For a veep debate, this is garnering a bit more attention than usual, but don’t expect fireworks.

 

Palin is bound to over-perform. Expectations really couldn’t be lower. She can’t win. She can’t master foreign policy or economics in under a week, but she can come to terms with it, restate McCain’s positions and leave it at that. If she can avoid a disaster the campaign will still be in striking distance by November.

 

Joe Biden is expected to win this debate, but he can’t. No matter what he does he will come across arrogantly. His best bet is to cut his losses, keep his answers short and tight, and not make Palin a part of any of his responses. Biden will likely not heed that advice and give long-winded answers, ask Palin questions, and inevitably taste his shoe.

 

The polls won’t move noticeably after the debate. Don’t expect them to unless something extreme occurs.

 

Gwen Ifill will be called a liberal incessantly until another story breaks and replaces her. She’ll be fair, but that won’t stop it, particularly if Palin bombs.

 

So, what else? Who wins? Why? What do we expect?

Gwen Ifill should recuse herself. She is writing a pro-Obama book that is slated for release on Obama's inauguration. I am not sure on what basis one can predict that she will be fair in advance. If Obama wins, Ifill makes big bucks with her book. If Obama loses, demand for Palin books will overshadow Ifill's poorly timed book release.

 

Jim Learer did a very good job with the first presidential debate, he has no financial interest riding on an Obama win. He should be tomorrow night's moderator.

For a veep debate, this is garnering a bit more attention than usual, but don’t expect fireworks.

 

Palin is bound to over-perform. Expectations really couldn’t be lower. She can’t win. She can’t master foreign policy or economics in under a week, but she can come to terms with it, restate McCain’s positions and leave it at that. If she can avoid a disaster the campaign will still be in striking distance by November.

 

Joe Biden is expected to win this debate, but he can’t. No matter what he does he will come across arrogantly. His best bet is to cut his losses, keep his answers short and tight, and not make Palin a part of any of his responses. Biden will likely not heed that advice and give long-winded answers, ask Palin questions, and inevitably taste his shoe.

 

The polls won’t move noticeably after the debate. Don’t expect them to unless something extreme occurs.

 

Gwen Ifill will be called a liberal incessantly until another story breaks and replaces her. She’ll be fair, but that won’t stop it, particularly if Palin bombs.

 

So, what else? Who wins? Why? What do we expect?

:thumb: Well said.

I agree with Habib.. if Biden is hard on her he will get labeled a bad guy.

 

After the Katie Couric interview.. nowhere to go but up for Palin.

 

I have said it for a long time Biden is a tough striker. He will tell you how he feels, he can be a lil wreckless. He doesn't purely say what everyone wants to hear.

I agree with Habib.. if Biden is hard on her he will get labeled a bad guy.

 

After the Katie Couric interview.. nowhere to go but up for Palin.

 

I have said it for a long time Biden is a tough striker. He will tell you how he feels, he can be a lil wreckless. He doesn't purely say what everyone wants to hear.

Especially when it concerns his stance on coal or how his helicopter was shot down:sssh:. With some of the wild stories he tells, I have a hard time deciding what is actual and what is his own concoction, so tough striker is not the word that best describes Biden.

My prediction is that Sarah Palin will be attacking Barack Obama. Joe Biden will be attacking John McCain & George W. To be fair, I've never seen Palin debate so I can't say how she'll do. I have seen Biden debate and he's good IMO. You've got to remember that he delivered one of the most memorable lines during the democratic debates.

 

Joe Biden: Rudy Giuliani, the most underqualified man to seek the presidency since George W. Bush, shouldn't be questioning the experience of anyone on this stage... There's only three things he says in a sentence: a noun, a verb, and 9/11.

Conflict of interest? What conflict of interest? :irked:

 

The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama (Hardcover)

by Gwen Ifill (Author)

 

Product Description

 

In THE BREAKTHROUGH, veteran journalist Gwen Ifill surveys the American political landscape, shedding new light on the impact of Barack Obama’s stunning presidential campaign and introducing the emerging young African American politicians forging a bold new path to political power.

 

Ifill argues that the Black political structure formed during the Civil Rights movement is giving way to a generation of men and women who are the direct beneficiaries of the struggles of the 1960s. She offers incisive, detailed profiles of such prominent leaders as Newark Mayor Cory Booker, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, and U.S. Congressman Artur Davis of Alabama, and also covers up-and-coming figures from across the nation. Drawing on interviews with power brokers like Senator Obama, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, Vernon Jordan, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, and many others, as well as her own razor-sharp observations and analysis of such issues as generational conflict and the "black enough" conundrum, Ifill shows why this is a pivotal moment in American history.

 

THE BREAKTHROUGH is a remarkable look at contemporary politics and an essential foundation for understanding the future of American democracy.

More evidence of Ms. Ifill's objectivity.

 

The Obamas: Portrait of an American Family

Gwen Ifill

 

 

Soon we will vote for our next president, and for the first time in history, one of the two candidates is a Black man. For a year, Essence pursued an interview with the entire Obama family‹to no avail. Finally, this summer ESSENCE became the only Black media outlet allowed a glimpse into the lives of Barack, Michelle and their two girls, Malia and Sasha, when we were invited to their South Side Chicago home. Weeks later, veteran political journalist Gwen Ifill was with the family as they campaigned in a small mostly White western town, and she flew with them to a Black church in the urban Midwest.

 

Barack Obama is sitting in the back of his rented luxury campaign bus with its granite counters and two flat-screen TVs. The Illinois senator's arms are wrapped around his wife, Michelle, whom he doesn't get to see much these days. At this very moment he is, of all things, singing.

 

I've just asked them how their lives have changed since he won the Democratic presidential nomination. There have definitely been changes, especially for Michelle Obama, who used to pride herself on campaigning by day and rushing home to her daughters each night. Now she is spending more of her days and nights on the road, but seldom in the same place as her husband. And when their daughters‹Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7 get to see their dad, they likely have to share him with thousands of adoring strangers. "Daddy's gone a lot," Sasha notes. "We don't see him that much."

I foresee a Palin victory, and by that I mean the debate itself is a push, which would have to be seen by all as a Palin win.

I found it rather curious that Ifill somehow neglected to mention this apparent conflict of interest to the Commission on Presidential Debates when they interviewed her about being the moderator. One would have thought it might have crossed her mind . . .

I foresee a Palin victory, and by that I mean the debate itself is a push, which would have to be seen by all as a Palin win.

 

Seems about right.

I've been told that the scheduling of this debate was carefully planned by the GOP. If they did it right, the debate should take place just a couple of days before Sarah Palin's Aunt Flo comes to town.

I found it rather curious that Ifill somehow neglected to mention this apparent conflict of interest to the Commission on Presidential Debates when they interviewed her about being the moderator. One would have thought it might have crossed her mind . . .

 

I agree and I certainly think her book warrants discussion with regard to the debate. But to say that she's not going to be fair to Palin is far fetched. As far as financial or self-interest, it is most certainly in hers to remain a debate moderator for years to come - this is largest audience she will see all year and by an incredibly wide margin. If she is biased she won't be asked back. Jim Lehrer and the late Tim Russert both were Democrats, but no one would think twice about having them moderate a debate. Why? They are professionals. So is Gwen Iffel.

I've been told that the scheduling of this debate was carefully planned by the GOP. If they did it right, the debate should take place just a couple of days before Sarah Palin's Aunt Flo comes to town.

 

:laugh:

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Especially when it concerns his stance on coal or how his helicopter was shot down:sssh:. With some of the wild stories he tells, I have a hard time deciding what is actual and what is his own concoction, so tough striker is not the word that best describes Biden.

 

Let them settle it tomorrow night.. I am sure Biden will hold his own and not give us geographical info about our distance to Russia.