Question: Will Sarah Palin’s interview with Katie Couric factor into the VP debate?
Answer:
First, let’s just call it what it was: Sarah Palin’s interview with Katie Couric was terrible. There’s no other way to put it. During the interview, which most people have seen by now, Palin sounds unprepared, inexperienced and downright foolish. She stumbles over words and is clearly thrown for a loop by some of the questions.
So, how on Earth is this a good thing?
Here’s the good news if you’re Sarah Palin: Biden can’t use your appearance with Katie Couric against you during the debate.
Couric has been a thorn in the side of both VPs in this campaign. Both Palin and Biden got bit – and bit hard – by Couric during their respective interviews.
For Palin, the questions may have seemed softball the way they were asked by Couric, but they were far from it. Take the Supreme Court question; I covered courts for two years and I’ve covered politics for going on 12, and beyond the recent DC v. Heller and Roe v. Wade, there weren’t any rulings that sprung to my mind when Couric posed that question. Of course, there are general rulings many conservatives oppose, decisions on regarding gay rights, school prayer and others, but I doubt many can name the actual rulings or cite the specific cases off the tops of their heads.
On the other side of the ball, Couric did ask some rather softball questions of the Delaware Senator, and Biden sunk himself pretty deep with his answers. He spoke confidently about FDR addressing the nation on TV after the stock market crashed (even though Herbert Hoover was in office at the time), and he announced that ads run by Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama featuring an attack on McCain’s inability to use a computer were “terrible” and that he wouldn’t have permitted them to run had he known about them. Both the points he was trying to make were lost.
Don’t let either of these interviews fool you, however.
Palin and Biden are both master debaters.
Palin tore her competitors apart during a debate against an entrenched incumbent when she ran for governor of Alaska. In the dozens of debates in which he’s participated, Biden’s zingers, quips and eloquence have made some lasting impressions.
But given the public fervor that has accompanied her interview with Couric, and the relative ho-hum attitude accompanying Biden’s, the deck has got to be stacked … against Biden.
Few people expect Palin to do well in the debate, which means it won’t take much for her to win over the public. If she does what she did during her debates in Alaska, or knocks it out of the park the way she did at the Republican National Convention, look for her to energize Republicans and turn many of the polls around.
Here’s one more thing to consider when turning over the Couric interview in your mind. Yes, Palin got roughed up pretty good by Couric, but there are emerging questions over what the public didn’t see. According to this report in The American Spectator, Couric ordered all references to Palin’s status as governor of Alaska removed from the broadcast.
From the article:
Sarah Palin FAQ Index
First, let’s just call it what it was: Sarah Palin’s interview with Katie Couric was terrible. There’s no other way to put it. During the interview, which most people have seen by now, Palin sounds unprepared, inexperienced and downright foolish. She stumbles over words and is clearly thrown for a loop by some of the questions.
So, how on Earth is this a good thing?
Here’s the good news if you’re Sarah Palin: Biden can’t use your appearance with Katie Couric against you during the debate.
Couric has been a thorn in the side of both VPs in this campaign. Both Palin and Biden got bit – and bit hard – by Couric during their respective interviews.
For Palin, the questions may have seemed softball the way they were asked by Couric, but they were far from it. Take the Supreme Court question; I covered courts for two years and I’ve covered politics for going on 12, and beyond the recent DC v. Heller and Roe v. Wade, there weren’t any rulings that sprung to my mind when Couric posed that question. Of course, there are general rulings many conservatives oppose, decisions on regarding gay rights, school prayer and others, but I doubt many can name the actual rulings or cite the specific cases off the tops of their heads.
On the other side of the ball, Couric did ask some rather softball questions of the Delaware Senator, and Biden sunk himself pretty deep with his answers. He spoke confidently about FDR addressing the nation on TV after the stock market crashed (even though Herbert Hoover was in office at the time), and he announced that ads run by Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama featuring an attack on McCain’s inability to use a computer were “terrible” and that he wouldn’t have permitted them to run had he known about them. Both the points he was trying to make were lost.
Don’t let either of these interviews fool you, however.
Palin and Biden are both master debaters.
Palin tore her competitors apart during a debate against an entrenched incumbent when she ran for governor of Alaska. In the dozens of debates in which he’s participated, Biden’s zingers, quips and eloquence have made some lasting impressions.
But given the public fervor that has accompanied her interview with Couric, and the relative ho-hum attitude accompanying Biden’s, the deck has got to be stacked … against Biden.
Few people expect Palin to do well in the debate, which means it won’t take much for her to win over the public. If she does what she did during her debates in Alaska, or knocks it out of the park the way she did at the Republican National Convention, look for her to energize Republicans and turn many of the polls around.
Here’s one more thing to consider when turning over the Couric interview in your mind. Yes, Palin got roughed up pretty good by Couric, but there are emerging questions over what the public didn’t see. According to this report in The American Spectator, Couric ordered all references to Palin’s status as governor of Alaska removed from the broadcast.
From the article:
Ultimately the higher ups at CBS News agreed, saying that wherever possible, the reference to "Governor" should be struck from graphics, scripts and published transcripts. In fact, based on perusal of the CBS website, between video and print, there is only one reference to Palin as Governor, and that is buried in a subhead on the splash page of the interview transcript.So, it's possible that Palin just had a bad day, but if something as mundane as Palin’s title was edited out of the interview, what else is missing?
Sarah Palin FAQ Index
- Why did Sarah and Todd Palin announce that their teenage daughter was pregnant?
- Was Sarah Palin chosen to be John McCain's running-mate just because she's attractive?
- Will Sarah Palin's family get in the way of her duties as vice-president?
- Did Sarah Palin commit nepotism as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska
- Did Sarah Palin propose banning books at the Wasilla Public Library?
- Did Sarah Palin try to have her former brother-in-law fired from his job as an Alaska State Trooper?
- Did Sarah Palin ever support the "Bridge to Nowhere"?
- Will Sarah Palin’s interview with Katie Couric factor into the VP Debate?
- Is Sarah Palin's "folksy" talk all an act?
