Article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122281636354892281.html
Could Govornor Sarah Palin be a better debater than she lets on from her current television interviews?
While running for the position of Governor of Alaska two years ago, Sarah Palin surprised her opponents and voting Alaskans alike with her ability to get into the spirit of the debate and duke it out with her older male opponents. Sarah Palin started out her debate holding cue cards to assist her with difficult policy questions, but was able to quickly get rid of them and participate fluidly in the debate. This let Alaskans walk away impressed rather than concerned. Part of Govonor Palin’s 2006 debate can be seen below.Though Senator Palin had success in her debates for the position of Alaskan Governor her current television appearances and interviews are leaving all but the most die-hard of republicans worried about her upcoming performance in the Vice Presidential debates this week.
Many fear that Governor Palin is not prepared for this debate when comparing the experience of Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Joe Biden, who is backed by “three decades of congressional deliberations, as well as two rounds of presidential-nominating contests with their own sets of debates” according to the Wall Street Journal article.
This combined with her performance in recent interviews has caused many critics to become very vocal towards Gov. Palin as can be seen in the clip below which shows CNN’s Jack Cafferty’s views on Sarah Palin.
Her performance in previews public events such as the one discussed in the video above have brought serious concerns toward Gov. Palin’s qualifications to be in such a high position of power in the United States. Jack Cafferty seriously questions Gov. palin's ability to be vice President in the above video, stating that:
“This woman is one 72 year olds heartbeat away from being President of the United States, and if that does not scare the hell out of you, it should.”
-Jack Cafferty 9/26/2008
Regardless of Gov. Palin’s past performance the Democrats are not taking her performance in the upcoming debate lightly which is what Gov. Palin’s two competitors for in the 2006 elections seemed to have done. During the campaign Gov. Murkowski and John Binkley fought between themselves, seemingly ignoring Palin until it was too late. Gov. Palin was able to make a connection with the viewing audience and win their support.
The National debates could be harder for Gov. Palin to repeat a past debate performance however. The questions may require concrete answers that Gov. Palin may not be able to answer, and while Gov. Palin may be good at avoiding questions she does not wish to answer, that may be impossible during this debate.
If Gov. Palin continues to fail to meet media and voter expectations in her public appearances, it may have a dramatic effect on McCain’s ability to secure the White House come Election Day. Should she bomb the VP debates, she will likely take McCain down with her.
Discussion Questions \ tl;dr:
Can Sarah Palin be a better debater than her current interviews seem to make her out to be?
If Gov. Palin continues her history of bad press in the debate, how much of an impact do you feel this will have Sen. McCain’s chances of becoming president?
In the second video above, Jack Cafferty states “This woman is one 72 year olds heartbeat away from being President of the United States, and if that does not scare the hell out of you, it should” Is Gov. Palin prepared to be president of the United States should Sen. McCain become president?
3 comments:
This is such a controversy topic to talk about. Can Sarah be a better debate than her current interview? My answer is YES !!! Her first debate with Joe Biden already shows that she did a better job than the interview. Despite the fact that Joe Biden’s plans are more persuasive, Sarah tries very hard to get audience’s attention. While Joe Biden uses statistic, fact and put himself in the position of the middle class; Sarah tries to be herself and she uses the common sound as Middle American like “you guy” or “I am who I am”.
For all the supports that Sen. McCain has contributed to this country, he deserves to win the election. However, if Gov. Palin cannot show her abilities to understand deeply the economy and her failure of making the connection with the audiences, this will be a big disadvantage for Sen. McCain.
According to the last video, Jack Cafferty criticizes Sarah about how bad her performance is. Jack’s analysis is absolutely right, but the way he says is too direct, emotional and straightforward. To be fair, I think one of the disadvantage of the interview is the position of the camera is too close to Sarah’s face which does not build a good image on her. Regardless of how she looks on the TV, through the interview, her answers are so general which do not illustrate much about what she will do to this country. I don’t think she is ready to become a vice president since she always build good image for McCain rather than showing her capability to lead this country.
Palin has infact become a better debater, which is evident from her recent debate with Joe Biden. What does that actually mean? To me, not much. I only view her as a puppet for the Republican party who was only choosen to help combat a charasmatic black Democratic electee.
Well, I think if Palin really struggles with bad press, like she has shown she is capable of, the McCain's chances to become President have got to be right next to zero. He is already behind in the polls, so any struggle on either his part or Palin's is just gonna make it all the more difficult for them.
In no way shape or form do I think Palin is capable of being Vice President nor President. It doesn't look like she has any insight on critical issues at all. And for me personally, growing up in the NOVA area all my life, I just find that our ideals of how we would like America to be run clash too much. My opinion is definatly bais. But, I am just so fed up with the Bush administration that I trully feel no Republican should be president for at least eight years. The only way I would consider voting for the McCain/Palin ticket is if they renounced their Republicanism. And that is definatly not going to happen.
Even though Palin has improved and become a better debater, I would still not wish to see her as President. The things she struggles with during her debates, especially not being able to complete any sort of specific answers to most of the questions, does not keep me at ease for having her as Vice President.
Palin's answers are never about exactly what she will do but rather very general and broad ideas about what should or has been done. Going back to Fallow's article, her character and her approach does not give off a very "president-like" light. I don't see Palin being able to have her own voice and speak out for what she thinks if her and McCain are in office together.
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