NYT: "Palin confident, but often vague"

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Palin confident, but often vague

Her past debates show a different persona from her recent appearances



Not since Dan Quayle took the stage in 1988 have debate expectations for a major party candidate been as low as they will be on Thursday for Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska.

A newcomer to the national scene, Ms. Palin has given little indication that she has been engaged in a serious way in the pressing national and international issues of the day.

But a review of a handful of her debate performances in the race for governor in 2006 shows a somewhat different persona from the one that has emerged since Senator John McCain , Republican of Arizona, named Ms. Palin as the vice-presidential nominee a month ago.

Ms. Palin, a former mayor who had become a whistle-blower about ethical misconduct in state government, held her own in those debates. (There were almost two dozen in the general election alone; she skipped some, and not all were recorded.)

She staked out a populist stance against oil companies and projected a fresh, down-to-earth face at a time when voters wanted change. That helped her soundly defeat Frank H. Murkowski , the unpopular Republican governor, in the primary and former Gov. Tony Knowles in the general election.

[mwb970]

1. That was then, this is now.

That was Alaska, this is America.

[Inuca]

2. She is not ignorant about ALaska issues

she IS ignorant about almost everything else.