There is a lot of talk among the political horse race types about “managing expectations.” For example, in the primaries, it wasn’t about picking up enough delegates to win, so much; rather, it was about beating “expectations” and, therefore, building “momentum.” There is a similar narrative that usually goes along with discussions about “winning” and “losing” debates.
Expectations are at rock bottom for Sarah Palin. The right wing is now trying to work the ref by complaining about moderator Gwen Ifil’s upcoming book, citing it as “evidence” that she’s in the tank for Obama. With these metrics, you could probably plug in that tape of Terri Schiavo that Republican Senate Majority Leader, Bill Frist used to “diagnose” brain activity and still win the debate.
But, maybe, just maybe, if folks are sensitized to Palin’s tendency to use “word salad;” she might have to actually demonstrate a command of the issues and sensible policy positions on them. Kagro X describes the debate technique common to Gingrich disciples like Palin as follows:
[W]hen stuck, they’ll often: 1) repeat back some of the words in the question to establish that they’re “answering” it; 2) parry by steering the frame of their answers toward a talking point that bears some relation to the subect of the question; 3) spray some transitional buzzwords that help them segue from what they were asked to what they have prepared to say, and; 4) deliver the focus group-tested answer they originally planned, even if it’s kind of a non-sequitur.
Not sure how you turn that into a drinking game, but it’s something to watch for. (And, yes, I did use an abnormally large number of scare quotes in this post.)
That’s absolutely what she did in the Couric interview, (although not so well as others) so I would expect it in the debate. It would be awesome if Biden shines a spotlight on that one.
Come on, Doug. I think you might complain about a moderator being ‘in the tank’ for McCain if it were… well, I can’t think of any media person who has written a book about McCain that is slated for release in the event Obama is elected.
Now, as for debates, I’ve been in one myself, and I can tell you that the ‘word salad’ technique isn’t exclusive to Republicans. Palin’s an awful candidate. Isn’t that sufficient explanation?
In any case, I’m looking forward to an evening of gaffe-o-rama. Word Salad Palin on the right, and Diarrhea Of The Mouth Biden. The subsequent Daily Show won’t have to do anything but roll tape, Stewart can make faces, and it will be hilarious.
Word salad is right.
She also does that (poorly) that thing that hypnotists do, where they venture a guess and read the other person’s face to see if they are getting hotter or colder.
It was most easily seen when asked again by Gibson about the Bush Doctrine, and she said, “You mean his world view?” and then her lips kept moving for a second without any sound coming out, while watching his response. If he had smiled or nodded, she was ready to charge ahead with her talking points. Obviously he frowned or looked disgusted or amazed or whatever, so no sound came out and she just stopped.
We know by now that policy-wise, history-wise, and awareness of anything not coated in permafrost-wise, her head was a completely empty vessel just a few short weeks ago. Blank slate. Nothing there. She’s now been in rightwing bootcamp for a month or so, and still knows only one work product of the Supreme Court, apparently cannot name even one national newspaper or magazine, and vaguely knows words like “Pakistan”, “Israel (friend)”, “Hamas”, which she can mix with words like “friend” or “enemy”. She’s demonstrated this in multiple settings.
How much charm and bullshit can she produce under pressure? And should that even matter?