Gladiators, Are You Ready?: The VP Debate
October 1st 2008 23:32
I feel like the moment in ‘Gladiator’, just before Russell Crowe walks into the middle of the Colosseum and can hear the roar of the crowd and feel the anticipation of going head-to-head with his own mortality, knowing that only one man can come out alive. Except this isn’t Russell Crowe going up against a lion, or a band of trained killers. This is much, much worse. This is the one we’ve all been waiting for, the one that we have been chanting for in the stands of the Colosseum as the crowd starts clapping in a steady rhythm and building the anticipation. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Sarah Palin versus Joe Biden.
Most of the joy people got from watching the gladiators going at it in the Colosseum did not come from seeing death and men being torn limb from limb. Most of the excitement came from the tension and the struggle to survive with the hope that man would be able to prevail if he was fast enough or strong enough. In a lot of ways that is what the first and only Vice-Presidential debate will be about when it comes around tomorrow. There are no second chances in this one, so the candidates will be struggling to make sure they land the killer blow, or that if they don’t knock out their opponent they will be trying to ensure that they themselves don’t get laid out flat on their back. Both Palin and Biden have something to prove. In a way, despite their vastly different experience levels, both have become as battle-scarred as each other.
Biden has to struggle to endear himself to the people on a personality level, especially considering that his default setting is to come off as strident and entitled. It was possibly the worst for Joe Biden when Palin was named as John McCain’s running mate. Biden’s whole gimmick is that he is the elder statesman, the guy that has been around the block and seen a lot in his time. He is the Dumbledore to Barack Obama’s Harry Potter. But with the statesman image comes the attitude. Biden is an admittedly smart man. Perhaps too self-admittedly. It makes him easy to get all hot under the collar. When you tell someone who is exceptionally smart that he is wrong in the way he has analysed the world, it is bound to hit them where it hurts and they will swing back. That is Biden’s Achilles Heel. It’s the same thing that brought down Al Gore in 2000, when he debated George W Bush. When smart people get told they are wrong by someone they perceive to be a lot more “simple” in thought than they are, it makes them incredibly frustrated. With Al Gore it manifested into the long sighs and visible irritation that came off as rudeness. What will it come off as if Biden falls into that a trap? The McCain camp can only hope that Palin can knock Biden off balance enough to royally annoy him. Provoking Biden is the key to bringing him down.
On the other hand there is Sarah Palin. Ahhh, Palin... What can we say about Palin? Palin’s whole task in the lead-up to the debate is about managing expectations. People already do not expect a lot from Palin. She is a relative political newcomer. She hasn’t has as many high-pressure debate experiences. She isn’t as across the issues as Biden is expected to be. But that is the point. We don’t expect a lot of Palin and that is how she can win. Sounds counter-intuitive doesn’t it? Well, not really. If Palin has us all thinking how she will be struggling to keep up, she has us right where she wants us. Any minor semblance of success on her part and it will be considered a win for her camp. If you have seen tapes of her debates in the race to be Governor of Alaska, you can see that she can command a room. She went up against a pair of men who aren’t unlike Biden in terms of arrogance and style and she tore them to shreds. The situation has not been kind to her, though. It is possibly the worst thing for Sarah Palin that the economic bailout is the hot-button issue of the moment. Economics isn’t her strong suit. In fact, neither is foreign policy but foreign affairs is a lot easier to grasp than the theoretical ideas of different economic theories and models. And as someone not used to being in Washington and dealing with national bills and the Congress, she may trip up over the bailout discussions and look like a fool. She needs to keep up her likeable persona, but she also needs to be able to have a substantial discussion of the issues. She needs to learn facts and figures, and fast.
When it comes down to it, these two need to take a leaf out of Eminem’s script. As he says in the Oscar-winning song ‘Lose Yourself’: “You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow, this opportunity comes once in a lifetime”.
Most of the joy people got from watching the gladiators going at it in the Colosseum did not come from seeing death and men being torn limb from limb. Most of the excitement came from the tension and the struggle to survive with the hope that man would be able to prevail if he was fast enough or strong enough. In a lot of ways that is what the first and only Vice-Presidential debate will be about when it comes around tomorrow. There are no second chances in this one, so the candidates will be struggling to make sure they land the killer blow, or that if they don’t knock out their opponent they will be trying to ensure that they themselves don’t get laid out flat on their back. Both Palin and Biden have something to prove. In a way, despite their vastly different experience levels, both have become as battle-scarred as each other.
Biden has to struggle to endear himself to the people on a personality level, especially considering that his default setting is to come off as strident and entitled. It was possibly the worst for Joe Biden when Palin was named as John McCain’s running mate. Biden’s whole gimmick is that he is the elder statesman, the guy that has been around the block and seen a lot in his time. He is the Dumbledore to Barack Obama’s Harry Potter. But with the statesman image comes the attitude. Biden is an admittedly smart man. Perhaps too self-admittedly. It makes him easy to get all hot under the collar. When you tell someone who is exceptionally smart that he is wrong in the way he has analysed the world, it is bound to hit them where it hurts and they will swing back. That is Biden’s Achilles Heel. It’s the same thing that brought down Al Gore in 2000, when he debated George W Bush. When smart people get told they are wrong by someone they perceive to be a lot more “simple” in thought than they are, it makes them incredibly frustrated. With Al Gore it manifested into the long sighs and visible irritation that came off as rudeness. What will it come off as if Biden falls into that a trap? The McCain camp can only hope that Palin can knock Biden off balance enough to royally annoy him. Provoking Biden is the key to bringing him down.
On the other hand there is Sarah Palin. Ahhh, Palin... What can we say about Palin? Palin’s whole task in the lead-up to the debate is about managing expectations. People already do not expect a lot from Palin. She is a relative political newcomer. She hasn’t has as many high-pressure debate experiences. She isn’t as across the issues as Biden is expected to be. But that is the point. We don’t expect a lot of Palin and that is how she can win. Sounds counter-intuitive doesn’t it? Well, not really. If Palin has us all thinking how she will be struggling to keep up, she has us right where she wants us. Any minor semblance of success on her part and it will be considered a win for her camp. If you have seen tapes of her debates in the race to be Governor of Alaska, you can see that she can command a room. She went up against a pair of men who aren’t unlike Biden in terms of arrogance and style and she tore them to shreds. The situation has not been kind to her, though. It is possibly the worst thing for Sarah Palin that the economic bailout is the hot-button issue of the moment. Economics isn’t her strong suit. In fact, neither is foreign policy but foreign affairs is a lot easier to grasp than the theoretical ideas of different economic theories and models. And as someone not used to being in Washington and dealing with national bills and the Congress, she may trip up over the bailout discussions and look like a fool. She needs to keep up her likeable persona, but she also needs to be able to have a substantial discussion of the issues. She needs to learn facts and figures, and fast.
When it comes down to it, these two need to take a leaf out of Eminem’s script. As he says in the Oscar-winning song ‘Lose Yourself’: “You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow, this opportunity comes once in a lifetime”.
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