How Tonight's Veep Debate Will Work
So here's a quick explanation of the rules for tonight's vice-presidential debate between Joe Biden and Sara Palin.
The rules will be a lot like the presidential debate we saw last week: One of the candidates will be asked a question and be given 90 seconds to respond -- less than the two minutes from the presidential debate -- followed by a 90-second rebuttal for the other candidate, and then a free-flowing discussion on this between the two candidates. But it won't be quite the same.
The big twist here is that the rules were modified -- at the insistence of the McCain campaign -- to limit those back-and-forth exchanges to a mere two minutes, and not the five-minute periods that we saw at the presidential debate. This was widely seen as an accommodation for Sarah Palin, allowing her to retreat to sound-bites that can fill the time up rather than having to spontaneously take on Joe Biden on the merits of this or that issue.
We'll be live-blogging the debate tonight, right here at Election Central.
Two minutes is plenty of time to hang yourself with stupid answers. The challenge will be for Biden to call her on it without appearing to be a bully.
October 2, 2008 4:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Agreed.
I didn't realize that was the only major change. 2 minutes is plenty of time for Palin to hang herself.
October 2, 2008 4:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
2 minutes is an eternity. Talking points sound stale after about 20 seconds. This is gonna be sweet!
October 2, 2008 4:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
And Obama/McCain routinely exceeded their 5-minutes.
I'm instantly more optimistic for tonight's debate. I had thought that section of "free form discussion" had been cut completely.
October 2, 2008 4:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
I knew yesterday there was a two minute period of free talk, in so many words.
This is going to be very interesting.
October 2, 2008 4:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
I somehow had it in my mind that it was cut and it was just questions and 90 second answers.
October 2, 2008 4:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't know why I knew that -
October 2, 2008 4:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
Biden should just keep his mouth shut for a minute and a half of each of those 2-minute exchanges.
October 2, 2008 4:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
...and for Biden to remind us how clean and articulate his boss is.
October 2, 2008 4:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
He may not have to call her on it at all. If her answers are comparable to the Couric interview, best just to leave it while everyone silently thinks to themselves, WTF?
October 2, 2008 4:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
very hard to call someone on something nonsensical... so just let sit there....making her look silly...
October 2, 2008 4:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yup 2 minutes is enough time for Crash McCain that or 4 strokes which ever comes first. That's why his campaign requested it.
October 2, 2008 4:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
i dont think sarah palin can understand these rules
October 2, 2008 4:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
Which is why it's gonna be so much fun.
October 2, 2008 4:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't get why the Obama campaign agreed to this.
October 2, 2008 4:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
They wanted podiums rather than sitting at a table. So it was a give and take. Plus, less time for Biden to meander.
October 2, 2008 4:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
They wanted more not fewer questions. Also to keep Joes answers short.
October 2, 2008 4:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
Biden should be gracious and ask the comentator to give her a shout out should she go mute again.
October 2, 2008 4:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
And force Sarah's mind to jump around....
October 2, 2008 4:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Probably because they're very good at focusing on things that actually make a difference in the election. VP debates, no matter how big a blowout they are, never have a significant effect on voting patterns. They probably got more good out of news reports that the rules were changed to make it easier for Palin than they would have from Biden eviscerating her in the longer format.
Also, Susan Estrich was on Stephanie Miller this morning, and pointed out that most of Biden's "gaffes" come when he goes on a bit too long, so a shorter format may be a plus there, too. ;-)
October 2, 2008 4:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Haven't you noticed all along the campaign - Obama "caves" then ................. comes out ON TOP. No biggie, Palin may do better than expected but she won't beat Joe "Somuchbetter" Biden. Not tonight, not ever, even if they gave her the questions beforehand.
October 2, 2008 4:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They made it 2 minutes b/c the BORING old guy never shuts up. They should have made it 2 seconds!!!!! DUH!!!!!!
October 2, 2008 4:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
Lyke, totally!!
October 2, 2008 4:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm not sure if I want to watch the debate, or just wait for Tina Fey to summarize it for me.
October 2, 2008 4:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
She could probably put it on pay-per-view, and make a bundle.
October 2, 2008 4:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
True.
October 2, 2008 4:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
Forget summerizing. The McCain campaign should pay Tina Fey to do the debate! I bet she has a better grasp of the issues.
October 2, 2008 4:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Do we have any way of making sure it won't be Tina Fey? It'd be just like McCain to throw in a ringer.
October 2, 2008 4:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't see why this should be a big problem. Biden is going to say what he wants to say. And after McCain's disparaging her integrity, I hope Gwen Ifill lets Palin get her butt kicked.
October 2, 2008 4:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Given where the election is at (is at the tipping point? already past the tipping point?) Biden doesn't have to score any points. He just takes his jabs at the Bush-McCain policies both here and abroad, and then go home. It's Palin that has to catch lightning in a bottle.
October 2, 2008 4:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Palin gets off the plane with a bandage on her right hand. Trying to play up the victim visuals?!
October 2, 2008 4:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
Seriously? What, too much punching the wall in frustration at debate camp?
October 2, 2008 4:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Seriously, the story is that she fell while running at McCain's ranch.
She was probably trying to flee!
October 2, 2008 4:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
Lots of mysterious bandages show up on the women in McCain's life. Could it have something to do with that violent temper of his?
Reminds me of the Roddy Doyle book: The Woman Who Walked Into Doors.
October 2, 2008 4:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Entry point for the listening device.
October 2, 2008 4:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
What are the odds that she injured herself while doing something joe-six-packish?
October 2, 2008 4:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Don't forget Ifill has a broken ankle. She doesn't want to be upstaged.
October 2, 2008 4:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
Trophy getting more and more like Cindy by the day.
October 2, 2008 5:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
Again, the stock market tanked today. This will likely throw Palin off.... but Joe will take whatever comes in stride.
Crest of a wave here for us. And the mcClusterf..k campaign is in an undertow... being sucked out to sea.
October 2, 2008 4:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
It did? The bailout bill didn't help?
O man -
October 2, 2008 4:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
Bad economic news, including a bad jobs report. I don't think it had anything to do with the bailout bill. The market actually responded positively yesterday because it knew the bill was going to get through the Senate. (it really was never in doubt)
October 2, 2008 4:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
but it's gonna knock SP off her game... if she's got one.
October 2, 2008 4:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
thanks - it is job day - I forgot. And you know they've lied for the entire time Cmmdr Coocoo has been in office - they've consistently underreported the unemployment numbers.
October 2, 2008 4:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
I remember something about 90 seconds - are you sure it's two minutes (yeah I'm squabbling over thirty seconds)...
October 2, 2008 4:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
I thought it was 90 second answers followed by 2 min discussions.
October 2, 2008 5:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
I didn't see your post, Jonze. I posted the same question below to Eric.
I think you're right....from everything I've read, it's 90s to respond, followed by a 2 minute discussion.
October 2, 2008 5:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Breaking:
This just in:
Sarah Palin walked off of TV game show, after being told that she did not have a lifeline friend she should could call.
Sarah says that she is instead going to appear on a game show that will provide her with plenty of helpers.
She is going to appear, before the election, on: Are you smarter than a fifth grader.
October 2, 2008 4:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Before the election? Are you sure? I don't think the McCain campaign wants us to know the answer to that question until afterward.
October 2, 2008 4:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
She has her kids with her again. Who wants to bet Todd carries Trig out with him on stage for the post-debate spouse smooch photo-op?
October 2, 2008 4:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Do you want to hear what I just found out? If this is true - I had not heard this:
I was just told that Sarah took Bristol, her pregnant 17 year old, out of school so she could take care of Trig while Sarah is busy vice-presidentin and all. Yup.
October 2, 2008 4:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
because her brother is her son?
October 2, 2008 4:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown.
October 2, 2008 4:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
I may be your biggest fan.
October 2, 2008 4:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
That is the most awesome reference I've ever seen out here. 10 points my friend.
October 2, 2008 7:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
I believe that Sarah is the mother of the baby.
Thera,
What it that strange thing Sarah does, with the tip of tongue, all about. She does this weird thing, at the end of some sentences, of then sticking a sizable chunk of her tongue out, through her closed lips. It is very weird. Have you noticed it. She does not do it all the time, so I was wondering if you could determine if it is some sort of a tell. Sometimes she does it at the start of giving a response.
It looks very much like a baby calf will do. Perhaps that is why McCain thinks she is a maverick.
October 2, 2008 4:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nate Silver just had a post on the "tongue thrust" tell in relation to McCain.
October 2, 2008 4:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
O yes - noticed it very early on. It is strange.
I think Sarah is Trig's mom - but mainly I think taking that girl out of school - since they let pregnant students go to school these days - is outrageous.
October 2, 2008 4:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Guess SP feels the daughter should be "punished" for being pregnant by having to take care of a kid now, missing out on her senior year I suppose... or whatever year.
Poor kids.
October 2, 2008 5:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Forcing the poor girl to marry that lout, for political appearances, is even worse. That is child abuse.
Lots of teenage girls have had a child, and then matured into wonderful adults. I have a niece that did. Had she been forced into marrying the lout that she was infatuated before, she became an adult, would have ruined her life. She says so now. By the way, my niece did keep the baby, and raised her into a wonderful person.
October 2, 2008 5:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
To answer liam's question, I think since she's a woman it's a combination of sexiness and nastiness.
What a combination! Kind of like S and M.
October 2, 2008 5:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
You've totally got it - that's who she is.
October 2, 2008 5:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well Bristol did get off the plane with Sarah, Todd and Trig. I sorta think it makes sense as it's good "practice" for Bristol for when she has her own child in a couple of months time.
Bristol probably didn't want to be in school 5-6 months pregnant anyways.
October 2, 2008 4:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
...stop being rational...it's so not here!
October 2, 2008 4:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
I love the fact that to a right-winger, not finishing high school is considered "rational".
October 2, 2008 5:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
O great - pregnant at 17, married to an 18 year old, never finished high school.'
'
Man that girl is going places!
October 2, 2008 4:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
She's pretty much on trig to be VP.
October 2, 2008 5:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oy!
lol
October 2, 2008 5:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Since when do we let minors decide that they should not attend school, except for in those ignoramusstans where guys, like SF Wallace, still knuckle walk. It is not like Bristol has shown fantastic judgment within the past year.
October 2, 2008 6:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
The baby will only remind folks .... hey, what about that baby? Won't necessarily work to her advantage. They'll see this clueless lady - who's left a kid...
October 2, 2008 5:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
With their usual strategic brilliance, they obviously failed to notice how, during the primaries, being limited to two minutes invariably improved Biden's debating.
October 2, 2008 4:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Anything longer than four sentences can get exciting with Biden. Two minutes is long enough for Palin to do her thing.
Will she ask to be allowed to phone a friend?
October 2, 2008 4:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
It almost seems like a kindness at this point.
;)
October 2, 2008 4:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is hilarious.
http://www.236.com/news/2008/10/01/debate_training_biden_learns_w_1_9211.php
Click through the slideshow.
October 2, 2008 4:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
That was great. Thanks.
October 2, 2008 4:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Definitely what Joe needs to do. lol...NOT
October 2, 2008 5:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
ZOMG! That was too wonderfully funny. I was getting a little anxious about this. I needed that.
October 2, 2008 5:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Since Biden has to answer first half the time, Palin will have some clue what the hell they are supposed to be talking about.
October 2, 2008 4:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
Are you really willing to take that to the bank? If she doesn't know, she doesn't know. If she stays together she might be able to pick up enough to garble words for 90 seconds + 2 minutes.
Have y'all seen the hilarious vid of Droopy Josh has up? He's avoiding answer whether or not Sarah is smart.
October 2, 2008 4:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Happy Birthday! :)
.
October 2, 2008 5:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Prestonian! How are those kitties!?
thanks - {Mwaah!}
October 2, 2008 5:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hauoli la hanau
October 2, 2008 5:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
thanks - I was there on this day mmmm years ago.
St. Joseph Hosp, Honolulu
October 2, 2008 7:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
They're good, thanks! So, you know about LarryElvis?
.
October 2, 2008 5:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
O yeah, silly - you got Larry Elvis before the bail.
October 2, 2008 7:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
I've thought about that. Joe's answers will give her a bit of a clue. But I wonder what she'll do with those clues!
If she attacks him.... she may get all mixed up and really agree with him... while not knowing that.
October 2, 2008 5:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
I actually think limiting the time is to Biden's benefit. He's going to fill up whatever time he's got, but the longer he talks the more he's likely to step into it.
And as others have noted, two minutes is plenty of time for Palin to show her incoherence and imcompetence.
October 2, 2008 4:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
I agree 100%,
definitly helps Biden more -
The only thing that could help Palin is a peice of Duct tape across her tattooed lip line
October 2, 2008 4:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
I hope Ifill trades it off and does not always have Joe be the starter.
October 2, 2008 4:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Breaking:
This just in:
Senator McCain has suspend the state of Michigan, not just the campaign, but the actual state, until he restores the financial markets. If that does not turn the polls around, Senator McCain says that he intends to suspend the space time continuum until the crisis is over, or until he takes a lead in the polls, which ever comes first.
After he is sworn in as President, he also plans on solving the global warming crisis by suspending all Summer seasons until things cool down. Senator McCain wishes to credit his running mate, Sarah Palin with having suggested that solution.
October 2, 2008 4:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think they do trade off - She won't give the starter to Joe every time - or at least she shouldn't.
October 2, 2008 5:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Eric, are you sure about the 2 minutes to respond to the questions? From everything I've read, it's 90s and then a 2 minute discussion period.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/20/AR2008092001992.html
October 2, 2008 5:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
that was what I thought too.
October 2, 2008 5:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Let's have another rendition:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3ijYVyhnn0
October 2, 2008 5:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, just kinda gaze at her, speechless, with a puzzled expression on his face.
October 2, 2008 5:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
Jim Lehrer did a great job last week controling the audience's reactions during the debate thanks to his pregame instructions. Let's hope Ifill can handle her audience as well.
October 2, 2008 6:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
If Sarah arrives at the podium with a bag on her head,it's probably Rudy Guliani in drag. I hope Gwen insists that such a blatant Republican ruse be exposed after Joe eventually flushes him out with a few questions resulting in noun-verb-911 answers.
October 2, 2008 6:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'll watch, but I don't expect this debate to amount to a hill of beans. The state that the campaigns are in at this point, it would take a real blowout in this debate to move the poll numbers, and that's just not going to happen in this carefully controlled format.
October 2, 2008 7:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hey! Where's my durn picture?
October 2, 2008 7:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
That is the most awesome reference I've ever seen out here. 10 points my friend.
October 2, 2008 7:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Meant as a reply to middlenamesareseriousbusiness
October 2, 2008 7:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
they can make it two minutes but they always talk over time just look at the first debate this will not help her not drop any blunders
October 2, 2008 8:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
I got 20 bucks for Joe Biden if he opens his response to any question with "I can't hear you; you're trailing off. And did I catch a 'niner' in there?"
20 big ones.
October 2, 2008 8:29 PM | Reply | Permalink