The expectations game has been a complicated one to play this week. Liberals have darted implausibly between highlighting Sarah Palin's super-keen debating skills and creating video mash-ups comparing her to the famously incoherent Miss Teen South Carolina. In much the same way that George W. Bush is simultaneously a bumbling idiot and an evil genius in the minds of liberals, Palin is a semi-literate hick who could single-handedly crush the electoral hopes of the Democratic Party with her knack for the "glittering generality."
Conservatives have accentuated Sen. Joe Biden's 30 years of experience as a debater, but couldn't resist pointing out that the man has made awkward gaffes Delaware's No. 2 export behind unsolicited credit-card applications.
Conventional wisdom says low expectations will behoove Palin, just as a similar soft bigotry worked for Bush, but after several very shaky interviews, it may be that expectations are so low for Palin as to require resuscitation by way of a knowledgeable, confident performance. Passable alone probably won't do for a slipping ticket, especially with media primed to highlight every mistake.
Expectations would seem to set the bar high for Biden, but everyone knows there's only one thing Joe Biden does more than ride the Amtrak, and that's say spectacularly stupid things. Given the slant of the media and his reputation for political pratfalls, I wouldn't be surprised to see post-debate coverage congratulate him for getting through 90 minutes without referring to his running mate as "clean and articulate."
The McCain campaign has taken an unorthodox tack in the final hours before the debate today, pointing out Biden's consistent idiocy and simultaneously puffing up Palin. First they released a Biden's greatest-hits compilation called, "Embarrass:"
Then aides informed Politico that Sarah will indeed be freed tonight:
Tonight will be different, they say.
"This is going to finally put her back into a position where we see her like we saw her the first couple weeks," a McCain official said. "She was herself. She was authentic, and people related to that. ... Tonight, she'll get into a rhythm. You're going to see her in a way that you haven't seen her yet."
The campaign promises Palin will whack Biden with his own words about Barack Obama, the Iraq War, and taxes. She'll go after his many wrong-headed votes and theories on foreign policy (please let the post-9/11 blank check to Iran be one of them!).
I hope to see the McCain campaign's versions of Joe and Sarah show up, as opposed to the experienced senator and the perplexed governor, but wouldn't it be better to let it be a surprise?
At any rate, I've got a new Sarah Palin theory: She stumbled with Gibson and Couric because she was playing nice. The pitbull likes to be on the attack, and she will be tonight. Looks like she's already getting warmed up.
Jim Geraghty pictures it: "I respectfully point out that you do not know what the hell you are talking about."
