The Doer and the Droner

Mark Steyn reviews the VP debate as only he can:

Back in February, several political lifetimes ago, I was on the radio with Laura Ingraham, and she played Stevie Wonder's campaign song for Barack Obama, whose lyric, in its entirety, runs:

"Ba-rack O-ba-ma

Ba-a-rack O-ba-a-ma

Ba-ra-ack Obama-a ..."

(Repeat until coronation.)

Laura and I had a good laugh about it, until it occurred to me that, in politics as in pop, the tune is more important than the words. A guy can run for president with all the right lyrics – on the war, the economy, the social issues – but what matters is whether people respond to the underlying music: not what he's saying, but how he's saying it. At the time, I was reflecting on Mitt Romney: The song looked great on paper, but when he stuck it on the stand and started to warble it never quite soared.

That's where Sarah Palin scored in the vice-presidential showdown. A lot of the grandees in the post-debate analysis reviewed the lyrics and missed the music. Whereas, I would wager, a big chunk of uncommitted voters out in TV land listened to Gov. Palin, and liked the tune they were hearing. If you're one of those coastal feminists who despise Alaska's sweetheart as a chillbilly breeder whose knowledge of foreign policy is as full of holes as the last moose to make the mistake of strolling past her deck, Thursday night's folksy performance isn't going to change your view. But, if your contempt for her wasn't already chiseled in granite, she came over as genuine, confident …and different. Change you can believe in, to coin a phrase.

I was a bit alarmed at first. I hadn't seen her for awhile, not since the halfwits at the McCain campaign walled her up in the witness protection program and permitted visitations only by selected poobahs of the Metamucil networks. When she walked out on stage, her famous reach-for-the-skies up-do seemed a bit subdued and earthbound, like a low-budget remake of the famous scene in "There's Something About Mary." Then she started speaking. The lyrics were workmanlike, but the music was effective.

I have a couple of favorite snapshots from the evening. One was when Palin said that John McCain hadn't required her to check her principles at the door, and she still believed in drilling in ANWR and she was hoping to bring him round on that. And then she grinned and gave a mischievous wink into the camera, and to the nation.

"Don't sell the American people short," Obama honcho David Axelrod said. "They need more than a wink and a smile." OK, so how about this? Joe Biden mocked the McCain campaign's energy policy as "Drill, drill, drill", and the governor came back to correct the line: "It's not 'Drill, drill, drill'," she grinned. "It's 'Drill, baby, drill!'"

Read the rest of it here.

Today's Irrational Palin Hatred Watch

Mark Ambinder reports that some of the lefties are so desperate to denigrate Sarah Palin's performance in the debate last night that their making up fairy tales about the paper she had on the podium:

ThinkProgress and other liberal entities analyzed the tape from last night's vice presidential debate and seem to believe that Gov. Sarah Palin brought a sheaf of talking points to her lectern and simply read them.

That's not what happened.

Debate rules prohibited candidates from bringing any pre-prepared material with them.

Only blank paper and writing utensils were provided.

So to the extent that Palin seemed to be reading, it was because she had, during the course of the debate or during Joe Biden's answers, written down some notes. Clearly, she had memorized talking points and wrote them down when she got to the podium. But that's not what's being alleged.

Biden did the same thing -- you can see him jotting down some notes and then referring to them before speaking.

No conspiracy here.

BTW: the debate organizers placed the paper on the lecturns, not the campaigns.

Unless Steve Schmidt and Mark Wallace schooled Palin in some David Blaine-esque slight-of-hand tricks, she couldn't have hidden notes on her body either.

Nice try, lefties.

Early Ratings Show Huge Increase for VP Debate

It looks like last night's VP debate will be a ratings winner:

In the very preliminary ratings returns, Thursday's debate between Alaska governor Sarah Palin and Delaware senator Joe Biden is looking like strong performer.

The four broadcast networks airing last night's debate totaled a 28.1 overnight meter-market household rating.

That's 33% higher than last week's morning-after returns for Friday's presidential debate, which scored a collective 21.4 rating among the major networks.

These are early numbers and subject to change. Due to a Nielsen processing delay, they do not include six major markets, including Los Angeles (which was low for Friday's debate and could drag down the average), as well as Miami, Houston, San Diego, Denver and Las Vegas. Making a firm judgment at this point about the debate's popularity is a bit like calling the presidency on election night with Florida and Ohio still unreported. Still, things look positive, with cable network sources reporting that their early numbers show gains from Friday too. In a few hours we'll have more clarity as Nielsen will announce an official household rating that includes broadcast and cable networks for the 56 major markets. Later, we'll have total viewers and demos.

I'll update this post later when more complete numbers come in.

The Debate Commission made a huge mistake by scheduling the first presidential debate on a Friday night in the Fall. I, along with millions of other Americans, was attending a high school football game that night. It was not a smart move by the Commission and I think we'll see higher ratings in the upcoming two debates.

UPDATE: The ratings were even better than first thought:

UPDATED: Thursday's debate between Alaska governor Sarah Palin and Delaware senator Joe Biden proved prognosticators correct and scored extremely high viewership.

Last night's debate totaled a 45.0 overnight meter-market household rating, according to Nielsen

That's 42% higher than Friday's presidential debate between John McCain and Barack Obama, which scored a collective 31.6 rating among the broadcast and cable networks.

It's also a stunning 60% higher than the 2004 debate between Dick Cheney and John Edwards. In fact, the figure surpasses any presidential debate since 1992's second bout between Bill Clinton, Ross Perot and George Bush.

The ratings will likely decrease slightly when Nielsen releases total national viewers later today. If it stays above 43.6, it will mean Thursday night was the highest-rated vp debate in TV history, surpassing 1984's most-watched record holder between George Bush and Geraldine Ferrarro.

"She Killed"

Peggy Noonan, former Reagan speechwriter and current columnist at the Wall Street Journal, was asked her opinion of Sarah Palin during NBC's debate broadcast last night. Noonan is not one to throw around praise, but can be a very harsh critic of conservatives who don't meet her expectations. When asked about Palin she simply said "she killed":

Should We Thank Katie Couric? And Tina Fey?

Justin Hart at Culture11 suggests that Katie Couric may have done the McCain campaign a real service:

Before the debate last night I updated by Twitter and Facebook status: "Rope-a-dope tonight. And Sarah is not the dope." My liberal friends went into full fury mode asking what I meant (they thought I was belittling Joe). I wasn't. I was belittling them.

Many of my friends on the left expected her to fall on her face. They zapped their popcorn (wait, they probably don't use microwaves... do they?) and scripted in their minds how they might work Tina Fey if they were a writer for SNL. They slapped together quick drinking games to down a shot for every gaffe uttered by Governor Mooseburger. By the end of the night they were stone cold sober and Tina Fey was looking for a new job. In short, their expectations were shattered.

One of the biggest concerns in the McCain campaign after the St. Paul was "expectations". How do you top that awesome speech from Alaska's shining star? You can't. The only way to beat expectations is to lower them again. But how?

Have the liberals do it for us. Did Katie Couric win the election for John McCain?

If you had to put a physical height on the hurdle that Palin had to clear last night... how high was it? I reasonably estimated the height at 2 inches. She basically had to show up and not get sick on camera. Mission accomplished.

In fact, she exceeded expectations, which for conservatives, was all important. Conservatives have invested a lot in Governor Palin. She made it cool to be conservative again. She made it acceptable to vote for Senator McCain. She rallied the base and brought out the crowds in force.

Returning to Cardozo: "customer satisfaction with a product is influenced by the effort expended to acquire the product." Conservatives have been spending herculean efforts to get her and McCain elected. But after Gibson and Couric we had some serious questions in our minds. Did we buy lemon?

Palin proved us wrong, buoyed the faith of everyone on the right, and simultaneously smacked down her liberal detractors last night. Thanks Katie Couric.

I must admit that after reading the reviews of Couric's multiple interviews and the daily drip of "gotcha" questions that were being released, even I was beginning to doubt whether St. Paul Sarah or Katie Couric Sarah would show up. I was glad to see the Sarah Barracuda from St. Paul on that stage last night.

And while we're thanking liberals, let's give Tina Fey and SNL a nice hand. They decided the only way they could be funny was to portray Palin as a complete know-nothing ditz. That stereotype won't work if they try it again. They might actually have to be funny if they want to use Fey again.

Maybe they can show Joe Biden field dressed and strapped to a dogsled...

Feel Like Dancing?

If Sarah Palin's performance last night made you feel like getting up and doing an Irish Reel, here's your soundtrack, courtesy of my daughter:

The Frank Luntz Focus Group

This video of the Frank Luntz focus group is probably very reflective of how many independent voters saw tonight's debate:

She Spoke to America

I must admit - I took my wife out to dinner and missed the whole debate. I walked in and turned on the TV just as it ended. I've been watching the Fox folks reviews which seem to be pretty positive toward Palin. Other reviews I'm reading seem to confirm that.

The prevailing response to the debate tonight seems to be a clear Sarah Palin victory. One of my commenters, Lee, made a good point:

Biden talked to Gwen. Palin talked to me. Slam dunk Palin

One of the people in Frank Luntz' focus group said basically the same thing. That's important. Americans don't want to be talked over, they want to be talked to. Another of Luntz' folks said that he felt like this was another 9/11 moment in which Palin was calling Americans together to solve our problems.

Here's what columnist and blogger Don Surber had to say:

Republican Sarah Palin flicks off Democrat Joe Biden’s talking points.

The moose hunter bags another one.

Biden has veered off the facts into Daily Kos land. Biden saying Republican John McCain was wrong on the war.

Two words: The Surge.

Palin has sliced this guy bad. She shows he knows nothing about energy, the economy and the war. Every answer he has is Bush, Bush, Bush.

He’s scripted. She’s not.

Biden’s lying. She’s not.

I don’t know if she can still save McCain, but she got game.

Line of the night: Doggone it, Joe.

UPDATE: The shot of the night, after the debate, she took a sleeping Trig and perched him on her shoulder. Not fair but them’s the breaks.

It sounds like Palin did what she had to do. I knew she had it in her, but didn't know if McCain was going to let her show it.

SNL can continue to try and paint her as a ditz, but I don't think anybody will buy the stereotype anymore.

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.

34% Say VP Debate Key to Their Vote

No pressure here (from Rasmussen):

Just over one-third of voters (34%) say tonight’s vice presidential debate is Very Important to how they will vote, and over half (54%) view Joseph Biden as the more skilled debater, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.

For 38%, the debate is at least somewhat important to how they will vote. Only six percent (6%) say it’s not at all important.

This sort of confirms my theory that the election could be won or lost during the 90 minutes of the debate. If St. Paul Sarah shows up, it could be game changer. If Katie Couric Sarah shows up, goodbye battleground states.

A Little Debate Prep for Palin and the Media

Here's McCain's new web ad featuring some of Joe Biden's greatest hits:

Stop the Voting - It's Over

I guess they can stop all the voter fraud in Ohio because all they're doing is padding the margin. Chuck Todd thinks it's pretty much over:

SIREN -- THE NARRATIVE IS ON FIRE – NBC NEWS POLITICAL DIRECTOR CHUCK TODD SOUNDS THE ALARM ON MSNBC’S “MORNING JOE”: “All the trend lines are pointing in Obama’s direction …. [Pointing to a series of battleground-state polls] This should really scare the McCain campaign. This thing -- it’s at a tipping point. And this debate, frankly, is coming at GOOD time for McCain because he needs something – anything – to stop this Obama momentum. … The pressure is all on Sarah Palin, not just for her own persona, but to SAVE THE McCAIN CAMPAIGN. … I think Virginia, frankly, is a trailing indicator of the national numbers. … John McCain is campaigning in Missouri later this week. That’s not a good sign. You shouldn’t have to be worrying about Missouri at this point.”

I agree that McCain needs something good to happen, but he's had opportunity after opportunity to hit hard against the Democrats and he keeps trying to run a "bipartisan" campaign. Unfortunately, this year's voters aren't interested in bipartisanship or else they would have rejected Obama long ago.

McCain has got to start making the argument that we should not elect Democrats because they're incompetent and often dishonest. He has ample evidence just from recent hearings in the mortgage fiasco in which Democrat after Democrat defended the crooks running Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and crucified the regulators who tried to rein them in. Has he used that information? No. He has instead made Republicans equally liable.

Unfortunately, his ace-in-the-hole, Sarah Palin, has proved to be disappointing. She simply hasn't performed well in her big-time media interviews. I don't know if it's because she's been overcoached and her personal style has been stifled, or if she's just not up to the job. We may know more after tonight. She needs a decisive win to try and offset some of the negative press she's gotten in the last couple of weeks. Anything less and her impact on the campaign may be negligible. If this race is left solely up to McCain, he'll lose...badly.

McCain has tried so hard to be "above-the-fray" that he's forgotten that he's in a fight for America's future. Is it really so important to be noble that it's worth turning the country over to a socialist president and a socialist Congress? Is America so desperate for "change" that they'll give the country's top job to a man we really know very little about because he's done such a good job of hiding his past? That's where we're headed and for thinking people, it's maddening.

It's not over with 4 1/2 weeks left to go, but both McCain and Palin have to step it up.

Gwen Ifill's Condescending Response

Yesterday was Gwen Ifill day at Drudge as he ran her photo and headline almost all day when it was revealed that she has a new book about Obama coming out and is set to moderate the VP debate tonight. Although the presence of the book was revealed earlier in September, it was not revealed to the Debate Commission when she was asked to participate, and her response to the criticism was basically a "screw you" to her critics:

“I’ve got a pretty long track record covering politics and news, so I’m not particularly worried that one-day blog chatter is going to destroy my reputation,” Ifill told the Associated Press. “The proof is in the pudding. They can watch the debate tomorrow night and make their own decisions about whether or not I’ve done my job.”

Perhaps a little humility would have been better...something like "I should have told the debate commission about the book, and if they feel a change is necessary, I'll cooperate". Instead she decided to blame the messengers for bringing up the subject.

As Jim Geraghty suggests, will we be able to figure out if her "job" is to be an impartial moderator, or to be a salesman of her new book?

John McCain wasn't very critical of the decision yesterday, but took a bit of a harder line this morning:

Hours ahead of the vice presidential debate, Sen John McCain (R-Ariz.) criticized the selection of PBS's Gwen Ifill as moderator because she is writing a book called "The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama."

“Frankly, I wish they had picked a moderator that isn’t writing a book favorable to Barack Obama — let's face it," McCain said on "Fox & Friends." "But I have to have to have confidence that Gwen Ifill will handle this as the professional journalist that she is. ...

“Life isn’t fair, as I mentioned earlier in the program.”

That's kind of a clever response because he's hinting that the debate won't be fair. We'll see.

By the way, it's now two-day blog chatter, and depending how impartial she is tonight, it could be several more days of blog chatter. She's on the hot seat tonight as much as Palin or Biden. And just as a reminder of the stakes facing Ifill regarding her book, let me reprint this quote from Charles Krauthammer:

"If Obama is inaugurated she's hit the lottery. If McCain is inaugurated, she's just published Dewey beats Truman at book length."

I'm sorry, but I just don't trust her to be an impartial moderator. She has too much of a financial stake in the outcome of the election.

Political Quote of the Day

From Bill Sammon during the panel discussion on Special Report, on the subject of the VP debate:

"Republicans want Palin to be Palin, and Democrats want Biden not to be Biden."

So true.

Close runner-up, from Charles Krauthammer on the same program, talking about Gwen Ifill's upcoming book about Obama which is due for release on inauguration day, and her role in the VP debate:

"If Obama is inaugurated she's hit the lottery. If McCain is inaugurated, she's just published Dewey beats Truman at book length."

McCain Expresses Confidence in Ifill

I think this is actually a pretty shrewd move:

INDEPENDENCE, MO — Sen. John McCain says he is confident PBS reporter Gwen Ifill will “do a totally objective job” moderating Thursday’s vice presidential debate despite authoring a new book that is reportedly favorable toward Sen. Barack Obama.

Asked during an interview Wednesday with Fox’s Carl Cameron whether Ifill should excuse herself as the debate moderator, McCain acknowledged the potential conflict of interest but expressed confidence in the longtime journalist.

“I think that Gwen Ifill is a professional and I think that she will do a totally objective job because she is a highly respected professional,” McCain said during an interview at the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum. “Does this help…if she has written a book that’s favorable to Senator Obama? Probably not. But I have confidence that Gwen Ifill will do a professional job and I have that confidence.”

Campaign officials said they did not know about the book until today even though Ifill’s upcoming publication was mentioned in a September 4th Washington Post profile.

Well, no wonder McCain didn't know about the new book. Nobody reads the Washington Post.

McCain did a smart thing with this statement. He effectively put Ifill in a box. She's now going to have to be painstakingly fair to Palin lest she fall short of being a "highly respected professional".

And it's not easy to walk that kind of tightrope with a broken ankle.

Gwen Ifill Breaks Ankle, Still Plans to Moderate VP Debate

This is interesting. On the same day Gwen Ifill's new book about Obama gets massive attention on Drudge and other places and only two days before the VP debate she's moderating, TVNewser reports that she has fallen and broken her ankle:

First On TVNewser: PBS' Gwen Ifill has broken her ankle after tripping and falling down stairs at her home last night, a NewsHour insider tells TVNewser. We're told Ifill had been walking up a staircase, carrying research related to her moderating duties at Thursday's Vice Presidential debate in St. Louis, when she took a wrong step.

We are also told the show will go on: Ifill is planning to travel to Missouri for the big event.

Those Sarah Palin conspiracy printouts can get heavy.

This is How Sarah Should Respond to "Gotcha" Questions

Don Surber reminds us of a question Sarah Palin got during a 2006 debate in the Alaska governor's race. Her response was perfect and should be the model for how she responds to "gotcha"-type questions on Thursday:

From the LA Times, in a 2006 debate for governor of Alaska, she was asked what she would do if one of her teenage daughters became pregnant.

Palin: “I would choose life. And I am confident you will be asking my opponents these same scenarios.”

Given the news that VP debate moderator Gwen Ifill has a new book about Obama coming out on innauguration day and therefore has a financial interest in the outcome of the election, Palin better be ready to get more questions designed to set her up, while Biden will be allowed to get away with anything.

Moderator for Biden-Palin Debate is Seriously in the Tank for Obama

Michelle Malkin gives us a little background on the moderator for Thursday's VP debate:

My dictionary defines "moderator" as "the nonpartisan presiding officer of a town meeting." On Thursday, PBS anchor Gwen Ifill will serve as moderator for the first and only vice presidential debate. The stakes are high. The Commission on Presidential Debates, with the assent of the two campaigns, decided not to impose any guidelines on her duties or questions.

But there is nothing "moderate" about where Ifill stands on Barack Obama. She's so far in the tank for the Democratic presidential candidate, her oxygen delivery line is running out.

In an imaginary world where liberal journalists are held to the same standards as everyone else, Ifill would be required to make a full disclosure at the start of the debate.

She would be required to turn to the cameras and tell the national audience that she has a book coming out on Jan. 20, 2009 — a date that just happens to coincide with the inauguration of the next president of the United States. The title of Ifill's book? "The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama."

Nonpartisan my foot.

Random House, her publisher, is already busy hyping the book with YouTube clips of Ifill heaping praise on her subjects, including Obama and Obama-endorsing Mass. Gov. Deval Patrick. The official promo for the book gushes:

"In 'The Breakthrough,' veteran journalist Gwen Ifill surveys the American political landscape, shedding new light on the impact of Barack Obama's stunning presidential campaign and introducing the emerging young African-American politicians forging a bold new path to political power.

"Drawing on interviews with power brokers like Sen. Obama, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, Vernon Jordan, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and many others, as well as her own razor-sharp observations and analysis of such issues as generational conflict and the 'black enough' conundrum, Ifill shows why this is a pivotal moment in American history."

Ifill and her publisher are banking on an Obama-Biden win to buoy her book sales.

So, just how objective do you think Ifill will be? What do you bet she has a "gotch" question or two for Palin ready to go?

UPDATE: This story now has front page headline status on Drudge. Ifill's on notice that the viewers are aware of her connections to Obama and I'll bet she'll be a little more careful in the questions she asks and the tone with which she asks them on Thursday night.

Jim Geraghty has a suggestion how to handle obvious bias from Ifill:

It's a little late to replace Gwen Ifill as moderator of the vice-presidential debate, and McCain partisans might prefer to have a moderator with a glaring conflict-of-interest to provide a handy objection to any question Palin deems out of bounds.

"Gwen, that sounds like the kind of question one would ask if one had a financial stake in the election of Barack Obama — like a book about him coming out early next year or something."

But as if we needed any further evidence of a jaw-dropping double standard, we have to contemplate the sheer impossibility that someone who wrote a positive biography of McCain being chosen to moderate a debate.