Thread: McCain Aides Say Palin Is "Clueless".

When he faces off against Sarah Palin Thursday night, Joe Biden will have his hands full.

I should know. I've debated Governor Palin more than two dozen times. And she's a master, not of facts, figures, or insightful policy recommendations, but at the fine art of the nonanswer, the glittering generality. Against such charms there is little Senator Biden, or anyone, can do.

On paper, of course, the debate appears to be a mismatch.

In 2000, Palin was the mayor of an Alaskan town of 5,500 people, while Biden was serving his 28th year as a United States senator. Her major public policy concern was building a local ice rink and sports center. His major public policy concern was the State Department's decision to grant an export license to allow sales of heavy-lift helicopters to Turkey, during tense UN-sponsored Cyprus peace talks.

On paper, the difference in experience on both domestic and foreign policy is like the difference between shooting a bullet and throwing a bullet. Unfortunately for Biden, if recent history is an indicator, experience or a grasp of the issues won't matter when it comes to debating Palin.

On April 17, 2006, Palin and I participated in a debate at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks on agriculture issues. The next day, the Fairbanks Daily News Miner published this excerpt:

"Andrew Halcro, a declared independent candidate from Anchorage, came armed with statistics on agricultural productivity. Sarah Palin, a Republican from Wasilla, said the Matanuska Valley provides a positive example for other communities interested in agriculture to study."

On April 18, 2006, Palin and I sat together in a hotel coffee shop comparing campaign trail notes. As we talked about the debates, Palin made a comment that highlights the phenomenon that Biden is up against.

"Andrew, I watch you at these debates with no notes, no papers, and yet when asked questions, you spout off facts, figures, and policies, and I'm amazed. But then I look out into the audience and I ask myself, 'Does any of this really matter?' " Palin said.

While policy wonks such as Biden might cringe, it seemed to me that Palin was simply vocalizing her strength without realizing it. During the campaign, Palin's knowledge on public policy issues never matured – because it didn't have to. Her ability to fill the debate halls with her presence and her gift of the glittering generality made it possible for her to rely on populism instead of policy.

Palin is a master of the nonanswer. She can turn a 60-second response to a query about her specific solutions to healthcare challenges into a folksy story about how she's met people on the campaign trail who face healthcare challenges. All without uttering a word about her public-policy solutions to healthcare challenges.

In one debate, a moderator asked the candidates to name a bill the legislature had recently passed that we didn't like. I named one. Democratic candidate Tony Knowles named one. But Sarah Palin instead used her allotted time to criticize the incumbent governor, Frank Murkowski. Asked to name a bill we did like, the same pattern emerged: Palin didn't name a bill.

And when she does answer the actual question asked, she has a canny ability to connect with the audience on a personal level. For example, asked to name a major issue that had been ignored during the campaign, I discussed the health of local communities, Mr. Knowles talked about affordable healthcare, and Palin talked about ... the need to protect hunting and fishing rights.

So what does that mean for Biden? With shorter question-and-answer times and limited interaction between the two, he should simply ignore Palin in a respectful manner on the stage and answer the questions as though he were alone. Any attempt to flex his public-policy knowledge and show Palin is not ready for prime time will inevitably cast him in the role of the bully.

On the other side of the stage, if Palin is to be successful, she needs to do what she does best: fill the room with her presence and stick to the scripted sound bites.

.

Those little debates that she did in her backwoods town in Alaska weren't moderated by Gwen Ifill. Biden will make Sarah Palin look like a complete idiot and everyone knows it. The GOP is actually asking her to go easy on Palin. What? Why the hell would she do that? The woman thinks she can be president after McCain dies.

Originally Posted by Xei

Unfortuantely Americans are still shitheaded enough to vote for her. It sends shivers down my spine but honestly, I don't have any faith that the majority of Americans won't act like complete fucking morons come the election.

Here's a little bit of information to motivate you.


About 36% of the american population is registered to vote, about 16% get to really decide who becomes the next president.

So, if we registered the rest of the 64% and had them vote for a 3rd party candidate, we would have a C (constitutional party) or L (libertarian party) or I in the whitehouse, not a D or an R.

If we elect a good 3rd party candidate, and elect 3rd parties to senate and congress we could seriously take the country back by outlawing the Federal reserve, the IRS...repealing the military commisions act, the patriot acts, the controlled substance act...and so on

Do you really want little children voting?

Guerilla, your optimism is cute (like you ) but it's too late to go back. Too many people rely on the big state for their very livelihoods. I'm not sure what the actual number is, but I'm guessing tens of millions of Americans are either on welfare or on welfare+work (have government jobs). These people will fight tooth-and-nail to keep the current system going as it has been, because if the government shrinks, they lose their welfare. Therefore, they will fight for the government. In fact, they will violently oppose any movement that has an actual chance of shrinking the government.

There's a reason every historical empire has collapsed violently rather than peacefully, and this is it. Too many of its citizens are attached to the IV of welfare.

Guerilla, the only way to fight this empire we all live in or around is to emancipate yourself from it. Ignore it. Form a community that does not recognize the government. You might need guns.

I can't shoot a living thing with a gun, only paper targets heh...I just can't bring myself to do it

Originally Posted by guerilla

I can't shoot a living thing with a gun, only paper targets heh...I just can't bring myself to do it

That's a good thing. But unfortunately, there are bullies out that that like to capitalize on your humanity. Don't worry; if I ever find myself in a commune with you, I'll shoot the attackers.

I think if it came down to it, you'd shoot them.

Originally Posted by Scatterbrain

Incidentally:

Jesus H Christ.

Originally Posted by grasshoppa

Jesus H Christ.

LOL!!

As for the debate.. Release the lions!!

.

Originally Posted by Clairity

LOL!!

As for the debate.. Release the lions!!

.

Everyone on the news is saying the trick for Biden to win...is to attack her without making it seem like he's attacking her (so as not to piss off the female supporters.)

Biden will PWN palin without a doubt.

The debate is on tonight

Someone get some sad pictures so that I can stop laughing after it ends

Sarah Palin actually did alright. She did a pretty good job of dodging the questions that she didn't know about. She didn't implode like I thought she would like she did with Katie Couric.

they both did very well for their sides. with that said, I kept drifting off when palin spoke and getting annoyed of her empty phrases. I don't want to hear emotional phrases like "the war on terror!", tell me what you are going to do!

Yeah, I'm glad I posted that article about how she dodges, she did a lot of that. I bet she was always the last standing in dodge ball games.

I also liked how she never told us how their policies will differ from Bush's. Nice to see we'll be in for the same amount of epic fail if they get in, more than likely.

Also, it was nice to see Biden shoot back when she tried to pin something on Obama when McCain did the same thing, hehe.

EDIT: Oh yeah, she tried to play her "I don't know what the VP does" thing off as a joke, hehe.

DOUBLE EDIT: I will give her credit though, she didn't nose dive into a concrete floor. She held her own, but I think the night was Biden's.

I don't think anyone thought that she would win, and she didn't by a long shot. She just did better than most people thought that she would.

Did anyone else notice that she continually used the word "nucular" instead of nuclear?

I'm tired of hearing the word Maverick. This is Maverick:

-sings and dances to the "Palin got her ass kicked" song-

Originally Posted by ninja9578

I don't think anyone thought that she would win, and she didn't by a long shot. She just did better than most people thought that she would.

Did anyone else notice that she continually used the word "nucular" instead of nuclear?

I'm tired of hearing the word Maverick. This is Maverick:

I was getting tired of hearing Reagan. Maybe if I ever get to ask her question I'll ask her if he liked his eggs sunny-side up or scrambled.

Originally Posted by nitsuJ

I think if it came down to it, you'd shoot them.

Maybe if my life was in the balance of someones hands, I would...and probably feel terrible after reguardless.

Originally Posted by nitsuJ

I was getting tired of hearing Reagan. Maybe if I ever get to ask her question I'll ask her if he liked his eggs sunny-side up or scrambled.

Yeah, I never got that. Reagan wasn't even that good of a president. He wasn't terrible like Nixon or Bush, but he was no Clinton or Kennedy.

-sings and dances to the "Palin got her ass kicked" song-

She didn't.

Sorry for the wake up call but this wasn't the epic failure that it could easily have been for the Palin camp.

Originally Posted by Xei

She didn't.

Sorry for the wake up call but this wasn't the epic failure that it could easily have been for the Palin camp.

Compared to "what might have been," I agree. It wasn't an epic failure.

But that is merely looking at it through the prior expectation that she would fail miserably. If you look at the debate in the context of who delivered a better message and would make a better vice-president, then she did indeed fail miserably.

Looking much better than expected is not enough of a goal when the expectation was near zero.

Jack Cafferty on Sarah Palin.