I'd love it she played the skin flute.

Palin comes off as likable as she spouts nothing but empty talking points. There'll be nothing on the scale of the Couric interviews. No one's opinion is changed.

Biden is restrained; pundits will say "almost medicated" and recall Al Gore's 2nd debate performance in 2000.

It's a victory for McCain because they staved off a total collapse and beat expectations but ultimately nothing will be changed.

I think there should be another choice: makes folksy nonsequitors that win the collective hearts of the conservative audience while still making no sense.

She will be heavily coached, but even that will not dim the brilliance of her stupidity.

Any drinking games based on her performance will surely land you in detox. Try to pass out on your side.

I worry that my hopes for a bloodbath will be shattered by a stoic Biden and a surprisingly not-incompetent Palin.

Palin will come off as folksy and incompetent. Biden will do his best to avoid smirking.

@3:

Ross Perot tried that tactic years ago. Didn't work for him, won't work for Palin.

My Expectation:

Palin - cute, but goes down the chute

Biden - Will make Palin moot; gives her the boot

I'm going to try to successfully jack off to it.

I vote for @3.

@7, does it really have to "work" for Palin? I it had to work for Perot since he was the presidential candidate, but in the case of VP, it just has to be anything better than a colossal failure. G. H. W. Bush managed to somehow get elected in spite of Quayle.

I am less worried about Palin's performance than I am bout Biden's. If he makes one mistake it will dominate the press and Republican talking points even if Palin makes 100 mistakes (unless she calls Obama the N Word).

(BTW, the next time I hear someone say Palin is more qualified to be President than Obama, I am putting their name on my list for when the revolution comes. Their heads will make handy soccer balls.)

I agree with the general feeling of these comments. While I would love to see her completely disgrace herself and bolt from the stage in tears, I'm pretty sure it won't happen. She seems to be pretty skilled at keeping her composure, spouting platitudes, and making charming (if infantile) little gestures. We already know that's enough to keep her fans happy, and it will probably be enough to keep this sideshow from turning into a debacle.

it will make you cringe & you'll be rooting for her to make it to the end without freaking out.

Given the training wheels format of the debate, she'll come off as "competent" simply because there will be no way to challenge her for specifics or contradictions. There's a chance she'll say something unbelievably ridiculous: after all the Couric interview was mostly softballs and she still botched it miserably, but I still will be surprised if she doesn't come off relatively well. Hopefully that won't erase the Couric interview from people's minds.

I'm with #2, She won't fuck up in a way that they can't unspin afterwords. And Biden will restrain himself from making her look silly since there's a better chance of her doing that on her own.

Besides after weeks of coaching even I could probably do okay in a debate. Afterall, I knew the 1974 mayor of Hoboken, Belgium so I clearly have the foreign policy experience required. And I also worked for WaMu so I have the economic experience as well. AND when backed into a corner I too become even more adorable. PEW! PEW! ;D

agree with elswinger. biden is known to make ridiculous gaffes and factual errors. should be the best tv of the year.

I used to have a boss who was just like this - she'd talk and talk and sound very competent, the words would just flow out of her mouth, but she made no sense whatsoever. She kept the powers above her snowed for about a year. Palin only needs to keep people distracted with the smoke-and-mirror crap for another month. On the other hand, my boss's words weren't broadcast all over the media . . .

This election is going to give me an ulcer.

@10

If Palin drops the N-bomb, she'll have 50% of the country.

Nobody gives a shit about VP debates. Lloyd Bentson shredded Dan Quayle and still lost, with a doddering old fool at the top of the ticket.

She will be competent-sounding, which will be all that counts. From the back of the auditorium we will hear a sound like a canteloupe with an M-80 going off inside it as Hillary's head explodes.

She will "win", because scripted, rehearsed and memorized soundbites are the only thing she's remotely good at. There's no way she's not going to "win", and very little chance she'll even stumble.

And it won't matter one bit, because it's too little, too late.

Fnarf, I think you're right in general, but I believe this is anticipated to be the most widely-watched VP debate ever. Any compelling/embarrassing video will be circulated virally over the next month. I'm not saying it will be, but it has the potential to be a game-changer if anything big happens. Which it probably won't.

No matter what she will win. The expectation is so low that everyone expects her to be an idiot so if she just keeps to simple talking points with some folksy sayings she is fine.

Frankly, she just needs to show up and call Obama n*gger and she's going to be fine.

Oddly, I expect Biden to royally fuck up though. And I doubt I am the only one waiting for that to happen.

@22, sorry was supposed to be NOT calling Obama the "N" word.

What I want to know is if it goes back and forth between which candidate speaks first. When Biden speaks first, he might need to steer clear of the kind of detailed analysis that gives Palin important names and dates and whatever she needs to then sound competent in her response.

I think the GOP base will love Palin, but she'll come off as too stupid/ too shrill/ too agressive for the undecideds.

As long as Biden doesn't put his foot in his mouth [as he is wont to do], he wins.

And just because there is no official "Rebuttal" doesn't mean that Biden can't/ won't point out some of Palin's worst bits of verbal diarrhea.

AAArrrgh! I hate this Christian pig! She is an rural idiot from Alaska. Has there been one intelligent human being to come out of that inbred state? I don't think so.

Growing up in Long Island I was taught at Hebrew School to loath the ignorance and intolerance of rual Americans. The stupidity of a woman like Sarah Palin terrifies me.

As Sandra Bernherd says, "Palin should be gang raped by a group of black thugs".

Obama is Ivy League like most presidents and will help us attack Pakistan and protect Israel. Why can't my relatives in Israel trust Obama?

No Christian women in politics! They are stupid pigs!

@24 that is brilliant. that should be biden's entire debate strategy, either feed her incorrect info and see if she parrots it, or just defer every question to her and see if she can answer first.

but seriously, she'll do fine. at this point she's been grilled and thoroughly prepared by her handlers, mock debated and given a dozen or more potential left-field questions. on top of that the questions that are asked are going to be as soft core as the couric interview. in order to get her to stumble you have to ask follow up questions to her platitudes, and this debate format most likely won't allow that sort of actual debating.

What are we not seeing and/or looking for? This thing with Palin? It's ridiculous. It's comical. It doesn't take more than an IQ of 20 to see it. She can't even name one news source? Really? I don't believe it. I don't buy for a second she couldn't even say, "the Times" or "WSJ." This is insanely bizarre. Though we have no real idea what tomorrow will show us, I'm already thoroughly convinced that something is going on that they're hiding with this Palin circus. I don't know what, because I'm an idiot, but I'm sure of it. This doesn't make any fucking sense. Just the other day there was that article where she never answers questions in debate. She just talks as if a question hasn't been asked. They gave specifics in the debate, she didn't, they got pissed, and the initial reaction was that she won the debate. I'm thor...oh wait, she's just a woman. What am I expecting here? Never mind.

See you bitches on Slog tomorrow! I love you. All of you. Amen.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. They'll both do fine.

And I'm still loving how much of SLOG is devoted to Mrs Palin. I see more about her here than on conservative blogs! At this rate no one will have to talk about Obama/Biden on issues at all until Election Day.

I sense from many of the above posts that there are lowered expectations about the debate, meaning that Palin will seem more competent and Biden will be restrained. Truth is, we're all waiting to be pleasantly surprised by Palin - reciting factoids crammed into her skull, but then when asked to elaborate, she won't be able to articulate. And with Biden, he will take her to task succinctly when it's his turn to speak. There may be an agreed-upon format but candidates usually stray until the moderator jumps in. I'm hopeful that Biden will be the easy winner and that Palin's supporters will feel ill afterward.

If we expect her to be surprisingly competent, then it's not really much of a surprise, is it?

unfortunately, the debate is structured in such a way that she won't have enough rope, errrr, time to really screw up. Biden will be biting his tongue so as not to come off as arrogant & sexist. such BS.

The moderator will be Gwen Ifill. The format will be 90 second answers, followed by two-minute discussion for each question. VP candidates Biden and Palin will be allowed two-minute closing statements.

Karl Rove is going to pull the fire alarm in the auditorium.

Karl Rove is going to pull the fire alarm in the auditorium.

did anyone else notice issur is back?!?!?!?

*hugs issur*

where is ecco homo during our time of need??