The Envelope Please ...

October 2, 2008

The Envelope Please ...
Ah the punditocracy [which includes the mainstream media and their extension, the major (mostly east coast) blogosphere: those linked and cited blogs that have just become an arm of the mainstream media without the need to follow any journalistic rules. In order to get those precious links which translates into site traffic and advertising income, they bought into the system] Doncha just love 'em? [A "no" answer is acceptable. That wasn't necessarily a rhetorical question :-)]

It is the general claim of the media that the result of tonight’s debate will be a Biden win or an unmitigated disaster for the country [otherwise known as "Sarah rocked"].


This is the most important VP debate in history and will likely have the largest audience of any debate. [At least it should whomp the 56.7 million who tuned into watch the last male/female tango: George Bush the Elder and Geraldine Ferraro in 1984.] Indeed it is estimated that 2/3 of voters may tune in tonight! Geraldine. Yeah, her. Remember the icon of the Women's Movement? She thought Charlie Gibson was sexist and did a hatchet job on Palin and that Palin did a good job on the interview. Suddenly, despite being the heroine of broken glass ceilings and a Democrat to boot ... she is a pariah in the Women's Movement. How dare she think Palin was treated poorly and that Gibson was sexist!?! That is not politically correct in the left-wing circles which have hijacked the Women's Movement. Unbelievable! They turned on Ferraro (!) who was clearly one of their own (but with vastly more relevant experience) yet someone who dared to speak her own mind! How utterly and childishly fickle! Listen up oh ye who autocratically rule the Women's Movement with an iron spiked high-heel (or are only flats allowed?) ... women are capable of thinking for themselves, they don't need you to tell them how to think! And they are allowed to have their own opinions! Why does it so often seem that the most sexist groups in the country are the ... well, let's just say that NOW was THEN. I think more highly of women than they do. If she wasn't so high profile that they don't dare, I think they'd have turned on Hillary also.

Back to the subject! So how will it go? Will Sarah reprise her role as empty headed ditz trying desperately to remember a memorized sound bite that McCain's handlers have told he is the only thing allowed out of her mouth? Or will she charm America while Biden says some really dumb things as he wanders off topic?

The national media has absolutely no clue. They are generally judging by the interviews she has given and seem therefore to share a "Sarah is going to be so embarrassed" hidden giggle.

Well, I've got news for them. Yep. One little blog in Alaska has news for all the giant media news outlets in the country: Sarah Palin is an awesome debater!

Now she is also, in the past, been a great interviewee and similarly she may have left her debate skills in Alaska. Or, again, McCain's people may have sliced her hamstrings.

But if they turn her loose ... watch out Joe.

She absolutely tromped highly experienced Harvard educated extremely well-spoken opponents in Alaska.

She is fortunate. There will be a studio audience at Washington U. tonight. Sarah has an uncanny ability to connect with an audience (assuming the klieg lights don't completely blind her :-). But even if they do ... she will "feel" the audience. She will grasp the mood, the rhythm. If she gets her timing working it doesn't matter what she says ... she will have the studio audience eating out of her hand and the television audience will pick up the same vibes.

In 2006 when she ran for Governor she debated a bunch of folks including a legislator by the name of Andrew Halco. He had studied at Harvard Business School and Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. He was an accomplished orator and legislator. He debated Palin several times. Even once he understood all of her strategies and tactics ... she still left him in a pool of melt-down after each debate. It was uncanny. He knew the facts. He knew the issues. He had real numbers instead of theoretical fuzzies. Palin remarked during one debate that in her administration, he would be an "awesome statistician". So much for facts and numbers. That was suddenly a low-level position for which you hire people.

In retrospect, Halcro says: "I don't think anyone could have beat her. It wasn't about how much she knew about the issues. People didn't care about her experience, they just thought, 'This is the drink of water we need'."

Tune in, turn on (the TV), and drop everything else. Because this is the show of the year!

Tonight we see how thirsty the American public is.