AMERICAS 
High stakes in VP debate
Thursday, 2 October, 2008
Joe Biden (Getty)
The US vice presidential debate between often ill-informed newcomer Sarah Palin and gaffe-prone veteran Joe Biden offers unusually large pitfalls - and promise. For once, the whole world may be watching.
More than 3,000 media accreditations have been issued, the most the Commission on Presidential Debates ever needed in the seven US vice presidential debates it has hosted.
IN DEPTH: Visit our US elections minisite
LIVE DEBATE BLOG: Get a reminder before our coverage begins
RELATED: Palin in debate 'boot camp'
RELATED: McCain angered by Palin questions
RELATED: Palin represents 'Joe Six-pack'
RELATED: Obama leads in key states
BLOG: America Decides
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The almost frenzied attention is driven by the public's fascination with Ms Palin, the first-term Alaska governor who Republican presidential candidate John McCain plucked from relative political obscurity to be his running mate.
Initially, Ms Palin was praised as a superb political communicator for the delivery of her acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention a month ago.
She energised the party's conservative base, which had reservations about Mr McCain, and quickly showed she could outdraw the Arizona senator on the stump - a likely factor in their decision to appear together more often than running mates usually do.
Poor performance
But a series of shaky television interviews has left even some conservatives questioning whether Ms Palin is ready to be vice president.
She couldn't describe the Bush doctrine in foreign affairs, seemed to have little grasp of the proposed financial industry bailout, and even appeared to endorse Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's position on chasing al-Qaeda terrorists in Pakistan.
Ms Palin's performance against Mr Biden, a Delaware Democrat with 35 years in the Senate, could restore her initial lustre or seriously weaken the Republican ticket.
Last week's Obama-McCain debate appeared to give Mr Obama, the senator from Illinois, a small boost in the polls but produced no knock-out blows.
So the vice-presidential debate at Washington University in St Louis could be a pivotal moment in a race already filled with surprising twists.
Ms Palin herself outlined the contest in an interview with CBS News' Katie Couric.
Debate 'boot camp'
"He's got a tremendous amount of experience and, you know, I'm the new energy, the new face, the new ideas and he's got the experience based on many, many years in the Senate and voters are gonna have a choice there of what it is that they want in these next four years," she told Ms Couric.
Ms Palin left the campaign trail on Monday to undergo debate 'boot camp' at Mr McCain's ranch in Sedona, Arizona.
She is being coached by Mr McCain's top campaign strategist, Steve Schmidt, as well as advisers Tucker Eskew, Nicolle Wallace and Mark Wallace, all veterans of President George W Bush's political operation.
McCain strategists are well aware that Ms Palin's glowing image has been badly bruised since the convention.
She has been kept from nearly all contact with reporters except for a handful of high-profile network TV interviews that revealed her relatively thin grasp of foreign policy and domestic issues.
Her answers have become punch lines for comedians, and a mocking Palin impersonation by Tina Fey on the comedy show Saturday Night Live has become a television and YouTube sensation.
Media ridicule
So Palin is under heavy pressure to show a passing command of issues facing the next president.
"I don't think she can get away with comments on foreign policy like she knows about Russia because it's near Alaska," said Minnesota-based Republican strategist Tom Homer.
Ms Palin needs to "show ability to think on her feet and to engage with someone on the level of Senator Biden without a Teleprompter in front of her," Mr Homer added.
Mr Biden, for his part, was prepping at home in Wilmington, Delaware. On hand to help were top Obama campaign strategists David Axelrod, Anita Dunn and Ron Klain, who helped coach Vice President Al Gore in 2000.
A veteran debater after his Senate experience and his own two short-lived presidential campaigns, Mr Biden has his own set of challenges.
His first presidential bid in 1987 ended after he appropriated a speech by British Labour politician Neil Kinnock during a Democratic primary debate in Iowa.
Verbal blunders
Even now, his off-the-cuff speaking style still produces verbal blunders, like when he mused aloud recently that Hillary Clinton might have made a better running mate for Obama.
And his reputation as a windy orator will be tested by the tight debate format, which allows 90-second answers and 2-minute follow-ups.
In addition, the senator will be debating a female candidate who has excited many women and elicited sympathy over some attacks perceived as sexist - if he harangues here or is condescending, he could be viewed as bullying or disrespectful.
Mr Biden has spoken to Ms Clinton and to California Senator Barbara Boxer for advice on how best to debate a woman - and called on Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm to play Palin's role in his practice debates.
"Biden's advisers have to keep beating into his head that his normal style... can be offensive," Republican strategist Ed Rollins said.
"He has a tendency, like a lot of senators, to talk down to people. And that's a danger for him because there are an awful lot of women out there who relate to Palin."
The vice-presidential debate will be streamed LIVE on this website, and broadcast on SBS, at 10.55am on Friday. Click here to sign up for a reminder shortly before Sarah Palin and Joe Biden go head-to head.
Source: SBS/AP
More than 3,000 media accreditations have been issued, the most the Commission on Presidential Debates ever needed in the seven US vice presidential debates it has hosted.
IN DEPTH: Visit our US elections minisite
LIVE DEBATE BLOG: Get a reminder before our coverage begins
RELATED: Palin in debate 'boot camp'
RELATED: McCain angered by Palin questions
RELATED: Palin represents 'Joe Six-pack'
RELATED: Obama leads in key states
BLOG: America Decides
INTERACTIVE: Check out our multimedia election coverage
The almost frenzied attention is driven by the public's fascination with Ms Palin, the first-term Alaska governor who Republican presidential candidate John McCain plucked from relative political obscurity to be his running mate.
Initially, Ms Palin was praised as a superb political communicator for the delivery of her acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention a month ago.
She energised the party's conservative base, which had reservations about Mr McCain, and quickly showed she could outdraw the Arizona senator on the stump - a likely factor in their decision to appear together more often than running mates usually do.
Poor performance
But a series of shaky television interviews has left even some conservatives questioning whether Ms Palin is ready to be vice president.
She couldn't describe the Bush doctrine in foreign affairs, seemed to have little grasp of the proposed financial industry bailout, and even appeared to endorse Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's position on chasing al-Qaeda terrorists in Pakistan.
Ms Palin's performance against Mr Biden, a Delaware Democrat with 35 years in the Senate, could restore her initial lustre or seriously weaken the Republican ticket.
Last week's Obama-McCain debate appeared to give Mr Obama, the senator from Illinois, a small boost in the polls but produced no knock-out blows.
So the vice-presidential debate at Washington University in St Louis could be a pivotal moment in a race already filled with surprising twists.
Ms Palin herself outlined the contest in an interview with CBS News' Katie Couric.
Debate 'boot camp'
"He's got a tremendous amount of experience and, you know, I'm the new energy, the new face, the new ideas and he's got the experience based on many, many years in the Senate and voters are gonna have a choice there of what it is that they want in these next four years," she told Ms Couric.
Ms Palin left the campaign trail on Monday to undergo debate 'boot camp' at Mr McCain's ranch in Sedona, Arizona.
She is being coached by Mr McCain's top campaign strategist, Steve Schmidt, as well as advisers Tucker Eskew, Nicolle Wallace and Mark Wallace, all veterans of President George W Bush's political operation.
McCain strategists are well aware that Ms Palin's glowing image has been badly bruised since the convention.
She has been kept from nearly all contact with reporters except for a handful of high-profile network TV interviews that revealed her relatively thin grasp of foreign policy and domestic issues.
Her answers have become punch lines for comedians, and a mocking Palin impersonation by Tina Fey on the comedy show Saturday Night Live has become a television and YouTube sensation.
Media ridicule
So Palin is under heavy pressure to show a passing command of issues facing the next president.
"I don't think she can get away with comments on foreign policy like she knows about Russia because it's near Alaska," said Minnesota-based Republican strategist Tom Homer.
Ms Palin needs to "show ability to think on her feet and to engage with someone on the level of Senator Biden without a Teleprompter in front of her," Mr Homer added.
Mr Biden, for his part, was prepping at home in Wilmington, Delaware. On hand to help were top Obama campaign strategists David Axelrod, Anita Dunn and Ron Klain, who helped coach Vice President Al Gore in 2000.
A veteran debater after his Senate experience and his own two short-lived presidential campaigns, Mr Biden has his own set of challenges.
His first presidential bid in 1987 ended after he appropriated a speech by British Labour politician Neil Kinnock during a Democratic primary debate in Iowa.
Verbal blunders
Even now, his off-the-cuff speaking style still produces verbal blunders, like when he mused aloud recently that Hillary Clinton might have made a better running mate for Obama.
And his reputation as a windy orator will be tested by the tight debate format, which allows 90-second answers and 2-minute follow-ups.
In addition, the senator will be debating a female candidate who has excited many women and elicited sympathy over some attacks perceived as sexist - if he harangues here or is condescending, he could be viewed as bullying or disrespectful.
Mr Biden has spoken to Ms Clinton and to California Senator Barbara Boxer for advice on how best to debate a woman - and called on Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm to play Palin's role in his practice debates.
"Biden's advisers have to keep beating into his head that his normal style... can be offensive," Republican strategist Ed Rollins said.
"He has a tendency, like a lot of senators, to talk down to people. And that's a danger for him because there are an awful lot of women out there who relate to Palin."
The vice-presidential debate will be streamed LIVE on this website, and broadcast on SBS, at 10.55am on Friday. Click here to sign up for a reminder shortly before Sarah Palin and Joe Biden go head-to head.
Source: SBS/AP
