As with last Friday, I’ll be covering tonight’s debate.  This debate is different in style than Friday’s.  The Vice Presidential candidates won’t be talking to each other, so opportunity to rebut their opponent will be limited at best.  So, the challenge will be different.  I promise not to be as expository as last week, but more analytical.  You can watch the debate on your own; no need for more to tell you what they said.

As for the challenges the two candidates have, it’s simple.  Biden must not look like he’s talking down to Palin or ignoring her, and Palin must not look clueless.  There are ways to achieve this.

Biden

Biden has a lot of Congressional experience; no one doubts this.  However, his wealth of knowledge could lead to him being seen as a know-it-all.  Obviously, it’s a good think to be intelligent, but showing off could lead to being seen as talking down to the other person.  Being seen as towering over them.  Basically, a bully.  What makes it worse is that Palin is female, so any talking down will be seen as sexism.

So it’s important that Biden take the knowledge he has, but not go too far with it.  Use it just enough to get your point across without getting too involved.  In short; he basically has to dumb himself down.  It’s unfortunate, but that’s politics.

Secondly, even though he has all this knowledge, he has a tendency to gaffe on some small details, such as when FDR was president, or when Americans first had television.  This is not exclusive to him.  Both Obama and McCain have previously gaffed on small details (Auschwitz and the difference between Sunni & Shia), but the narrative with Biden is that he does it a lot. He can’t afford to have many (or any) of these tonight.

Palin

Despite not being able to answer several questions in interviews with Charlie Gibson and Katie Couric, I don’t believe she’s dumb.  Being dumb doesn’t get you into office (even George Bush isn’t dumb).  A lot of blogs I’ve been reading have narrowed the problem down to a simple one: too much studying.

The McCain campaign had Palin cramming on campaign platforms and messages for several weeks, so that when it came time to interview, that’s all she could think about.  It’s kind of like going into an exam and then forgetting everything you studied or realizing you forgot to study something when a question comes up you don’t know the answer to. That’s Palin in these interviews.

The suggestion across the blogosphere, left and right alike, is that McCain should let Palin be Palin.  And apparently Palin is, according to former Alaska gubernatorial candidate and Palin opponent Andrew Halco, not a master of the details, but of generalities.  Basically, the same kind of person Republicans accuse Barack Obama of being.

It actually may help the McCain campaign if Palin sticks to an overall vision.  It’s certainly helped Obama in many cases.  Perhaps Palin can be the visionary, and McCain the wonk.  Exactly the opposite of Obama/Biden in a lot of cases.

Also, Palin needs to make sure not to hesitate in her answers.  At least, not a lot of hesitation.  Some thoughtful thinking before you answer is appropriate (lest you pull a Biden and look too smart), but hesitating for a long time can suggest you are unprepared.  On that matter, not knowing is fine, more or less.  As long as you know most things, not knowing some things is acceptable.  Nobody can know everything.  Sometimes you have to do more research and get back to the person.

Palin has suggested this on one occasion, but only after spending unnecessary time avoiding and meandering around an actual answer.  My suggestion is that if she doesn’t know an answer, she says it straight up.  I think Americans will look more highly on this than if she tries to respond and end up pulling a blank, like she has on too many questions.

Conclusion

Both Biden and Palin need to raise the level of discourse in their own way.  If either can come off as being appealing to the public, and not condescending or unprepared, it could raise their campaign’s profiles significantly.  Tonight is all about wording things correctly.

See you in 35…