Palin and the Debate

Yet a review of Palin's experience during her 2006 campaign for governor, when she engaged in a long series of debates with her opponents, suggests she is a more formidable adversary than is widely thought.

Unlike her opponent Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, who has considerable presidential-level debate experience, Palin has never been involved in a debate where the questions were national and global in scope.

But she is familiar operating in a high-stakes debate environment against older, more seasoned pols who seemingly have better command of the issues.

In 2006, with no experience as a statewide officeholder, Palin ran what amounted to a debate gauntlet, beginning in the Republican primary against incumbent Gov. Frank Murkowski and former state Sen. John Binkley, and then in the general election, against former Democratic Gov. Tony Knowles and former state Rep. Andrew Halcro, an independent.

Against that experienced opposition, Palin proved herself to be a comfortable and confident debater, not exactly deeply versed in the issues but unusually adept at dodging controversy and quick to take advantage of opponents' missteps. Not one to throw an unnecessary punch, Palin took a patient approach, waiting for her rivals to expose their weak points - and then striking fast.  Read Article Here.

At this point, I think I know more about Palin than Biden.  The media has focused on Palin but largely ignored Biden.  I know that Biden has lots of foreign policy experience, has been in Washington almost as long as McCain and is a Senator from Delaware, other than that I do not know much.  He is a big reason why I am watching the debate.  I want to see what he brings to the table.