I don't really think that the Veep debate plays all that big a role in Presidential politics. After all, Cheney pretty handily smacked Joe Leiberman around, and we all know how the 2000 election turned out.
But there is one possibility that that could change tomorrow: if Sarah Palin comes out and goes like a real hockey mom, this could be something to see. Joe Biden is such a blowhard, and Gwen Ifill is now a demonstrated shill, so the stage is ripe for Sarah Palin to take the lead and dominate.
I'm reminded of an episode of The West Wing. The President (Martin Sheen) takes to the stage and throws around some of the sharpest, most pointed attacks against his opponent and makes no point of appearing bipartisan or appearing likeable. And, in this fictional world, he dominates the debate. The rationale of the staff was that polling showed that, no matter what he did, he was going to be seen as arrogant, so "you might as well knock some people down in the process."
Now, I don't think Sarah Palin is seen as arrogant, but the expectations for her are so low, from a political standpoint, that she should feel free to go out and throw some elbows. And do it with a smile.
Here's a thought--let Biden be Biden, and then show the same smiling disdain for him that Couric, et al. have shown for her for the past several weeks. And take a few shots at the media while she's at it. For instance, I would love to hear these two lines:
"Well, Senator, I can appreciate the importance of trying to calm the markets and reassure the American people. Unfortunately, I don't think you do that by talking about how the then-Governor of New York went on a device that wasn't invented for ten years to show Presidential leadership. And I don't think you do that by saying 'I'll come to help if they want me to.' The great ones always want the ball when then game is on the line, and when the game was on the line last week and into the weekend, only one candidate was where the ball was."
"No, no, I'm sorry, Ms. Ifill. With all due respect, I'm not going to let you cut me off when Senator Biden was just given two minutes to expound on nothing. The American people deserve to hear the other side of that issue, they deserve to know the connections beween Senator Obama, the Democrats in Congress, and the problems in the financial markets. And since you and your colleagues have shown no interest in doing YOUR jobs, I'm going to take this opportunity to tell the American people what they need to know to understand."
C'mon, if you're gonna claim to be a hockey mom, you might as well throw a few hip checks. . .
and all with that winning smile. | |
