Debate to pose a pair of challenges
Palin, Biden have much to balance
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ST. LOUIS - Tonight's first and only vice presidential debate presents separate but simultaneous tests for the candidates.
Republican Sarah Palin - under intense scrutiny for her few unscripted remarks as a candidate and losing the confidence of voters - faces the first extended audition of her capabilities, knowledge, and ability to improvise since she became the nominee.
Democrat Joe Biden - a master of televised bombast as a two-time presidential candidate and assertive Senate committee chairman - faces the challenge to find his footing as a secondary figure on stage, balancing the roles of foil, inquisitor, and bystander.
The pressure on the first-term Alaska governor has transformed the debate from a typical exchange between top campaign surrogates into a test of whether Palin is qualified for national office.
"I've never seen a debate where there was such intense focus on one of the debaters in isolation from everything else," said Alan Schroeder, a Northeastern University journalism professor who has written a book on presidential debates.
Two national polls released yesterday showed growing skepticism of Palin's qualifications. In an Associated Press-Gfk survey, 25 percent of likely voters said they believe Palin has the right experience to be president, down from 41 percent just after the GOP convention in late August.
According to a survey released yesterday by the Pew Research Center, a majority of the electorate says she is unprepared to become president, up from 37 percent last month. The results, wrote Pew's Andrew Kohut, demonstrate a "clear correlation between views of Palin's qualifications and support for McCain, which may be hurting the GOP candidate."
"This thing has blown up into a much bigger deal than a vice presidential debate usually is or should be," said former ABC News political director Hal Bruno, who moderated the 1992 debate. "Usually it isn't a debate that introduces a candidate to the American people, but that's what's happening here."
While Palin has kept a low public profile, agreeing to only a handful of interviews and answering few questions from voters, she has been preparing aggressively in private, according to aides. Members of the campaign's policy arm have traveled with Palin continuously since she joined the ticket nearly five weeks ago, and have also introduced her to the wide range of informal advisers with whom McCain consults.
Earlier this week, McCain arranged for Palin, who held her own during debates while running for governor in 2006, to conduct her debate preparation at his
"There are a lot of federal issues that she didn't have to deal with in Alaska. She'll be learning about Senator McCain's positions on the issues," McCain strategist Charlie Black said last week.
Advisers to McCain concede that Biden enters the debate with an advantage over Palin on foreign policy issues. "If you want to concede that one person on each ticket has experience in national security, at least we have ours in the right order," Black said.
Strategists say the struggle for the Delaware senator, who has been practicing near his home against Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, will be to demonstrate his authority, especially on international issues, in a way that contrasts favorably with Palin's but does not provoke sympathy for her.
Much as racial and generational differences influenced the candidates' behavior at last Friday's presidential debate, tonight's session is likely to be governed by its gender dynamics. Palin will be the first woman to participate in a general-election debate since 1984, when US Representative Geraldine Ferraro accused Vice President George H.W. Bush of a "patronizing attitude" by lecturing her about foreign affairs.
"That's become an object lesson for subsequent male debaters facing a female opponent in what not to do," said Schroeder. "You have to treat your opponent as an equal, and you have to be particularly careful that you don't give off the impression of condescending to your opponent."
Yet the fact that Palin and Biden are meeting on stage at different points in their political careers could influence each candidate's debate strategy, according to observers. While enduring impressions of Palin are likely to be formed tonight, Biden may be less concerned about the impact on his public image if he ruthlessly attacks McCain.
"This debate isn't about positioning Joe Biden for the future. In that respect, he's got a different task," said Schroeder. "She's debating to get McCain elected, but she's also debating for her own viability as a national candidate."
While the Pew poll showed that voters continue to view Palin favorably, her weakened credibility as a potential president appears to have particularly damaged McCain within the one demographic group where his strategists expected her presence to give him the biggest boost: Obama now leads McCain by 17 percentage points among women.
Even as Republicans decry the aggressive media attention on Palin's credentials, they see tonight's debate as an opportunity for her to win over voters who remain fascinated with her personality as the hockey mom with five children.
"They'll want to know how she balances her life," said Republican National Committee chairman Robert M. Duncan. "They'll want to know what her leadership style is like. How does she make a decision? Who does she listen to?"
The debate's format - negotiated by the campaigns and enforced by moderator Gwen Ifill of PBS - is more structured than the three presidential exchanges, allowing short periods for candidate answers and little opportunity for the two to interact.
"They put such constraints on it that it cuts the free flow of the debate," said Bruno. "They've got every single minute planned out."
Sasha Issenberg can be reached at sissenberg@globe.com.
