When Sarah Palin was chosen as McCain's running mate there were a lot of people out there talking about the VP debate saying "Oh Biden's gotta be careful not to be demeaning to her" and "Its a smart move by McCain b/c Joe will look sexist".
And of course there were others who looked at the propostion broadly and said "Joe will kick the shit out of her on national television." But given the fact that the McCain campaign has forbidden Palin from answering any more questions about her tenure in Alaska, given her poor performance when she sat down with Charlie Gibson and given McCain's recent answer to a town hall questioner about Palin's views on economic equality for women ("Could I mention she was a point guard on a state championship basketball team") one has to wonder, will the McCain campaign even ALLOW Palin to take part in the Vice Presidential debate?
I know that the debate is already scheduled but McCain had already threatened to pull out of one of the scheduled debates because it was going to be moderated by Tom Brokaw. The McCain camp could simply say that her down syndrome child had a medical emergency, she had to be with her family, important governmemt business in Alaska. Its not as if pulling out of the debate is illegal and the worst that could happen if she pulls out is the American people question her motives. The worst that could happen if she participates is much much worse. It is clear that she is an "empty vessel" when it comes to policy and there is no way that Biden and the moderators are going to let her get away with the generalaties she has been providing to the press recently. Unless the McCain camp can do a phenomenal job prepping her for that debate, look for signs during the lead up (increased complaining about sexism from Obama/Biden, increased scrutiny of the press, talking up an Alaskan trip) to pave the way for a VP debate pull out.
Would anyone seriously put it past the McCain camp?