The Sarah Palin-Joe Biden Debate

Sarah Palin is not perfect.

She has a problem with the timbre of her voice, for instance, which when she's excited becomes high and shrill. She needs to breathe from her diaphragm and bring her voice down. If Hillary could do it, she can do it.

She's got a "northern" accent which gives people the idea she's a hick. It may or may not work; she needs to round her vowels out a little, say "working" instead of "workin," and slow down.

Her malaprops are odd, but then every politician has his own. Being able to carry off a blooper successfully will come with experience and sophistication with MSM. As much as I detest this, nucular became the pronunciation even among physicists! This works in the swing states, but it won't make her job with the press any easier. Someone must correct her immediately so she doesn't keep doing it. It takes away her credibility.

She's contentious and has a tendency to pop off when she's rattled. The reason? She doesn't have the knowledge yet to handle the pop quizzes from the MSM. That's a problem. She needs to find another way than challenging the interviewer when she's stumped. Turning it around on the interviewer is tough, but it can be done. She should have said to Katie, "I'm sorry, Ms. Couric, but I know you realize I'm on a steep learning curve (like you were at CBS) and you've caught me somewhat off guard...I think I've answered you as well I can right now. Thank you for your question."

If Couric countered with "I was just a news reporter at CBS. There's a difference. You are one heartbeat away from the presidency," all she can respond with is, "Well, fortunately the inauguration is not until January 20th. I'm confident by then I'll be where I need to be for President Elect McCain and America."

Being honest is a great way to move forward. It disarms the interviewer and relieves the interviewee's stress level. Don't let the interviewer define you, I'd tell her, from now on. But nothing would have changed the direction of those two interviews as Gibson and Couric were out to get her. It also takes control back from the interviewer.

So, with these distractions and "deficiencies," does Sarah have a chance in the debate with Joe Biden on Thursday?

I think she does. I think if she handles these aspects of her presentation and uses her natural charm, of which she has plenty, she can pull off her half of the show in a satisfactory way. It may not be a journeyman performance, but she'll do well. It's her nature because she's a winner.

However, what she needs to do now is work, work, work and study her brains out. She's at a disadvantage because of her two "poor" interviews with Gibson and Couric; however, now that she's been stuck in the "no win zone," and basically lost in the eyes of MSM, she can put that behind her with the knowledge that she'll never win the MSM to her side, but it would be nice if she could find a tempo, maybe work with them a bit more. She's in "their" house; not hers, but still it doesn't take much to swoop this group off its feet. They're very superficial bunch and like pretty things...and she is one pretty thing!

With Biden, I would approach him as an interesting older gentleman with whom I would carry on a spirited political conversation. She can't muscle or bulldog Biden, but she can exploit the Senator's natural ebullience and his love of the sound of his own voice. Then when he screws up with facts, Mrs. Palin can gently correct him, not to embarrass him, but to set the record straight.

Finally, she must start wearing lighter colors. She needs winter white wool crepe or woven suits, warm light (not pastel) hues to establish her image as a bearer of light and wisdom. I think the dark tones are unflattering on her and suggest a powerful presence that doesn't stand up well.

Although I do like the cuts of her suits for all professional women, I think she'd do well in fluid fabrics, suggesting a more tolerant viewpoint, more approachable than the firm, hard, tailored things she wears now. Someone find her a beautiful gold torch brooch (Statue of Liberty) to pin somewhere! And pearls, please. Nothing more than pearls including earrings.

Thank goodness she has such a great figure; she can wear anything.

If she takes my advice, and after she establishes the high ground and momentum, God willing--and she has studied enough, she can let go in this debate, enjoy herself and take the win home.

Little girls from the country go to the big city all the time and do very, very well.

Thanks for the read.