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Sen. Joe Biden and Gov. Sarah Palin Gear Up For Vice-Presidential Debate

By 316Networks.com

Published: October 02, 2008

On Thursday night, Sen. Joe Biden and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will face off for their first and only debate in the presidential race, an event many have been ramping up for weeks.

Both candidates have tried to lower the expectations of tonight's debate, where topics will range from domestic to foreign policy.

The debate will be held at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, and will start at 9 p.m. EST; the debate moderator is PBS's Gwen Ifill.

For Palin, who burst onto the national stage and energyizing the Republican faithful, the stakes are very high. The first-term Alaskan governor has recently struggled after shaky TV interviews with both ABC's Charlie Gibson and CBS' Katie Couric.

On Tuesday, Palin said she had a different outlook on her recent interviews.

"I think they're just not used to someone coming in from the outside saying, 'You know what? It's time that normal Joe Six-Pack American is finally represented in the position of vice presidency,' and I think that that's kind of taken some people off-guard," she said in an interview with conservative host Hugh Hewitt.

One Palin adviser, who recognized that there is hunger among the public to see a less-scripted, more authentic candidate, told reporters "We're going to be continue to put her in settings where she has an opportunity to shine, to be on offense."

The adviser suggested that the damage control efforts after Palin's interview with Couric may have been hampered by the fact that the governor wasn't doing more friendly interviews to counter her flubs, many of which have been reverberated throughout the blogosphere and on NBC's "Saturday Night Live."

"We acknowledge that perhaps she should have been out there doing more," the adviser said. "It's not fair to judge her off one or two sound bites" from the network interviews.

For the Democrats, while Biden has served in the Senate for 35 years, many conclude that his biggest challenge will be to stick to the script. Biden has been known for making off-the-cuff remarks, including some gaffes.

Biden campaign aides say the Democratic vice-president candidate is ready to debate Palin, adding that it will be a great challenge. "She's very skilled, and she'll be well-prepared," Obama's chief strategist, David Axelrod, said on Sunday night.

"As you saw at the convention, she can be very good. So, I think it would be foolish to assume that this isn't going to be a really challenging debate. We're preparing for that, on that assumption."

Meanwhile, Sens. Obama and McCain have two more debates before the November 4 general election. The second debate on October 7 will be held at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, while the third and final debate to be held at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, on October 15.

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