Austin Improv

this goddamn debate has the potential of being a low point in American history, where someone so ill-informed and short-sighted could still potentially "win" the debate because people will feel bad that Biden might pick on her.

Ye gods, Biden do not pounce, do not draw blood, don't even try for the coup-de-grace, just let herself dig herself into a hole and keep digging. Sit back, Biden, sip some iced tea.

the debate is short and she rarely uses all of the time allotted to her. Her past debate video is far more confident than her Katie Couric interviews (what a vast trove CBS seems to have - releasing little tid bits every day!) As such, and with coaching, I think it's doubtful that Palin will take the rope and hang herself.

I'm sure each side will find small moments to pounce on - but despite the anticipation - I don't think there'll be a catastrophe moment for either side.

Don't listen to me, though - I'm far from sure what makes up the mind of the undecided voter or how you could even be an undecided voter on such a huge topic ( TX Rail Road Commissioner - sure - ACC board appointee - why not - but President of the U.S.???)

All this downplaying aside - I can't wait for this next act of political theatre. I've been a junkie for this stuff since the conventions.

P.S. I'm occupado this Thursday and will be watching the recaps on-line - but Arthur - if you're watching either of the other debates and would like company - I'd love to watch it with a fellow politico. I don't have a TV so I have to go out to bars to watch these sort of media events and it's always a toss up on the crowd or if they'll have the sound on.

Are you kidding? I have high hopes this debate will be awesome.

An incredibly uninformed person who doesn't know what to say unless fed lines and a well-informed person who doesn't know when to shut his mouth and has a history of phrasing things poorly.

I have high entertainment hopes for tomorrow night.

the woman can't stand up to softball questions from Katie Couric or Charlie Gibson. these people used to host morning shows! they use soft focus! i think the only bad thing Biden could do would be to mock her. if he just torpedoes her with rhetoric while she's floundering around for which practiced talking point to use, this is no contest. America's so over the bulldog with lipstick shtick at this point, i don't think there'll be much of a sympathy backlash if he just destroys her because we're expecting it at this point.

i'm tired of being careful and cautious. Obama's been very deliberate and very classy and i love him for it...but someone on the Democratic side needs to throw a punch and that's what you have Biden there for in the first place so use it.

I think tonight's debate will be a little anticlimactic, and Palin will not deliver up any of the Couric doozies we've seen over the past week.

This sentence yesterday, though, made me laugh out loud:

"I can only hope that Biden can refrain himself at the debate from telling Palin to not go full retard."

I really hope Biden gives Palin the chance to dig her own hole. The woman is beyond retard. She gives answers as if she were a junior high school student who has been caught without her book report done. That whole answer she had about how she reads all the media that is put in front of her. That is beyond retarded. If I were Couric, I would have started tossing out made up newspapers and magazines to see if she would say "Yes, I read that."

There was a point in the Couric interview, the sit down portion, where I swear you can see fear in Palin's eyes. Fear that she is in over her head? That she is going to be found out for the sham she is? I do not know. But man it reads clearly for me.

Why does it no read as clearly for the rest of the country? I mean, COME ON!!!

I think people see what they want to see.

Anyone hanging out to watch the debate and make fun of Palin?

I'm in.

-- Brian.

Come on, now. Biden doesn't stand a chance against a woman who reads EVERY newspaper on the planet.

Miggy wrote:P.S. I'm occupado this Thursday and will be watching the recaps on-line - but Arthur - if you're watching either of the other debates and would like company - I'd love to watch it with a fellow politico. I don't have a TV so I have to go out to bars to watch these sort of media events and it's always a toss up on the crowd or if they'll have the sound on.

Sure, we can throw together a debate watchin' party for the 2nd or 3rd Obama/McCain one...

Tonight could decide the election because those undecideds are deciding based on the VeePs.

Goooooo Joe. I hope he doesn't play softball.

What a fabulous debate. It's too bad the bar for Palin's success was simply not choking or bursting into tears. They're calling it a success for her, which is irritating. I thought Biden hit it out of the park.

Basically I thought Palin stopped the bleeding. But in the end, that won't be enough. While she helped her own tarnished reputation, I thought Biden was much more effective helping his ticket. And in the end, that's the only metric that matters.