Thursday night’s debate in St. Louis,MO, could be the most watched vice presidential debate since Geraldine Ferraro and George Bush drew 56.7 million to the TV screens in 1984.
This debate is meant to get the candidates’ positions on foreign policy, but it is believed the questions will mostly focus on the bailout plan.
GOP vice presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin will face off against Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Joe Biden. Unlike Palin, Biden has stayed out of the spotlight and away from the cameras since he was asked to be Sen. Barack Obama’s running mate.
Palin, on the other hand, has been in the media since the very second she was chosen. Any one with a TV set, radio or subscription to a newspaper knows who she is. She is the beauty-contest-winning, moose-hunting Alaska governor and hockey mom who some political strategist say gave McCain a fighting chance to win this election. Not to mention she has been parodied on Saturday Night Live twice in one month.
USA Today said her sudden celebrity is the sole reason the debate against Democrat Joe Biden is expected to top all vice presidential and some presidential debates in high TV ratings. How Palin will fare in her first public test has created a pop culture reality show. That the Barbie-like governor has been unexposed to political combat, appearing safely at McCain’s side except for scattered interviews, hypes the suspense.
According to CNN.com, the Obama-Biden campaign is trying to set the expectations bar low for its candidate while building up Palin so that she must defend her record instead of address the issues during the debate.
At a joint rally with Sen. John McCain in Columbus, Ohio, Monday, the Alaska governor praised her running ticket’s Friday performance and promised the cheering crowd, “I’ll do my part in St. Louis this week,” reported CBS.com.
“I do look forward to Thursday night and debating Sen. Joe Biden,” Palin said before mocking the Delaware senator’s more than 30 years on Capitol Hill. “I’m looking forward to meeting him, too. I’ve never met him before. But I’ve been hearing about his Senate speeches since I was in the second grade.”
Tune into NBC on Thursday at 9 p.m. to see the live debate.
