VP Debate Open Thread

I'll be honest with you - debates bother me, especially in this campaign season. Like most of you, after the GOP convention I couldn't wait for the Palin-Biden matchup figuring Sarah would mop the floor with the old plagiarizer. However, the events of the past few weeks have left me with serious concerns that she's been mismanaged by the McCain campaign staff and the Sarah we'd like to see may not show up tonight. Consequently, I'm not even sure I'm gonna watch it. I may just tune in to the analysis afterwards and try and save my blood pressure.

One question from Obama puppet Gwen Ifill like "Tell me Governor Palin, who is the third deputy prime minister in Donkeystan, and how will his policies affect the political stability of neighboring Oxcartistan?" and the top of my head will blow right off.

By the way, just to show you how biased the media is on this debate, Carl Cameron reported on Fox that Reuters had called the debate organizers and asked them if they were going to check the ear canals of the candidates to make sure they didn't have a listening device in there where someone could give them answers. Of course, that comment was directed at Palin.

Byron York at The Corner sheds some light on the fears that the McCain people have really blown it with Palin:

Word is the prep sessions in Sedona have been going well, although I'm not sure what people would say if they were going badly.

But there's no doubt there are concerns about Palin. If you talk to people in Alaska, away from the McCain campaign or Washington Republican circles, there's a feeling that the campaign has mishandled her. For my story on Palin's time as governor, out tomorrow in the electronic version of NR, I talked to some people who have known her for quite a while. Although we were talking about other things, one of them took a detour to the upcoming debate; what was said was just one person's opinion, but it's an opinion informed by a good bit of knowledge.

"The McCain people have got her freaked out," this person told me. "She has not found her voice. She has looked like hell in these interviews. It's not her. I don't know what's going on. I know she doesn't have any Alaska people around her since Todd left New York last week. No one from the governor's office is with her."

"They've circled the wagons around her and got her in a bubble," the source continued. "They've got her flipped out. She's afraid to talk, afraid to make a mistake."

"You have to get her away from that damn cellphone and BlackBerry when you're getting her ready for interviews and debates. You have to create peace around her, get her to calm down and just breathe, for God's sake….If she does that, she's one of the best I've ever seen."

"I think she'll make a comeback with Biden, when she gets out there all alone. But I've just never seen her so unsure of herself in a long time."

Sending Palin to McCain's ranch in Arizona, where some of her family was with her, was part of an effort to "create peace" around her. Still, I think my Alaskan source's observations raise the question of whether you want a candidate for vice president who can be rattled by Charles Gibson or Katie Couric. But my sense is that Palin is pretty tough, and that if she has in fact been rattled, it's been more a one-time response to her being plucked out of Alaska and put on the national stage so quickly. It's a huge change, but she's adjusting. In any event, if you're looking for peace, the McCain campaign is not the first place that would come to mind.

Jonah Goldberg suggests this is "campaign malpractice". It's hard to disagree with that.

For those of you who will be watching and would like to comment on what you're seeing, consider this your opportunity to make your comments on this post. You offered some good stuff last Friday and I'll bet you'll have some good stuff tonight.