Dahlia Lithwick at Slate has a brilliant and funny piece up on how Joe Biden should approach his debate with Sarah Palin. She points out that debating a clumsy opponent can be much harder than debating a knowledgeable one, especially if she's a woman and you're Joe Biden. Lithwick's advice? Whatever you do, don't get mad at how little she knows:
...the best way for you to approach Sarah Palin will be to forget that she is a woman. Tell yourself that she is a machine in 3-inch heels that has been programmed to make you look brutish and aggressive. She will attack, and you will smile. She will make jokes, and you will laugh. Do whatever you need to do—take four Percocet, deploy Zen breathing techniques—to prevent yourself from attacking this woman. And do just as much not to pay attention to her. Even if she pulls out her breast pump during commercials, keep your eyes glazed over on the middle distance. No compliments. Don't say you like her shoes. Just the facts, Joe.
Yes, we all know how much shite Gore got himself into for frequently *sighing* during Dubya's lame, incompetent-yet-charmingly-folksy attempts at debating in 2000. Gore came off as a pompous windbag, not as the far and away better-informed candidate that he was. (Although many debate viewers, this one included, empathised with Gore's for having to "debate" with a guy who doesn't even read newspapers!)
Posted by: Lyle | September 08, 2008 at 03:52 PM