The only vice-presidential debate will be held tonight in St. Louis; and most of the media coverage have been concentrating on whether Sarah Palin will appear as qualified to be President, should something, God forbid, happen to John McCain.
Over the last two weeks, Palin has been hammered for being unprepared, and even plain inadequate. She has given several interviews which have attracted lots of negative attention and insolent impersonations of the Alaskan hockey-mom vice presidential nominee.
Even in conservative circles, the initial enthousiasm has seemed to wane and there has been criticism of John McCain's choice for number two slot, nevertheless Palin's appearances at campaign event still attract huge crowds.
On the conservative National Review Online, you can read several rather damning articles on her candidacy. The toughest criticism and most radical solution is voiced by Kathleen Parker : she suggests that the VP candidate should step down now and give another chance to McCain to select someone that would be better prepared for the job. The op-ed ends with the line : "Do it for your country"! Whether this would actually help the Republican ticket, regardless of who takes her place, is rather doubtful : how could John McCain recover from an error in judgement so awful that it is Palin herself who admits to it by tending her resignation? Read the "Palin Problem" now.
Other commentators however still harbor high hopes for Sarah Palin and wish she would fight off the liberal media blitzkreig.
The end result is that the expectations for Sarah Palin's performance have been lowered in such a fashion that to make a favourable impression, she only needs to appear articulate and capable of giving policy points and not going in circles, repeating a hugely simplified talking point. The past campaings has proved that Governor Palin has the ability to hold her own. The fact that she is a woman will force Joe Biden to be more careful so as not to appear to be patronizing, this might make it easier for Sarah Palin to give a good performance.
- how will Sarah Palin attack Obama? probably not on his lack of experience of foreign affairs.
- how will Joe Biden discipline himself so as not to alienate voters and especially women
If you are very passionate about the election, do watch the debate in the middle of the night and up date us on how you think it went...
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