Palin's non answer schtick may work in Alaska, but not on a Nat'l Stage

[soleft]

The author of the piece below says he's debated Palin 20 times and she never answers a question but instead provides a charming non answer that wins over the audience for her. So Biden faces a perilous task in debating her.

First off - what audience is he talking about - the audience in a debate hall?

On national television, close ups will reveal the glazed over look that we've seen in the Couric and Gibson interviews. If she answers every question with some kind of folksy anecdote, it will be dissected on CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, PBS and MSNBC. Maybe not so much Fox.

And she's not running for gov. of Alaska, she's running to be one heart beat away from the presidency.

I read this article and I think, this schlub may have been victimized by her ability to project a likeable persona, but in the same way you can BS your way through a high school oral presentation, those tricks wouldn't work in a masters dissertation.


http://www.alternet.org/election08/101011/

I've Debated Sarah Palin More Than 20 Times -- Here's What It's Like
By Andrew Halcro, Christian Science Monitor

Anchorage, Alaska - When he faces off against Sarah Palin Thursday night, Joe Biden will have his hands full.

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.

On paper, of course, the debate appears to be a mismatch.

In 2000, Palin was the mayor of an Alaskan town of 5,500 people, while Biden was serving his 28th year as a United States senator. Her major public policy concern was building a local ice rink and sports center. His major public policy concern was the State Department's decision to grant an export license to allow sales of heavy-lift helicopters to Turkey, during tense UN-sponsored Cyprus peace talks.

On paper, the difference in experience on both domestic and foreign policy is like the difference between shooting a bullet and throwing a bullet. Unfortunately for Biden, if recent history is an indicator, experience or a grasp of the issues won't matter when it comes to debating Palin.

On April 17, 2006, Palin and I participated in a debate at the University of Alaska in
Fairbanks on agriculture issues. The next day, the Fairbanks Daily News Miner published this excerpt:

"Andrew Halcro, a declared independent candidate from Anchorage, came armed with statistics on agricultural productivity. Sarah Palin, a Republican from Wasilla, said the Matanuska Valley provides a positive example for other communities interested in agriculture to study."

On April 18, 2006, Palin and I sat together in a hotel coffee shop comparing campaign trail notes. As we talked about the debates, Palin made a comment that highlights the phenomenon that Biden is up against.

"Andrew, I watch you at these debates with no notes, no papers, and yet when asked questions, you spout off facts, figures, and policies, and I'm amazed. But then I look out into the audience and I ask myself, 'Does any of this really matter?' " Palin said.

While policy wonks such as Biden might cringe, it seemed to me that Palin was simply vocalizing her strength without realizing it. During the campaign, Palin's knowledge on public policy issues never matured -- because it didn't have to. Her ability to fill the debate halls with her presence and her gift of the glittering generality made it possible for her to rely on populism instead of policy.

[bdamomma]

1. this debate is going to painful to watch.

I am covering up one half of my TV, bad enough I will have to listen to her I don't want to look at her. I'd rather look at Joe.

[soleft]

2. I'm going to make sure I have the rules of a good drinking game

Maybe I should call in sick Friday.

[madaboutharry]

3. I don't think she will be allowed to get away with this

approach on the national stage. Howard Kurtz, who I never agree with, wrote the other day: "She can't hit major league pitching."

[soleft]

4. great analogy

[lib2DaBone]

5. The woman WILL NOT/CAN NOT answer a question.....

She can only "tap Dance" around the subject and chirp cute one-liners. The question is: Will anyone besides Katie Curic call her on it?

[soleft]

7. I don't think it will be possible for anyone but the hardest RW schill

to defend it.

[Orsino]

6. She may have been prepared, more or less, for a debate on Alaska.

She's only had a couple of months to prepare for a debate on national and international affairs.

Palin can pull her charming non-answer schtick if she wants, but Biden will be able to point that out immediately in his rebuttals. the best she can hope for, I think, is to brazen it out and simply not appear flustered at all.

[soleft]

10. I want to see her reaction if he pulls one of this classic zingers

[Larkspur]

8. Palin will fall back to her beauty queen performance

Give vacant generalized answers to specific questions and spew jingoistic slogans in response to foreign policy questions. Palin is the Xtian Fascist Zombie Brigades star cheerleader. That is what she excels in.

It's the post-debate spin that the Obama campaign needs to win. McCadaverick's team will instantly issue press releases charging Biden and Ifill with sexism.

[soleft]

11. I don't believe she tanked the interviews to lower expections

but I wonder if the leaked stories about her mock debates being disasters were set ups.

[nc4bo]

15. Gotta keep keep those expectations loooooooooow. But the internet has memories of her

perfectly spewing nonanswers with hardly a breath in between. How she avoided turning blue and passing out at the debate table, God only knows.

Palin's previous debates are regarding the limited issues of a single state in the U.S. and not even the most populated one at that.

We're talking about an entire country now with complex domestic and foreign problems that need "fixin" asap.

OUR team is a smart one maybe the smartest team EVER and even though I'll be here on DU biting my nails and throwing cottonballs at my tv, I have EVERY confidence in the world that the O teams is ready for everything, will cut through the bullshit and will succeed beyond our expectations.

[soleft]

17. I have a new neighbor who just moved in - I hope I don't scare her

if I end up screaming at the TV

[On the Road]

9. That's Exactly What I Think

Palin wouldn't be governor if she were stupid or a bad politician.

It's just that the kind of answers she gives are acceptable in the more provincial atmosphere of Alaska. She's doesn't realize how her answers appear to a more diverse audience in the lower 48.

Her church background doesn't help, either. In that environment, as long as you use the right terminology and the right mannerisms, you can get away with the most bizzare content or the most vacuous comments.

It's no wonder people who buy into that think she's being persecuted.

[soleft]

13. There was an intersting point somewhere about Bush

in that one of the reasons he was able to get by was because he grew up in a nationally political family, and was more familiar with how to make bs not sound like bs.

[gravity]

12. The problem is that she doesn't understand the questions

Seeing her interviews, she has no clue how to BS herself through issues outside of the state of Alaska. When people perceive you as unqualified, you can't just say a lot of personal stories.

[soleft]

14. She's been filled with so much info in such a short amount of time

I wouldn't be surprised if she uses preprogrammed answers in the wrong instances.

[WheelWalker]

19. She has demonstrated NO ability to spot the issue(s) inherent in a question.

[justiceischeap]

16. IMO, it will be like listening to 90 minutes of Faux

She'll sound like one of those morning host pinheads spouting out talking points and not much else.

We already know people are "charmed" by Palin but I think the voters who are serious about changing the direction of this nation will look at her "folksy" non-answers and reply with, "charming but no substance." I think people she will be trying to reach will be turned off by this.

[soleft]

18. I don't think McCain anticipated how fucked up things would be

by the time she debated, thereby reducing the value of "charm" when it's clear we need serious competent people more so than ever.

[justiceischeap]

22. I think it was his shortsightedness that led him to believe that charm was all she needed

No matter what we think of Shrub, quite a few folks were "charmed" by his "I'm a good 'ole boy, let's have a drink" personality. I think after 8 years of this type of charm and no substance has reached its end with most thinking people in the US. Let's hope so anyway.

[high density]

20. "Does any of this really matter?"

Her audience this time around is a lot more diverse than the voters of Alaska.

The Couric and Gibson interviews have showed us the "non-answer" side of Palin. I think it's embarrassing for a VP nominee, a heartbeat away, to look like one of Leno's brainless late night "Jaywalking" studies. This woman seems to have no curiosity about anything, and I think America has grown tired of that type of governing over the last 8 years.

[soleft]

26. couldn't name a newspaper - pathetic

[Overseas]

21. I have seen lots of Republicans get away with non-answers on national TV.

The media has let all kinds of outrageous lies from Republicans go unchallenged for nearly eight years now. Why should this debate be any different? Journalists allowed Republicans to lie us into war so why should we think they won't allow smooth spin this week?

They allow Johnny to lie quite often. They correct his lies about Obama's taxes sometimes, but not always.

Gwen Ifill wasn't very tough with Dick Cheney.

Gwen has been hollered about by the right wing so she may be on her most polite behavior too.

Palin will come pre-armed with zingers even to zap the moderator for being "unfair" and another "gotcha journalist."

IF Gwen is seen as at all challenging, she'll fit into the mythology of the mean nasty national press that just won't give Mooselini a break.

[soleft]

27. But those repubs are experienced on a national stage

It's the minor leagues versus the majors, as noted above

[Overseas]

30. Palin lied like lots of Modern Republicans do. Quite smoothly

in those Alaskan debates I watched about an hour of. She lied like the rest of them. Tossed in platitudes when unsure of the answer. She was fairly smooth then and may be so tomorrow.

She may have known more details of state legislation than she will about U.S. policies, but she'll plug in the usual Republican lies and probably will do a lot better than expected.

[CakeGrrl]

23. I agree. Regardless of MSM spin, voters will hold her to a higher standard

now that she aspires to help lead the entire nation out of what is the biggest national financial issue since the Great Depression and to help guide the US on several international fronts with terror cells as strong as ever, nuclear threats present, and wars threatening on several fronts.

These are not issues that confronted her running for state goverment, where she was seen as a much better alternative than her predecessor. She can't breeze past a national audience of 300 million the way she did a state population of less than 1 million.

[frickaline]

24. Thanks to Tina Fey, she actually has something she has to disprove

She is not going to get a 'bye' from the audience on this one. Simply smiling at us isn't going to convince us she's competent.

[DinahMoeHum]

25. Just say: "Answer the question, please" or "You didn't answer the question"

or
"You're talking a lot, but you're not saying anything."

See how Palin reacts.

:kick:

[Gregorian]

28. It's all about swing voters.

We know who we're voting for. Palin Pinheads will be voting for their death-to-America candidate. But it's those who will make their decision based on her and McCain's performances.

I hope there is just a shred of common sense left in this American public.

I'm not very hopeful though. I want to be wrong.


And where are the recommends for this thread!

[ChipperbackDemocrat]

29. Caveat

"She can't breeze past a national audience of 300 million the way she did a state population of less than 1 million."

I have 59 million reasons why Sarah Palin could breeze past an audience of 300 million.

Sarah Palin will be on her game Thursday night, and that game is looking good and saying nothing. Her game is to relate to that person on the other side of the screen. Biden has that same challenge. The key for Joe Biden is to do what he does best. He can touch that person on the other side of the screen and he can make them think.

I've never understood why Sarah Palin became such a big deal. She's proven herself to be Dan Quayle, just half-as-smart. She is the personification of 40-years of right wing media training designed specifically to attract and distract. This is an enemy we know. Its nothing new.

The difference is, the issues are so fiercely undistractible. This is an election where the main issues truly stare us in the face in a direct manner. This financial crisis is not a "missle gap" or "containment" or "Read My Lips", this is as REAL as it gets. The wrong choice is this election is something we will see in immediate terms.

Nonetheless, I am not worried. Like I said before, If that is the best they've got, THEY ARE IN TROUBLE.

[Gregorian]

31. Yes.

It is a serious election. Those who identify with Palin are probably not the undecided voters. After the debate, they may be.

I hate to fear dirty and illegal tricks. This would be so much more fun. But we're going to knock them down despite it.