9/28/08

(unofficial) Palin debate predictions thread

The nature of the McCain campaign means that we've got to prepare for both stunt and non-stunt debate possibilities. My predictions are below. Yours are in comments.

Non-stunt prediction: Pundits will declare that Palin wins while losing and it won't be obvious that they're wrong. Up to a point, there's an upside to sputtering incomprehensible strings of buzzwords. Low information voters will make up a version of what you're saying that makes sense to them, and that narrative is apt to be more convincing than anything you might have come up with yourself. Another way of putting that is to say that low information voters aren't going to be familiar with any specifics you might come up with, so you're better off letting them connect the dots with examples from their own lives. The bar has never been all that high for Palin. She doesn't have to make sense. She just has to make about as much sense as a regulation issue Republican. Less maybe.

Stunt prediction: Monday at 8am Palin resigns as Governor of Alaska and issues a press release stating that she is bringing her team down. Tuesday, the McCain campaign, through Ed O'Callaghan in Alaska, issues an inscrutable press release stating that the campaign will henceforth cease advising Palin, limiting communication to such items as are necessary to coordinate actions. At the debate, Palin still doesn't know much about a disturbing range of issues, but is feisty, assertive, and coherent. Stakes out a far-right socially conservative agenda beyond anything McCain is proposing. Non-bible verse line of the night, "Well, John has his views and I have mine and we'll continue to negotiate."

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