By: Roger Simon
On the one hand, Sarah Palin says that “gotcha journalism” is a very bad thing, but on the other hand, she has told reporters, “You can even play 'stump the candidate' if you want to.”
I’d like to vote for "stump the candidate."
I hope both Palin and Joe Biden get asked very tough questions at their debate Thursday night, if only to provide the American public with entertainment.
Let’s be open about it. As I have pointed out before, most people watch political debates for the same reason they watch the Indy 500: to see who crashes and burns.
And it has always been so. Remember the Lincoln-Douglas debates? Sure you do. Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas debated seven times in 1858 for a Senate seat, and today those clashes are hailed as everything debates should be.
But as debate historian Joel Swerdlow has written, at the time, “the Lincoln-Douglas encounters were popular mostly because they were excellent theater and not because what was said was particularly wise or revealing.”
And who really wants wise and revealing? Wouldn’t we rather see a debate where the participants are crushed and humiliated?
Clearly, as the candidate with less experience, Sarah Palin is a little jumpy. She is already talking about how she is just a “normal Joe Sixpack American” and if a bunch of journalists (like that known tough guy Katie Couric) want to make her look bad, so be it.
Still, I suspect Palin’s debate preppers have provided her with some all-purpose answers for Thursday night just in case. These could include:
1. “Bounces off rubber and sticks to glue.”
2. “I know you are, but what am I?”
3. “OK, so I may not know where Waziristan is, but I can see Russia from my roof.”
4. “Drill! Drill! Drill!”
5. “I don’t know the answer to that, but if you give me your address, I’ll have my husband snow machine over to your house and punch you in the nose.”
6. “How those hair plugs working out for you, Joe?”
7. “How should I know? I am not Sarah Palin, I am really Tina Fey.”
8. “Sure, I said, ‘Putin rears his head and comes into the airspace of the United States,’ but at least I didn’t plagiarize it.”
9. “The square of the hypotenuse of a right triangle is equal to the sum of the squares on the other two sides. Oh, sorry. Wrong cheat sheet.”
10. “How much do you really have to know for a do-nothing job?”
You think those answers would make her look bad? I don’t. I think they would make her look great. She would look witty and entertaining, and what else can you ask for in a national leader?
“Frankly, in American politics, the standard of intelligence and academic excellence is not very high,” Ross Baker, a professor of political science at Rutgers, once told me. “Deeply reflective people are not common in American politics, and they are often not successful.”
Which gives Palin a built-in edge.
But what about 10 answers for Joe Biden?
Are you kidding me? The challenge for his side is getting him to shut up.
8 comments:
Sarah Palin is not up to par in potentially becoming the vice president of the United States. I am just about to watch the debate, and I can't wait to see what this is going to turn into. I believe Joe Biden is going to outdo her in all his answers, and she is going to look as un-prepared as ever for possibly becoming the VP. What does that say about American politics, when the VP candidate can't answer questions about Supreme Court cases? Well it is going to be quite an interesting debate, and I hope Biden comes out with the win. Palin is just not qualified to be participating in such an event.
Well Palin at least is some what a person who is jumpy and that is good for McCain. Also she is experienced in being in a government position. If she is unqualified for the position, since coming from Alaska, she would of quit by now from all the attention she is getting. Also Obama is a jumpy type of person so on both sides they have somebody who will at least rise up.
having watched the debate i was thuroughly dissapointed with palin's "Alaska is a big energy producer" answer to every single question, whether it be economic or not. she is not at all cut out to be vice president of the united states. the astounding amount of false research is a dead give away of that. if nothing else she should have researched every topic that might come up. this kind of leadership role should be regarded with complete seriousness, and i felt like she was just tagging along for the ride.
Those comebacks are not too far away from what i thought she would answer during the debate. Whenever it looked like she didn't know the answer to something, she often made it seem as though McCain was doing better than Obabama. It really does make you wonder if being a vp doesn't require any knowledge. And i swear that i heard something close to "Drill, Drill, Drill," during the debate.
i believe that sarah palin can and will be a much better vp than biden. lets face it, half the time hes wrong. he evn said that the man he is running with has no experience. but, i do agree that he puts himself out there his views and i greatly respect that. the fact is palin is probably more manly than any of the candidates. " guns, babys, and jesus," thats a great way to look at things. palins the most qualified person running and greatly disagree with anything biden has to say!!!
Ezequiel Savedra Jr.
Period 7
I believe that Sarah Palin has not have the right to be know as VP of our United States. Yes, people have made some rather hilarious answers which are true, but really would you really want Sarah to become one of our VP's. "Drill Drill Drill," is a very inspiring answer that is well suit able for this debate.
I DO NOT THINK That sarah palin is cut out for the job of vice presidency i actually dont believe that palin does not have the common sense for the job at least that is the way she protrays herself during her speeches
i believe that sarah palin is not cut out the job of presidency i actually believe that she has no experience what so ever and that she simply does not have the common sense to be the vice president at least to me that is how she portrays herself during her speeches
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