Palin Faces Defining Moment

CBSNews.com Reports: Debate Performance May Dictate Whether V.P. Candidate Will Be Permanently Defined By Recent Stumbles

(CBS)  This story was written by CBSNews.com political reporter Brian Montopoli.

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A month ago, in the afterglow of the GOP convention, the buzz on John McCain's surprise decision to tap Sarah Palin as his running mate was largely positive.

The Republican base, long skeptical of McCain, suddenly had its champion, a politician whose conservative views and unpretentious style made her easy to rally around. Women, some of whom maintained lingering anger over Hillary Clinton's loss in the Democratic primary, once again had a female face vying for their support. And everyday Americans, weary from a long campaign, had a new star: A striking young governor with a tabloid-friendly family and the sort of personal magnetism that made Barack Obama seem a bit like last season's celebrity.

At the time, it looked like McCain's gamble was paying off: In a post-convention survey earlier this month, the GOP ticket took its first lead over its Democratic counterpart in CBS News general election polling.

Following her successful entry onto the national stage, however, Palin has struggled. Though she continues to attract large crowds on the campaign trail and delight social conservatives, her performance in the past few weeks has raised questions, even among conservatives, about whether McCain made a wise choice.

As a result, Thursday's vice presidential debate is shaping up as a career-defining moment for Palin, one that could dictate whether she is ultimately remembered as the GOP's election-year savior or as an overwhelmed neophyte who never belonged on the national stage.

Conscious of the importance of Thursday's face-off with Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden, Palin is in the midst of three days of intense debate preparation with McCain aides at the Arizona senator's Sedona ranch.

Though some believe that expectations have grown so low that Palin is virtually guaranteed to exceed them Thursday, there is a growing sense that the Alaska governor must do something positive to counteract the increasingly negative perception of her amongst opinion leaders.

"A week ago, for her to just not drool on herself and be commanding would have been enough," said CBS News consultant and former White House press secretary Dee Dee Myers. "I don't think that's really true anymore."

"The bar has gone up for her," said Myers. "I don't think it's quite enough for her now to just get through it. She needs to show some mastery of a topic."

Palin has been widely criticized for her performance in interviews with CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric and ABC World News anchor Charlie Gibson, which yielded moments such as Palin's tortured defense of her claim that Alaska's proximity to Russia stands as a foreign-policy credential in an interview with Couric.

In the wake of that interview, conservative columnist Kathleen Parker, arguing that her "cringe reflex is exhausted," called on Palin to voluntarily leave the ticket. Palin has also received less-than-positive notices from conservatives such as David Frum, Rich Lowry and David Brooks, who called her candidacy "embarrassing," and been mocked on late-night comedy shows and cable news networks.

Criticism has also been leveled at Palin's handlers, who have limited the media's access to the Alaska governor to such a degree that the press briefly rebelled against the campaign's tight limits on access. Conservative columnist William Kristol suggested Monday that Palin needs to be "liberated" from "the former Bush aides brought in to handle her," arguing that the candidate should be freed "to use her political talents and to communicate in her own voice." That's a sentiment that has been echoed by other Republicans as well.

“Holding Sarah Palin to just three interviews and microscopically focusing on each interview I think has been a mistake," Mitt Romney, the former GOP presidential candidate, said in a television interview Monday. (Palin also spoke to Fox News' Sean Hannity.) "I think they’d be a lot wiser to let Sarah Palin be Sarah Palin."

In the CBS News poll taken just after the GOP convention, Palin's favorable rating stood at 44 percent, while her unfavorable rating was just 22 percent; by last week, her favorable rating had fallen to 37 percent while her unfavorable rating had risen to 29 percent.

Dan Bartlett, a CBS News consultant and former counselor for President Bush, said that Palin will likely benefit from lowered expectations Thursday.

"I do think the bar has been lowered and people will generally be surprised if she is able to string together several sentences on a topic, and I think she will be able to meet that minimum bar," he said. But, he adds, she "needs to have a couple moments where she demonstrates some knowledge that goes beyond the talking points."

Andrew Halcro, an Alaska politician who debated Palin more than two-dozen times, characterized Palin as a debater who is master of "the fine art of the nonanswer, the glittering generality" in a column Tuesday.

"Her ability to fill the debate halls with her presence and her gift of the glittering generality made it possible for her to rely on populism instead of policy," he wrote.

But while Palin's rhetorical gifts have helped her build a base of popular support that has stood by her even as elite opinion has shifted, they may not be enough to get her through a debate that detractors will be closely monitoring for evidence that she is not up to the office she seeks.

Palin thus faces a difficult balancing act: She must find a way to showcase the sort of policy knowledge that can help silence her critics while also showcasing the personal traits that made her such an asset to the GOP ticket in the first place.

The stakes are high, both for Palin, who is in danger of seeing her name forever linked to that of former vice president Dan Quayle, and for McCain, who last month took a big chance on the then-largely unknown Alaska governor.

"Because so many GOP opinion makers have concluded that Palin is not qualified, it becomes a question about McCain's decision," said Myers. "If she has a really bad performance, not only does it destroy her political future, but the discussion will become not about her future but about McCain's judgment."

[im4honesty]

The GOP started two days ago prepping their lemmings for the EXCUSE that the moderator was unfair to Palin. They know very well that Sarah will make an incredible azz of herself tonight and they have nowhere to go except to find some third party to blame her stupidity on. HEY NEOCONS it won''t work anymore. America is waking up!!

[postergal]

Interesting how reid308, mccain08 and one other (can''t remember who now) have disappeared and not ONE of them answered any of my questions. Well, can''t blame them; there is no way when you look at the issues and Palin''s readiness than anyone can justify her being on the VP ticket. None.

[craigh9]

Less than 24 hours before Ms. Palin has a major personal issue that will force her to drop out of the election - wink wink!

[misha128-2009]

bretster7 - I was just getting ready to say the same thing. Went through all the MSM sites (CNN, CBS, NBC, ABC, etc) and NOTHING on a far-left Obama-lover "moderating" this debate. ...
Posted by ritewingman at 02:24 PM

Perhaps she is not such an big Obama lover as McCain presents in his lies and distortions. On the other hand assuming McCain is right; what does it say about the competence of McCain and his campaign. Negotiating such a bad deal when the information was readily available on "The Google". We are all lucky he wasn''t negotiating with the Chinese, North Koreans or Russians. The consequences could have been far worse.

[bretster7]

What? No mention on cBS, or any MSM site that tonights debate moderator, is authoring a pro Obama book, and just happened to forget to disclose this trivial little fact to the debate commission? More devious behavior by the left to get the "chosen one"
annointed.Lies,lies, and deception....change we can decieve in.

Cab you imagine the outrage by the leftocrats if this situation were reversed. They got thier undies in a bind when it was even suggested that one of the debates be held on Fox.

[targaray-2009]

Your Choice: Past -vs- Future in 2008

The Bush/McCain administration has left a sterling legacy of 8 years of dishonesty, corruption, mis-management, greed, arrogance and deceit. These have all been well document.

Here is just a short list of the Hall of Shamers, who want to run this country into the ground for another 4 years.

Bush Fiscal Conservatives = D. Cheney+J. Abramoff L. Craig T. Haggard C. Rove S. Libby T. Stevens T. Delay R. Cunningham R. Ney D. Rumsfield M. Foley T. Palin R. Reed G. Norquist J. Doolittle P. Wofowitz many, many more...

[postergal]

Since no one wants to respond re. Palin, I''m taking a break from this forum and checking in later...

[postergal]

McCainNC08... still waiting.

[postergal]

reid308: I''ve asked other Palin supporters here what questions were so horribly tricky and unfair that a VP candidate shouldn''t have to answer them. So, what questions do you object to: her opinion on Supreme Court rulings that she disgrees with? What periodicals and newspapers she reads? What her foreign policy experience and views are? What??!?

[postergal]

Palin-lovers, read this (and do read all 3 pages), and then come back and tell me why someone would ask the question about email privacy in this way, unless they are concerned about what they''ve written and to whom: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5937313&page=1

[reid308]

Another Clinton Broadcast Service (CBS) op ed piece to slam the Repulbixabs as in Ran Blathers comealong
K Courk and her hatchet job attempt on P. Duh? You think we are stupid out here in Fly over land? Why are most thinking Americans watching Fox? Enough of your trashing the true americans.

[liberalme]

I am just wondering who they will blame if the win the presidancy and the Majority. That is why on NOV 4 we will have so many scred little libs change their vote because they will realize if they are in control they won''''''''t have any one to blame for their screwups.
Posted by mccaino8nc at 12:30 PM : Oct 02, 2008


Personally, I think the Repukes want the Dems to win in November---that way they can twist the past 8 years around to make it look like it was the Dems fault and every Democrat in the country KNOWs this will happen!

We''re not afraid of you mcain08--but your repuke friends should--Obama said yesterday they will find out just who is responsible for the Wall St problem and they will be held accountable---I hope accountability doesn''t stop there--we want bodies in jail!!!

[postergal]

And how about Palin''s belief that dinosaurs and people walked the earth together. I want her to be asked specifically what she thinks the age of the earth is, and explain why.

[postergal]

So now it''s your turn, Palin-lovers, to tell me why she is qualified. The other reason I''m for Obama is that he has a world view that is mature, not the bad guys vs. good guys jibberish that Palin/Bush have, and that he is truly for individual freedom, unlike Palin who is happy that she ''chose'' to give birth to her last baby, and that her daughter "chose" to continue her pregnacy... a choice she wants to take away from all women.

[postergal]

More for Mccain08nc on Obama:

In the Illinois senate from 1996 to 2004, US senate 2004 to present, involved in sponsoring several bills, taught Constitutional Law at the University of Chicago Law School, worked as an associate attorney with Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Galland. Represented non-profits and private individuals in urban development projects, voting rights cases, and wrongful firings, B.A. in Political Science from Columbia University with specialization in international relations, and where his thesis was Soviet Nuclear Disarmament, and graduated magna *** laude from Harvard Law School.

Maybe you want a journalism graduate who went to 5 universities in 6 years who has only been politically active in her own state and has never traveled abroad until recently (um...and to how many countries?), but I sure don''t.

[postergal]

Ok, "mccain08nc", you said "I want you to do the same for Obama. Other than his world tour to campaign to be the world president a couple of months ago how many world leaders had he met? and what were his world experiences". Here is info that is readily available on the web:
Was an anti-poverty organizer in Chicago which gives him an understanding of poverty in America. Has lived abroad (Indonesia) and traveled extensively in his capacity as a member of the Foreign Relations Committee and has visited Russia, Ukraine, and Azerbaijan in Asia; Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, and the Palestinian Territories in the Middle East; and Chad, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, and South Africa in Africa. Obama has also co-sponsored the "Lugar-Obama Act" with Republican Senator Richard Lugar who was Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations at the time. This act was a bi-partisan effort to increase U.S. security in terms of the elimination of conventional weapons and weapons of mass destruction. This legislation came out of Obama''s trip with Senator Richard Lugar to Russia, the Ukraine and Azerbaijan. (more coming)

[misha128-2009]

have never once said I was leaving and am going to stick around and watch the fun. I love seeing squirmy little libs squirm. It''''ll be even more fun when Mccain wins and are you libs squirmto the streets and riot.

Posted by mccaino8nc at 12:35 PM

How are those poll results in Florida, Missouri, Indiana, Virginia looking? -- Softening considerably one the McCain side. -- Some have even already flipped however most are still within the margin of error.

[misha128-2009]

Far fewer than the number of neocons that threaten to leave the country.
Posted by misha128

I have never once said I was leaving and am going to stick around and watch the fun. I love seeing squirmy little libs squirm. It''''ll be even more fun when Mccain wins and are you libs squirmto the streets and riot.

Posted by mccaino8nc at 12:35 PM

Never said you did -- just said the number of lib vote changers you predict with be considerably less than the number of neocons threatening to leave the country.

[mccaino8nc]

Far fewer than the number of neocons that threaten to leave the country.
Posted by misha128

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have never once said I was leaving and am going to stick around and watch the fun. I love seeing squirmy little libs squirm. It''ll be even more fun when Mccain wins and are you libs squirmto the streets and riot.

[misha128-2009]

I am just wondering who they will blame if the win the presidancy and the Majority. That is why on NOV 4 we will have so many scred little libs change their vote because they will realize if they are in control they won''''t have any one to blame for their screwups.

Posted by mccaino8nc at 12:30 PM

Far fewer than the number of neocons that threaten to leave the country.