EDITORIAL: Palin performs

By | Sunday, October 5, 2008

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There were intense expectations built up before the vice presidental debate last Thursday between Jospeh Biden and Sarah Palin. Rumors of all kinds flew across the Internet in advance of the event. The media produced scores of articles, interviews and information that speculated on what strategy each side would use. Mrs. Palin was essentially at the center of a storm of opinion before the debate. Moreover, the McCain campaign was struggling again with voters, especially in swing states.

Liberal bloggers went so far as to suggest that Mrs. Palin was actually "Sarah-the-barracuda" and her performance in recent television interviews was just a ploy to make Mr. Biden feel overconfident. Mr. Biden had a tough road to walk as he could not, as a male Democrat, attack a woman too much. Conservatives were worried Mrs. Palin might just be well - ignorant. Having lost her edge (and some argue credibility) in recent weeks, she needed to recover and reclaim their confidence - fast.

The Alaska governor started the debate with a folksy, but confident introduction, asking Mr. Biden: "Can I call you Joe?" She gracefully recited a number of talking points and statistics in response to questions. Her references to "Joe six-pack" and descriptive language worked with her use of a warm inviting tone. Mrs. Palin successfully branded John McCain as a maverick against Mr. Biden's attacks. She also managed to trip Mr. Biden up a few times on marriage, his previous statements, votes and constant references to the Bush administration. There was no major faux pas that night; even Mr. Biden managed to be gaffe free.

For the debate, Greenberg Quinlan Rosner conducted a focus group composed of 40 women from the swing state of Colorado. Half of the women were married and all were undecided voters. This was the very group the McCain campaign had hoped Mrs. Palin would draw in.

The results: An equal number chose either the Obama-Biden or the McCain-Palin ticket and 34 percent remained undecided. Both Mr. Biden and Mrs. Palin managed to increase their likeability scores by 9 percent. The focus group thought Mrs. Palin was good on energy issues. After the debate, more than half of the women preferred Mr. Biden to Mrs. Palin on the economy. Both Mr. Biden and Mrs. Palin were a draw with the group afterwards.

In the end though, the focus group said that the debate did not really change the game.

Sadly, Mrs. Palin could have turned water into wine at the debate and it still may be not be enough to recapture what Republicans lost in a week of bailouts and blunders.

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