And the winner is .....?

'Hockey mom' Being Coached For Prime Time
Palin's Performance Crucial To Allay Conservative Fears
Sheldon Alberts, Canwest News Service

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

WASHINGTON - She burst on to the U. S. political scene as Sarah 'The Barracuda" Palin, a moose-hunting, hockey-mom governor whose razor-sharp attacks on Barack Obama, Washington insiders and the media "elite" helped revive John McCain's presidential campaign.

A month later, as she prepares for her vice-presidential debate on Thursday against Senator Joe Biden, she is fighting to dispel perceptions among some conservatives she's quickly becoming a political liability for the Republican candidate.

Yesterday, Mr. McCain sent his two most senior aides -- campaign manager Rick Davis and strategist Steve Schmidt -- to his ranch in Sedona, Arizona to begin three days of intense coaching with Ms. Palin before her 90-minute showdown with Mr. Biden at Washington University in St. Louis.

The decision came amid widespread criticism in the media and -- more distressing for Mr. McCain -- mounting anxiety among Republicans over her performance in an interview last week with CBS News anchor Katie Couric.

Since then, her favourable ratings have fallen and she has become fodder for withering satire on late-night comedy shows such as Saturday Night Live, something that has hurt presidential candidates in the past.

"I think that most people looking at Thursday night's debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin are nervous, especially Republicans," said Cal Jillson, a political scientist at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. "Because 90 minutes is a very long time --and you can only talk about gutting a moose once during that debate."

Ms. Palin earned a reputation as a strong debater during her 2006 gubernatorial campaign in Alaska, but she has appeared to struggle in one-on-one sessions with nationally known journalists since being named Mr. McCain's running mate.

In her interview with Ms. Couric, she offered this explanation of how Alaska's proximity to Russia enhanced her foreign policy experience.

"It's very important when you consider even national security issues with Russia as [Russian Prime Minister Vladimir] Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America," she said.

"Where, where do they go? It's Alaska. It's just right over the border. It is from Alaska that we send those out to make sure that an eye is being kept on this very powerful nation, Russia, because they are right there."

Kathleen Parker, a syndicated conservative commentator, said the interviews showed Ms. Palin is "clearly out of her league" and called on her to step aside.

"I've been pulling for Palin, wishing her the best, hoping she will perform brilliantly," the early Palin supporter wrote in a column after the Couric interview.

"I watch her interviews with the held breath of an anxious parent, my finger poised over the mute button in case it gets too painful. Unfortunately, it often does. My cringe reflex is exhausted."

Republicans are divided over whether the McCain campaign is partially to blame for Ms. Palin's problems. Advisors have largely shielded her from the media since her breakout performance at the Republican convention, placing extraordinary pressure on the governor in her few high-profile interviews.

Campbell Brown, a CNN commentator, accused Mr. McCain's aides of "sexism" for seeming to shelter Ms. Palin. Her supporters say she has not been allowed to be herself.

"She'll get better. She's very talented at what she's been asked to do in the past," Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a McCain confidant, said in a televised interview.

"She's going to have to show she's a valuable part of this team, that she's capable of the job, that she shares John's philosophy."

The stakes are high. The latest Gallup daily tracking poll shows Mr. Obama with an eight-point advantage -- 50% to 42%-- over Mr. McCain.

"I think this debate is more important than most vice-presidential debates usually are because the McCain campaign is swimming upstream," Prof. Jillson said.

"They are down in the polls. And if their vice-presidential candidate looks like she is not ready to be president of the United States, should the requirement fall on her, I think people will again look to Obama."

Mr. Biden also faces many potential pitfalls, including the possibility that he might underestimate Ms. Palin.

The Delaware Senator has made several notable gaffes recently, criticizing one of his campaign's anti-McCain ads and flubbing a historical reference to the 1929 stock market crash. He has a reputation for talking too extemporaneously and sounding condescending, which could backfire.

Ms. Palin said yesterday she looked forward to the debate, and took a dig at Mr. Biden in the process.

"I have been hearing about his Senate speeches since I was in, like, second grade."