Experts Expound

“Tonight’s the night (Thursday): It’s Biden vs. Palin and, somehow, even moderator Gwen Ifill is becoming part of the debate. Who will come out on top?”

Biden if he sticks to the facts and doesn’t appear condescending or smart-alecky. It’s clear that Palin is out of her league and in over her head. Couric has dissected her like a frog in a high school science class.

There is a wide range of possibilities. Palin could be surprisingly good or catastrophically bad. Biden will probably score well, although the gaffe gremlin lurks within him. The most likely outcome is a Biden win that’s solid but not game-changing.

Ifill wins. She has a book coming out.

The First Dude would probably say Palin.

The bar is set so low for Palin that all she needs to do is string two coherent sentences together and not have a wardrobe malfunction and she’ll get high marks. Personally I hope she shows up with a six-pack of Bud and box of Reds in her sleeve in honor of “Joe Six Pack”!

Biden’s far more intelligent and knowledgeable. But the bar is now so low for Palin that she can be barely coherent and exceed expectations.  And she can see Russia from her house!

Depends on how you define “on top.” Common sense dictates that Palin will be exposed as the whoopee cushion of American politics — the joke candidate who is totally unprepared to be president. Then again, “common sense” has not been the electorate’s strong suit of late. Biden must be respectful and not appear condescending — given his personality, a monumental challenge.

It better be Biden, because all my wife wants to talk about – even when we are in the sack– is Ms. Sarah. It’s angry talk and definitely NOT foreplay.

The Katie Couric interview showed Palin doesn’t have a grasp of details and becomes incoherent when nervous. That doesn’t bode well for her. On the other hand, Biden is smart, but has to be careful of not appearing condescending or piling on. Who knows how it will turn out? No matter what, it will get a huge audience and no doubt Tina Fey will be on “Saturday Night Live” spoofing the debate this weekend.

If she’s not taken out as biased (which fairness demands), Gwen will come out on top. After all, she’ll sell books. Those other two will just makes asses of themselves, depending upon who’s doing the watching.

Ask me Friday morning. My guess now is Biden. But I have a hunch Palin will do better than expected and the senator may step on his tie or come across as supercilious despite intense coaching.

Clearly Palin IS on top, so to speak, so my bets are with the lady.

Biden and Iffil

The GOP is attacking Ifill because they know Palin is likely to be crushed. They tried to delay this debate, now they’ll try to discredit it. There is a dual danger for Dems though–Biden could pull a foot-in-mouth that dominates post-debate coverage, and expectations for Palin are so low even she (or a lawn chair) might exceed them.

The Katie Couric interview showed Palin doesn’t have a grasp of details and becomes incoherent when nervous. That doesn’t bode well for her. On the other hand, Biden is smart, but has to be careful of not appearing condescending or piling on. Who knows how it will turn out? No matter what, it will get a huge audience and no doubt Tina Fey will be on “Saturday Night Live” spoofing the debate this weekend.

The people from whom we sought opinions: Andrew Acosta, A.G. Block, Elizabeth Ashford, Mark Bogetich, Barry Brokaw, Morgan Crinklaw, J. Dale Debber, Peter DeMarco, Jim Evans, Kathy Fairbanks, Jeff Fuller, Rex Frazier, Ken Gibson, Evan Goldberg, Deborah Gonzalez, Sandy Harrison, Bob Hertzberg, Jason Kinney, Mike Madrid, Nicole Mahrt, Steve Maviglio, Adam Mendelsohn, Barbara O’Connor, Bill Packer, Kassy Perry, Jack Pitney, Adam Probolsky, Tony Quinn, Matt Rexroad, Matt Ross, Roger Salazar, Gabriel Sanchez, Dan Schnur, Will Shuck, Ralph Simoni, Sam Sorich, Ray Sotero, Gary South, Kevin Spillane, Rich Zeiger