Palin the Debater (II)

Having watched the gubernatorial roundtable from the 2006 Alaska election, I believe Sarah Palin is a more formidable debate opponent than people expect. The best thing for the McCain campaign is to keep the expectation game low, so that Palin can be a "dragon slayer" against Biden.

In the 2006 Republican primary, Palin faced incumbent Governor, Frank Murkowski, who had served twenty two years in the United States Senate prior to being Governor and had appointed Palin to the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. The other candidate in the race, John Binkley, had extensive experience in the state legislature.

At three and a half minutes into the debates, Palin was asked if she was "a little too young and inexperienced for the job,” a question that will no doubt reappear in the vice presidential debate. Her response was crisp and clear: she portrayed herself as an outsider, and then pointed to some of her accomplishments as mayor of the town of Wasilla, Alaska. The McCain campaign will no doubt prepare an answer to the experience question for the debates.

Throughout the debates, Palin appears calm and professional. Her answers are clear and concise. At one point, the moderator turned to her while the two other candidates were yelling and cracked a joke about the candidates appearing like they were at the dinner table. Palin allowed the candidates to go after each other, a luxury she won't have in the vice-presidential debate.

Palin spelled out her energy plan and differentiated herself from her two opponents, a definite plus in a campaign where McCain has scored points for advocating increased drilling. She appears a bit off her game later in that exchange, when discussing a commitment from the governor to wait for congressional approval before completing a deal on Alaska's energy resources.

In particular, she repeats "that's good" after Murkowski responds to her attack by declaring that he has already stated he would not act unilaterally. At this point, she appears a bit flustered.

For the most part, however, Palin appears calm and collected. She had very few missteps and verbal gaffes in the debate; her delivery was fluid and concise. This is unsurprising: Palin has a bachelor's of science from the University of Idaho in journalism, although she did not make much a mark on her professors there. Palin also interned for an NBC affiliate in Anchorage.

As Professor Schroeder pointed out yesterday, there's a big gap between Alaska television and the prime-time national audience watching the vice-presidential debate. Presenting yourself as a convincing governor of Alaska is different from appearing presidential, but it's a start.

Sarah Palin is hardly unprepared for the debates. True, she will be at a huge information disadvantage to Biden, particularly in the area of foreign affairs; he has showed a great memory for details in the primary debates. My guess is that she will spend the next month reading up on these issues.

Palin's poise and confidence should not be discounted. There will be two strong debaters on the stage October 2nd. Palin is definitely the underdog, but her past performance indicates reasons for concern in the Biden camp, particularly if expectations are low.

Edit: A final concern for the Palin campaign: In the 2006 roundtable, Palin has a marked accent on certain words (for instance her "no" sounds almost Canadian at times). This likely plays well in Alaska, but she will probably moderate the accent for the debates if possible.