Biden-Palin Vice Presidential Debate to Follow Form

If precedent prevails, we'll be nodding off during Thursday's vice presidential debate when a sudden zinger will snap us back into the moment.

In the midst of a droning debate in 1988, Hoosier Dan Quayle set up Texan Lloyd Bentsen to utter a quote for the ages. Quayle had the temerity to claim as much senatorial experience as martyred President John F. Kennedy. Bentsen's resulting rebuttal, "Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy," has made him an icon of debating folklore. The exchange stirred an ovation from the audience and snapped back dozing viewers across the land.

Nobody votes for vice president, they vote for president and the veep comes with the package. The candidates are acutely aware of this, which is why most VP debates end up being surrogate affairs, with the participants trying to score points for the boss.

The Senator Joe Biden-Governor Sarah Palin debate is likely to be no different, although the skills and background each brings to Washington University in St. Louis on Thursday night are in marked contrast. Despite the best efforts of moderator Gwen Ifill of PBS, both candidates will shift the subject to the top of their tickets whenever the opportunity presents itself.

Neither candidate can claim expert status in financial affairs, but Ifill is likely to dwell extensively on this subject, given the current state of economic affairs. Both candidates will support some form of 'bail out' legislation, each parroting the talking points drilled into them during the last couple of days. Palin will point to Biden as an example of the failed leadership that got us where we are today. Biden will try to lay the blame on the Bush administration and Republicans, in general.

The War of Terror will capture a few minutes. Both debaters will put forth strong positions against terror and in support of not having any. During their excessive platitudes, Biden will snipe at Senator John McCain as a supporter of the Iraq war; Palin will praise the surge, suggest victory is only a lap away and take a swipe at Senator Barak Obama for being too passive. Both candidates will rely heavily on pre-packaged arguments drilled into them during their run-up rehearsals.

It is predictable stuff, but the potential for gaffes is so great with these two candidates the debate becomes must-see-TV.

Palin has shown a perplexing tendency to get tangled in syntax, producing answers that defy expert analysis. Biden has for decades been adept at placing a polished wingtip firmly inside his voluble mouth, recently confusing Herbert Hoover with Franklin Roosevelt.

Biden's efforts at winning votes on Thursday night should be to avoid distracting gaffes and to reinforce his claim of being an experienced manager of legislation. Palin should use simple sentences to take shots at the political establishment and should stress her analytical and decision-making skills, stating such elements of leadership are in short supply in Washington.

The whole affair could turn out to be an exercise in boredom, but don't bet on it.