In VP debate, both sides have something to prove
— -- It's rare that the undercard is as eagerly awaited as the title bout. But in this election, the vice presidential debate could be such a matchup.
When Republican Sarah Palin and Democrat Joe Biden face off Thursday night (9 p.m. ET) at Washington University in St. Louis, the 90-minute debate will be the longest — or, perhaps, only — side-by-side look at the two that voters will get before the Nov. 4 election.
Each has plenty to prove to the millions who will be watching. The candidates have to show they could step into the top job if needed. They must excite the party faithful and entice undecided voters. And they must mind the vice presidential credo: "Do no harm" to the nominee, all while sinking their teeth into the opponent.
Palin and Biden each come with their own specific challenges. Since being chosen by GOP nominee John McCain on Aug. 29, the Alaska governor has inspired excitement within the party — especially among conservatives wary of McCain's work with Democrats on immigration and an overhaul of campaign-finance laws. But no one outside of Alaska has seen Palin debate live, and her recent network TV interviews — in which she struggled to answer questions about the government's financial bailout plan and her self-described expertise on Russia — have been widely lampooned.
Palin's credibility has suffered: In a poll out Wednesday from the Pew Research Center, only 37% of Americans said Palin is qualified to be president compared with 63% for Biden. In a Pew poll three weeks ago, 52% said Palin was qualified.
Tonight's wild card: How will Palin handle the intricacies of policy without a teleprompter?
Biden, whose choice as Democrat Barack Obama's running mate was far less of a surprise than Palin's, is known for his windiness, zingers and gaffes.
He muddied the launch of his second presidential bid in February 2007 when he was quoted in the New York Observer referring to Obama as "clean" and "articulate." During a primary debate last year, Biden brought down the house by saying that GOP contender Rudy Giuliani, a former New York mayor, was using just three words in every sentence: "a noun, a verb and 9/11."
The unknown for tonight: Whether the Delaware senator will say something condescending, controversial or clumsy.
"Her vulnerability is sounding as if she's reciting something written on an index card," says political scientist Kathleen Hall Jamieson of the University of Pennsylvania. "You listen to Sen. Biden and you think, he's never seen an index card."
Mitchell McKinney, a University of Missouri-Columbia professor who studies political debates, predicts "an uptick" in viewership from previous vice presidential debates. The first of three Obama-McCain matchups last week drew 52.4 million viewers. "We could be in a situation where we actually for the first time eclipse a presidential debate," he says.
Biden eased off his hectic campaign schedule to spend most of the week prepping for the debate at home in Wilmington, Del., where Michigan's Democratic governor, Jennifer Granholm, played the role of Palin.
Even as both candidates spent most of this week in debate prep, they engaged in the ritual of setting expectations: high for their opponent, low for themselves.
