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 George Lakoff -- professor of linquistics at that snooty west coast liberal college at Berkeley -- has a primer on tonight's vice presidential debate:
The Democrats are assuming that Biden will win easily over Palin. I hope so, but Palin should not be underestimated. She is being tutored and much of what she will do should be obvious. She will attack Obama viciously, but with humor. I think she will come out as a populist identifying Obama and Biden with Wall Street and say that McCain improved the Paulson bill by going to Washington. She may argue that a corporate income tax cut will put money in the economy. That one’s easy to rebut: corporations that need bailouts have losses not incomes and so cutting their taxes would be pointless. But such logical arguments won’t carry the day with Conservative Populists. Biden will have to come on at the beginning as a populist attacking the need for such a bailout. Remember that polls among conservative populists are running more than 100-to-1 against. Also remember that conservative populists see liberals as elitists, and will see Biden negatively if he comes on as a policy wonk trying to upstage Palin on her ignorance about issues. Biden needs to be short, to the point, passionate, and should not forget the Big 5 reasons people vote for a presidential candidate: Values, Authenticity, Communication and Connection, Trust, and Identity. He has to undercut McCain on these, and support himself and Obama on them. Again, look for the obvious from Palin: She will repeat "That’s gotcha journalism" when asked embarrassing questions. She and McCain are the populist reformers fighting Wall street, indentifying Obama and Biden with Wall Street, and touting no taxpayer bailout, private insurance, cutting corporate taxes, cutting spending, the defense of Georgia from the Russians, and drilling to lower energy costs. She will drop the names of the leaders she met in NY at the UN. She will call Obama too liberal and an orator with no content. She will bring back Reverend Wright and Bill Ayres. She will talk about being pro-life and saving the family and the Second Amendment. Biden will have to practice not falling into any of these frames, but responding (or if possible starting) with framing of his own that casts McCain in a bad light in all these cases and draws her into his framing. I assume those prepping him for the debate will have already told him all of this. Biden should go after McCain. He should call him a Yes-man for Bush 90 percent of the time, especially on deregulation of Wall Street (which caused this economic crisis), on refusing to fund alternative energy, on starting the Iraq War and not going after Osama bin Laden, and on privatizing—and eventually ending—social security. A debate on whether McCain is Yes-Man will displace the maverick frame from public discourse. Buzzflash (read the whole thing)
I agree that Palin shouldn't be underestimated. She's no dumber (and probably smarter) than George W. Bush, and he got elected twice. Palin's performance tonight should give America a sense of how good she is cramming for a final exam. It will also give a sense of how well she takes instruction. And how good she is at message management. She will surprise many, I'm sure. Record numbers of Americans will be watching tonight's debate. What many expect to see is a split screen, with Biden constantly talking -- never shutting up -- on the left half, and a train wreck on the right half of the screen. Don't bank on either of those things being on the screen tonight. My prediction: I still think this debate is going to be called off. I think the Republican puppet masters are going to over-underestimate Palin and come up with some excuse for the debate not to happen. Maybe Palin will be out on a moose hunt this morning and suddenly "find" bin Laden climbing Mt. McKinley. Maybe an emergency wedding ceremony will need to be performed in Wasilla and Palin will need to officiate. Maybe a Russian MiG-35 will fly over Wales Airport, Alaska, and Palin will need to call up the Alaskan National Guard. Something. Either way, there will be a big watch party -- potluck, bring your own chair (we had about 70 people and about 60 chairs last week) and beverage -- at the ND Grassroots For Obama office tonight. 7:00 p.m. Debate starts at 8:00 p.m. 3333 E. Broadway Ave, Suite 1206, Bismarck. We're going to try to live blog the debate using a new widget. We'll see how that plays out. Stay tuned.
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What could be more fitting? 
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