" diary. But anyone can become a Kos diarist in five minutes, and "the left" largely disowned that theory, thank you very much.

"The left's" initial response, as far as I can see, consisted largely of finding out who Sarah Palin was, and pointing out lots of gaping, blatant problems with her track record.

If you're going to claim that's not the case, then I think you need to back it up with cites, or link to where you've done so in the past.

"The left" and "the right" both do the same thing when a candidate is announced--opposition research. Bills signed, legislation passed, boring stuff like that, as well as any ongoing problems with the candidate in his/her current office.

In the case of Sarah Palin, "the left" didn't "throw mud and sewage at her," the mud and sewage was already there, in the ongoing "troopergate" scandal, as well as disgruntled former state employees who were fired over not being loyal enough to her.

As for the debate, expectations are so low that she'll get points just for showing up, and Biden has to be extra nice to her, or he'll get called a "sexist." For a self-proclaimed "pitbull," Sarah Palin's awfully sensitive, so he'll have to watch his step.

If Palin can avoid speaking in tongues and soiling herself it will be a miracle. And Biden will, without doubt, jam both feet so securely in his mouth that it will take a crowbar to extricate them.

This debate will be something impossible even to attempt to parody.

I will be surprised if this debate actually takes place.

Rod,
Thank you for being objective. Considering all that's at stake with domestic and foreign policy we need some sound voices on the right.
I didn't watch the Katy Couric interview until I saw the new SNL skit. The really creepy thing was that Tina Fey pretty much hit the CBS interview dead on, especially the ending in which Palin just started mixing random things.
When Clinton perjured himself, as a Democrat I supported impeachment. When Al Gore moved so far to the center in his campaign that I couldn't stand it I actively campaigned for Ralph Nader.
I actually feel that McCain has contempt for the American voters with this VP selection. What happens if McCain's health falters? Is Palin just a puppet; or will she really be running things? Either way it's gonna erode public confidence even further. This was a cynical choice.

"All expectations for Palin are to survive. And even is she does, she is still unqualified. Is this a person who you want to see as a VP?"

And Obama was decent, at worst, in the first Presidential debate. But HE is SILL unqualified. Is HE a person you want as PRESIDENT? You have no argument, here.

Mrs. Trice,

There is no correlation between Palin and Crunchy Cons. If she becomes vice president or, terror of terrors, president, she'll do nothing whatsoever to take the country in the direction a Crunchy Con prefers. In fact, it's much more likely she'll take in the opposite direction.

Much is being made of the "qualifications" (or lack of same) necessary for the presidency and vicepresidency. Obama, Palin and Biden all have the qualifications required by the Constitution, the same being a natural born citizen at least thirty-five years of age and a resident of the United States for fourteen years. McCain too meets the test if you consider being born in Panama to American parents as being "natural born". All other "qualifications" are merely one person's opinion.

With respect to being "qualified" in foreign affairs by taking a foreign junket and being briefed by someone using the same material another in the Pentagon could provide after a Metro ride, your standards are a bit low. Proximity yields knowledge only if one is curious and goes about developing his own data. That hardly describes any politican of any stripe these days.

The key question is who has the best mind and is more likely to use it to America's advantage. Kind of elitist, I suspect, but nevertheless the truth.

if the debate is set up right, Palin will survive it without any embarrasement. After all, as long as she can memorize the talking points and is asked the right questions, she'll be fine. But if she is asked to elaborate or if there is any give and take between her and Biden then she is doomed.

McCain too meets the test if you consider being born in Panama to American parents as being "natural born".

Technically he wasn't born in Panama, he was born in the "Panama Canal Zone", which was essentially a US territory at the time, or at least was considered US territory in diplomatic terms.

Apparently, CBS has footage from the Palin/Couric interview that is even more damning than the incoherent nonsense that they aired. How is that possible? How anyone could still believe that she is a worthy candidate for vice president after seeing that should have their head examined. If CBS releases the footage (apparently they will), I shudder to think how much worse she performance could be...

I'm old enough to remember elections before these debates ever existed. Are we going to be saddled with them forever? Does anyone beside the media really want them that much? Last week when it seemed for a few days that there would be no Friday night debate many people were bitterly disappointed?
Why? Because the gladiatorial games had been cancelled and there would be no chance to witness a gruesome death by words on a weekend evening? And always the hoping for a fearful gaff to use as an instrument for mocking a man or now a woman forever. The disappointment when there is no gaff measures the hope for one.

As to qualifications beyond the constitutional minimum: what a candidate really needs is a crystal ball that works. Who could have foretold 9/11 and all its ramifications? Who could have foretold Pearl Harbor or Sarajevo? So many of these "profound" policy questions asked candidates are based on hypotheticals. What will you do if A, B, or C compounded by X, Y, and Z happens within such and such a time?

None of us can know with certainty how we are going to act when put to the test. All we can know now is how we OUGHT to act when the challenge comes. Character is the bridge between knowing what we ought to do and then doing it. No amount of knowledge, intelligence, advice, or even experience can bridge that gap.

I admit, I keep hoping that the Couric interview was part of the learning process. I think she is qualified. I think she has never been in the national spotlight before, and she's having to learn a huge amount, in a short time, while on the road campaigning and dealing with being a public spectacle.

Maybe she was just nervous. Maybe she's going to get used to it all, learn the correct answers, and find her confidence. It could happen, really . . .

Thank you David. You are a gentleman.

As Dr. Andrew Sullivan wrote today: Biden's best strategy is simply to stay mum, and let Mrs. Malaprop self-destruct.

I think the LA Times has a point and I'm fairly disappointed in her. The bar really has dropped low on her, which is traditionally not what you want when you're the other side. Even if she does poorly she'll likely just stay at the level she is now.

Basically even if she does not win I think it could be difficult for her to lose. I mean unless she basically does say "I don't know" a dozen times or starts screaming in horror.

Patrick: "She was nervous....nervous!!!!???? You don't get time to be nervous if you are asked to be the VP. You don't get time to be holed up cramming about our country, the world, history, politics, the economy. You don't get to go to 'debate camp'."

Patrick I'm sympathetic to this point. I guess I'd say that people would probably give her more slack on this angle if she'd have exhibited more Harry Truman-like humility upon her selection. If she'd said things like "You know, I need to study that more, but I'll get back to you" or "I'm learning from the best minds in the world about that right now" and "Well, I wasn't sure I was ready when John asked me, but I told him that I'd help however I can, and I promise to learn everything I need to learn to be effective." Instead, whenever a journalist asks about her preparedness, her answers have been a variation on "I didn't blink" or "Yes, I'm absolutely qualified and ready right now".

The US has a proclivity, of late, for choosing from among "vainly dumb" leaders, so it seems. It's those with tunnel vision stubbornness, the old-fashioned, unworldly, gun-totin,' "Joe Six-Pack" types who appear to generate considerable interest within the masses. OK, welcome Palin aboard, let rape victims, carry their offspring to term, even though victims of incest. Let her declare war against Russia, in a moment of paranoia, merely attributable to its geographical location. Being an outsider, looking in, the country appears increasingly doomed, under McCain/Palin. She'll be Grandpa McCain's lap dog, until, Heaven forbid, he should succumb to age and lose his marbles, as did Reagan. It seems, btw, he has begun to show signs, already. A third world country solidly in the offing, much to the jubilation of its enemies. What a profound shame!