In a fascinating article in the CS Monitor, Andrew Halcro, an Alaskan who has debated Sarah Palin several times, tells us what it's like.
Palin is a master of the nonanswer. She can turn a 60-second response to a query about her specific solutions to healthcare challenges into a folksy story about how she's met people on the campaign trail who face healthcare challenges. All without uttering a word about her public-policy solutions to healthcare challenges.
Basically, she is the most dangerous of adversaries: one who understands her limitations and has developed a bag of tricks to overcome and even take advantage of them.
Halcro summed up her approach with the following story:
On April 18, 2006, Palin and I sat together in a hotel coffee shop comparing campaign trail notes. As we talked about the debates, Palin made a comment that highlights the phenomenon that Biden is up against.
"Andrew, I watch you at these debates with no notes, no papers, and yet when asked questions, you spout off facts, figures, and policies, and I'm amazed. But then I look out into the audience and I ask myself, 'Does any of this really matter?' " Palin said.
While policy wonks such as Biden might cringe, it seemed to me that Palin was simply vocalizing her strength without realizing it. During the campaign, Palin's knowledge on public policy issues never matured – because it didn't have to. Her ability to fill the debate halls with her presence and her gift of the glittering generality made it possible for her to rely on populism instead of policy.
Clearly, this approach infuriates those who approach life analytically, but many people simply do not do that, or at least not if they can help it. For them, they go by their gut, their heart, their faith. And those are the people who Palin will be talking to, and connecting to, during the debate.
Halcro feels sorry for Biden: "Unfortunately for Biden, if recent history is an indicator, experience or a grasp of the issues won't matter when it comes to debating Palin."
According to him, the only response possible is
With shorter question-and-answer times and limited interaction between the two, [Biden] should simply ignore Palin in a respectful manner on the stage and answer the questions as though he were alone. Any attempt to flex his public-policy knowledge and show Palin is not ready for prime time will inevitably cast him in the role of the bully.
Much of this has been stated in other diaries, but sometimes the personal account can be quite valuable.
Greg Shenaut