Joe Biden, Sarah Palin Square Off Over Iraq, Health Care, Economy

Although Obama has been steadily gaining ground in the polls over the last two weeks, the race is clearly far from over. The Obama/Biden ticket has an extraordinary opportunity to extend their lead by continuing to expose Sarah Palin's weaknesses in Thursday night's debate. After a series of disastrous interviews, it is absolutely essential that Palin appear confident, composed, and well-versed on the topics on Thursday night. Because the debate is intended to cover both domestic and foreign policy, pretty much any topic could be up for discussion.

The Fight to Win Over Undecided Voters

Thursday night is one of the last best chances for the McCain/Palin team to show wary undecided voters that Palin could take over for McCain as commander-in-chief in case of an emergency. The number one issue for Sarah Palin is showing some sort of competence in her ability to answer the questions on real issues with concrete, specific answers. If she could show herself to be knowledgeable on ANY topic, the McCain campaign could latch onto the sound byte and use it as evidence of Palin's abilities.The best thing that Palin has going for her right now is that expectations for her performance on Thursday are incredibly low. If she can come across as even reasonably intelligent, she will probably gain some ground-at least with those voters who were originally for McCain and dropped their support after Palin's series of disastrous performances at interviews and public appearances.

For Biden to win over undecided voters, he needs hammer home his extensive foreign policy experience. As the presiding Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, it would be very easy for Biden to show up Palin with his wealth of experience. What he shouldn't do is what McCain did in the first debate-condescend to his opponent. McCain came across as arrogant in his repeated exclamations that Obama couldn't understand basic foreign policy issues. If Sarah Palin continues down the road she's been on over the past two weeks, Biden shouldn't even try to press her on her lack of experience, but rather let Palin hang herself with her bizarre mumblings and glazed over stares. During Palin's recent interview with Katie Couric, she provided Saturday Night Live with its best original written material in ages. Biden should let Palin ramble on as long as possible.

The 3 Major Topics Voters Want to Hear About

1. The Economy

The floundering economy and the controversial Wall Street bailout will be the number one issues that voters will want to hear about from Biden and Palin. With many of the American people still confused about what a bailout would mean for them, and enraged at the prospect of bailing out corporate fat cats, voters will want the VP candidates to communicate clearly and honestly about their plans to aid the country's crumbling economic system.

Predictions

Palin will do her best to avoid addressing the issue directly, much like she did in the infamous Katie Couric interview. Palin will likely state that the issue is a complicated one and that regulations are needed to prevent such crises from happening in the future. It's unlikely that she will take a firm stance on whether or not the bailout should be approved by Congress because the issue is so divisive for voters right now.

Biden will likely state that he supports the bailout as long as some stipulations are included to help out average Americans. Biden will also likely emphasize Obama's assertion that the majority of Americans will receive a tax break under the Obama/Biden administration. The emphasis will also be on reducing the tax breaks for wealthy Americans. With the obvious resentment that many Americans are harboring towards the wealthy upper class, Biden can gain points by emphasizing the differences between Obama and McCain regarding the tax system.

2. The Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan

Fighting wars on multiple fronts has put a huge strain on the American economy as well as creating a negative image of the U.S. abroad. Although the recent surge in troops in Iraq has caused some reduction in violence, most media outlets have begun to focus on the fact that while we may be keeping the peace in Iraq, the war in Afghanistan has become increasingly volatile. The candidates need to use the debate to speak about how the wars are affecting national security, the economy and foreign relations.

Predictions

Palin has already proven that she's weak on foreign relations. She has only begun to meet with world leaders for the first time in the past few weeks. Foreign policy is probably the topic that Palin is doing most of her last minute cramming on. I expect Palin to stay vague as usual, but if she does decide to attempt to offer some specifics of her plans regarding foreign policy, she will likely do her best to digest and vomit back McCain's standard rhetoric. Palin will also likely emphasize John McCain's war experience as qualifying him to make better decisions than Obama regarding Iraq and Afghanistan.

Biden will likely support Obama's recent assertions that one of the most important security steps that their administration would take would be to secure the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan where many of the terrorist factions are believed to be crossing over. Biden will also shed light on the fact that the Bush administration has created increased animosity towards the United States since taking office. Biden will emphasize that his own extensive foreign policy experience will allow him to mend some of the fences between the U.S. and those countries we have developed strained relationships with.

3. The Health Care Crisis

Before the stock market's recent nosedive, health care was one of the number one issues on voters' minds. Now that the economy is going down the drain in a fast way, the health care crisis is one of the many issues that will likely continue to worsen. As more people lose their jobs, they will lose their health insurance as well, and the number of uninsured and under-insured Americans will continue to climb.

Predictions

Palin: This one should be pretty straightforward for Palin. She's got some nice, easy concrete numbers to latch onto and spit out regarding McCain's plan for health care improvement. She'll emphasize the $2500 credit that McCain is pledging to provide for individuals ($5000 for families) looking to buy their own health insurance. She'll also float the idea of "portable policies," meaning that Americans will be able to keep their health insurance even if they lose their job.

Biden: Although Obama/Biden haven't given a specific dollar amount on how big a tax credit they're willing to provide for Americans to buy their own health insurance, the team has stated that they will save the American family an average of $2500/year on health insurance costs. Biden will also bring up ideas related to reducing the cost of health care for everyone by requiring insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions, creating a health care tax credit for small businesses, and preventing insurance companies from overcharging doctors for malpractice coverage.

Sources:

Associated Press:
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5j_dfzuVk-DxyTUrxJE1BxKFWq4EgD93AHRT01

Governor Sarah Palin, Official Website:
http://gov.state.ak.us/

Senator Joe Biden, Official Website:
http://biden.senate.gov/committee_work/foreign_relations/

Washington University St. Louis:
http://news-info.wustl.edu/news/page/normal/12445.html