You could lower the bar even more and she will still not be able to reach it. Debating a two-term state rep in Alaska is not the same thing as debating a long serving US Senator. Palin will do well to reach Dan Quayle's level of performance.

Andrew Halco just failed to tailor his message to the population. I used to live in Fairbanks, Alaska and while I was no longer a resident when Sarah Palin was elected, I was when Frank Murkowski was the Governor. Anyone could have beat him, but a Republican had an advantage. Tony Knowles had already served two terms and people didn't want him back. Andrew Halco was an independent with little support. Who cares what he thinks about Sarah Palin?

Remember, they are trying to win over the independent voters in the middle and undecided voters. She is going to choke big time.

The more I hear about the details of this town hall format, with it's short 90 second answers, the less I'm liking it. I'm thinking it will not effectively expose Palin's utter lack of preparedness to be VP. Even if Biden is offered a rebuttal opportunity it would be how long, 60 seconds, or 30?

Palin will be able to easily B.S. her way through 90 seconds answer clips. Watch her spend at least half that time empathizing and otherwise feeling the pain of "Joe six-pack" before even starting to deliver ideological boilerplate B.S. about the actual question.

Libertine, a good post.

I expect Joe Biden will debate down to Palin's level. But let's pray he is able to pull it off without appearing to condescend- a really, really tough assignment.

He might have to adjust sideways rather than down, Palin's reality being one that's parallel to what works for the rest of us. Talk in her language, if that is what we mean.-Come to think of it how in the world does McCain talk to her??- But Biden has charm that more than matches hers. Maybe he can just kill her with kindness.

It may fall on Ifill to make this debate work, as part of her job is to help each candidate's message self-actualize. Hope she does a great job. Lehrer sure did last week.

Maybe. Maybe not.

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.

A master of the non-answer? Uh.. I think not. It's hard for me to take this guy seriously. At any rate, what effect do you think it has to beg the Cafe to "stop lowering expectations" of her?

Yeah. She's good .Like many of you I/ve watched a video of her Alaska debates and decided she'll she'll come out of her debate with higher ratings.
In fact probably with a majority saying she "won" the debate.

But I don't think that'll be a game changer unless Biden not only loses but loses in a way that creates sympathy for her.

The nearest model I can think of for him is Obama's handling of McCain. Attack her positions, not her. No put downs. When she makes a mistake correct it as a discrete mistake but don't treat her the way McCain acted to Obama. "Senator Obama doesn't seem to understand" -which I think cost Mc the election.-

A good rule is that if we're satisfied tomorrow evening , that's probably bad news.

The nation is a lot more diverse than the folks who consider themselves to be "Joe Six Pack". Biden doesn't have to debate "down" to Palin. Just look at their answers to Katie Couric about Roe V Wade. Biden, no BS, no patronizing or sermonizing, just reasonable, non-threatening, discussion. Palin, lots of pompous and disingenuous posturing which didn't even give her true position. She is over her head and it will show. He is comfortable and in command of the discussion without trying, and it will show.

Andrew Halcro is one of the smartest people in politics we've ever had in Alaska. Why didn't he beat Palin? Well, I would have voted for him, but he ran as an independent in a red state, wasn't all that well known statewide, and it was clear in the general election he wasn't going to pull the votes down. A few days before the election, the polls had Knowles, the Dem, and Palin just 1% apart. I felt I didn't have any choice but to vote for Knowles, although I wasn't wild about having him back as governor, either.

Honestly, we were so exhausted by the banal corruption and mendacity of Frank Murkowski that too many of us thought, "Oh well, any of them are better than that jerk again." He had the worst approval ratings of any governor in America--19 percent.

Halcro and Knowles are absolutely right--she was slippery as hell. Why do you think McCain pressed for this changed format in the debate? Because she's better at short, snappy talking points, not long, drawn-out, thoughtful answers and give-and-take. I can't believe Obama/Biden agreed to the change.

My prediction is she'll sound a wee bit smarter and/or confident than she has (not too hard anyway) because she won't have so much room to fill up with idiocies, and she'll be just snarky and aggressive enough to make it seem like she's "debating."

But who is she out to impress? The conservative/fundamentalists are all about her, no matter what. She'd have to kill one of her own children on stage to change their minds. And I'd like to think that enough of the undecided/leaners have already figured out her shtick that they won't be as bedazzled as they might have been earlier. She'd have to sound like Einstein at this point to reassure anybody who's unsure.

I hope. She IS a slippery little weasel. Not smart, but definitely cunning.

This blog is due to expire soon, so thanks to all of you who participated. I appreciate all your perspectives.

Be sure to send in your final campaign contributions as early this month as possible. They will need to know how much they will have on hand, to make their last big ad purchases for the final days.

Thanks again to you all.

The country's economic crisis--along with McCain's alarming response to it and his lousy econ policies--have rendered the VP debate pretty much irrelevant, it seems to me. Sure, there'll be huge viewership, and Palin will probably do fine in the format--but nobody's voting for Biden or Palin at this point. (And in any case, even if Palin greases her way through tonight, she's unlikely to convince most people at this point that she's really ready to be president.) These are tough times, and people are voting for president, not vice-president