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Palin can make it 'better' tonight
Tonight's 90-minute vice presidential debate between Republican Sarah Palin and Democrat Joe Biden will begin at 6 p.m.
| Wednesday, Oct 1 2008 7:33 PM
Last Updated: Wednesday, Oct 1 2008 7:36 PM
The past couple of weeks have not gone well for Sarah Palin, the Republican nominee for vice-president. Her interview with ABC's Charlie Gibson was bumpy, her sit-down with CBS's Katie Couric disastrous, and leading conservatives continue to question her credentials for the office.
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MSNBC's Joe Scarborough says Palin "just seems out of her league." Dallas Morning News columnist Rod Dreher characterized the Couric interview as a "train wreck." And columnist Kathleen Parker called for the governor of Alaska to voluntarily leave the McCain ticket.
Tonight, Palin has a chance to make all the negativity go away.
In the first and only debate between the two major-party candidates for vice president, Republican Palin goes up against Democratic Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware. The debate takes place at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo.
The candidates will face moderator-newswoman Gwen Ifill in a 90-minute debate. They will address a wide range of questions about foreign policy and domestic issues.
Conservatives agree Palin's back is against the wall.
"She had better be better prepared for (the debate) ... or she risks damaging her political brand forevermore," said National Review editor Rich Lowry, among those who judged Palin's CBS interview a complete catastrophe.
It will be a challenge, because no vice-presidential nominee in modern history has been this inaccessible to the media. The McCain campaign's shielding strategy reinforces the perception that she can't play with the big boys.
Not that Biden is a shoo-in to prevail. The Democrat has left plenty of fodder for opponents along the campaign trail. He recently told Couric: "When the stock market crashed, Franklin Roosevelt got on television and ... said, 'Look, here's what happened.'" Oops. Herbert Hoover was president in 1929, and commercial television did not yet exist. But gaffs are one thing, lack of preparation another.
We get a chance to evaluate the two prospective vice-presidents side by side tonight at 6 p.m. After that, it's back to the top of the tickets. The second presidential debate will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 7, at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn. Moderated by newsman Tom Brokaw, the debate will feature a town-hall format and wide-ranging questions provided by undecided voters in the Nashville area, as well as from e-mailers.
The third presidential debate will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 15, at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y. Candidates will face moderator-newsman Bob Schieffer in a format similar to the first debate. Domestic issues no doubt starting with the unprecedented economic bailout will be the focus.