Politico: From Tonight's Palin Playbook -- She plans to attack Biden with his own words

[Laura PourMeADrink]

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/14220.htmlPalin’s new plan: Go after Biden
By MIKE ALLEN | 10/2/08 6:59 PM EDT Updated: 10/2/08 6:59 PM EDT Text Size:



Sarah Palin plans to be aggressive on Biden's policies at the debate.
Photo: AP

ST. LOUIS — Sarah Palin plans to go on the attack in tonight’s debate, hitting Joe Biden for what she will call his foreign policy blunders and penchant for adopting liberal positions on taxes and other issues, according to campaign officials involved in prepping her for tonight’s showdown.

The Palin camp is projecting surprising self-confidence in the pre-debate hours, despite the vice presidential nominee’s uneven — and, at some points, peculiar — performances in recent television interviews, the officials say. Top advisers to John McCain privately say Palin’s recent CBS interview was a borderline disaster, especially since it played out in several segments over several days. Tonight will be different, they say.

“This is going to finally put her back into a position where we see her like we saw her the first couple weeks,” a McCain official said. “She was herself. She was authentic, and people related to that. ... Tonight, she’ll get into a rhythm. You’re going to see her in a way that you haven’t seen her yet.”

By contrast, Biden plans what an aide calls "a just-the-facts, prosecutorial approach laying out the case against McCain and defending Obama." The aide said Biden will be "keeping the eye on the target, which is McCain."

It is hard to imagine higher stakes for a vice presidential nominee on the national stage. Palin wowed even her biggest skeptics with her spirited introduction to the American people at the Republican National Convention last month. It’s been downhill since then, however. She has been largely sheltered from unscripted moments on the campaign trail. And, when she has exposed herself to improvisation or tough questioning, Palin has been criticized for offering vague and at times unusual responses.

Palin advisers say that she remains just as popular with much of the Republican base as she was a month ago when her convention speech was hailed as a home run. But her ratings have eroded in polls since then, and the advisers see the 90-minute debate at 9 p.m. Eastern as a chance for a swift turnaround from what they call “negativity” in her news coverage.

From her debate playbook, as described by McCain officials:

— Throw Biden’s own words back at him.

“There’s going to be a lot of opportunities to use Joe Biden’s words against him — and not his gaffes,” an official said. “When he says raising taxes is patriotic, that’s a policy position. That’s what he believes. She’s going to use those against him.”

(On ABC’s “Good Morning America” last month, in explaining the need for the wealthiest Americans to pay more taxes, Biden said: “It's time to be patriotic ... time to jump in, time to be part of the deal, time to help get America out of the rut.”)

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[tridim]

1. Good, then he can explain that he's not going to raise taxes on people like Palin,

but will raise taxes on people like McCain.

[stray cat]

2. Frankly paying taxes is patriotic - if you support the war you have to show it with what counts

[Laura PourMeADrink]

4. right! And he was only talking about the very wealthy. I wonder

how long the war would last if people had to pay directly out of their own pocket.

[EstimatedProphet]

3. Bring it

He can mop the floor with her on that, by simply saying "She came here prepared to use my statements to debate me. It's not a fair contest. I can't do the same thing, because she hasn't made any."

[Laura PourMeADrink]

6. good one

[Union Thug]

5. Great - Bring up 'liberal economic policies.' I dare her.