I see you there, stocking the bar and licking your chops in anticipation of tonight's VP debate/bloodbath. You've watched those YouTube snippets of Sarah Palin unable to answer Katie Couric's softball questions (and probably those Miss Alaska talent show clips as well) and are positively salivating at the way Joe Biden is going to "pwn" her ass.
Not a chance.
For starters, the McCain camp has been level-setting for weeks, "leaking" alleged rumblings about her lack of preparedness and predicting disaster Thursday night. Expectations are so low for Palin that as long as she doesn't show up drunk, it'll be declared a victory.
And the newly Palin-friendly debate format won't hurt her either:
The Obama and McCain campaigns have agreed to an unusual free-flowing format for the three televised presidential debates, which begin Friday, but the McCain camp fought for and won a much more structured approach for the questioning at the vice-presidential debate, advisers to both campaigns said Saturday.
At the insistence of the McCain campaign, the Oct. 2 debate between the Republican nominee for vice president, Gov. Sarah Palin, and her Democratic rival, Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., will have shorter question-and-answer segments than those for the presidential nominees, the advisers said. There will also be much less opportunity for free-wheeling, direct exchanges between the running mates.
McCain advisers said they had been concerned that a loose format could leave Ms. Palin at a disadvantage and largely on the defensive.
But, but she's so experienced.
My prediction: Palin remembers her lines. Well enough, at least, that her supporters can claim it as proof that she's "ready to lead." The format will also reign in Biden's bloviating, and he'll mostly keep his tongue. He probably won't be able to resist a couple of body blows, which will likely prompt McCain to step in once again to defend his pit bull from the nasty Democrats.
Me? I'll be drinking myself blind. Which, come to think of it, is how I spend most election cycles.
Palin-friendly debate format? You mean there’s a swimsuit competition! Hot! Hot! Hot!
The Mrs. and I are trying to come up with a VP debate-orientated drinking game for this evening. Any and all suggestions are welcome.
“But, but she’s so experienced.”
Maybe her and Obama should run together then.
Maybe her and Obama should run together then.
Yes, maybe her should.
I have been thinking about her Debate Camp of the last week or so, and unless they have completely removed her from access to media, Palin has to know that everyone remotely to the left of Far Right thinks she’s “out of her league” (euphemism for dumb). I bet her stress level is so high they’ve had to medicate her, that she’s so wound up that just about anything could happen tonight. Personally, I’d like to see her have a full emotional collapse on stage.
As for drinking game suggestions, how about some sort of Debate Bingo? In each square you could put words and phrases like maverick, reform, values, judgement, this great country of ours, etc. Then, once the debate starts, use the game board as a coaster and just get drunk. Isn’t that how most drinking games work?
Basshole, I like your suggestion of Debate Bingo. Perhaps Strip Debate Bingo for round 2.
Drink once when Palin says: “gosh,” “doggone it,” or “Ahmadinejad.”
Drink twice when Palin says: “nukular,” “special needs,” or “middle class.”
Drain it when Palin says: “white flag of surrender” or “team of mavericks.”
Did someone say Palin Bingo?
Wish I saw this before the debate: http://www.palinbingo.com/
You left out “around the kitchen table” and “at the end of the day,” which both candidates seemed to enjoy. It would’ve been an expensive drinking game last night, but I think booze is a pretty good investment these days…
“Yes, maybe her should.”
Yes, and maybe him and her should then.
“Maybe her and Obama should run together then.” Pete.
So, Pete wants to try and correct my sentence structure. Since the subject was already known, that being Palin, the writer can choose to use “her” instead of “she”, because “she” has been already established as the known subject in the matter. Therefore, I chose to use the Objective instead of nominative.
Nominative case pronouns are I, she, he, we, they, and who. They are used as subjects, predicate nominatives, and appositives when used with a subject or predicate nominative.
Objective case pronouns are me, her, him, us, them, and whom. They are used as direct objects, indirect objects, objects of the preposition, and appositives when used with one of the objects. (We will learn about indirect objects and objects of the preposition in later lessons.) (You and it are both nominative and objective case.)
Possessive case pronouns are my, mine, your, yours, his, her, hers, its, our, ours, your, yours, their and theirs. They are used to show ownership.
I doubt you’ll post this, but if you do, thanks.
…A retired college English teacher…from England
That was fascinating Joe, really. First of all, the italicized quote in my comment consisted solely of your words. I wasn’t correcting your sentence structure, but pointing out that using the object form of the pronoun as the subject in that sentence sounded dumb.
But perhaps not as dumb as quoting DailyGrammar.com (I guess your extensive academic curriculum didn’t include proper attribution) instead of offering a substantive argument about why Palin is a good choice for VP.
Should I be concerned that Mrs. Palin believes “remembering your lines” is leadership? Or that solid Republicans have bought into this notion?
And here I thought the National Grammar Rodeo was held in Canada. Who knew?
Pete, for the drinking I must recommend the just-released-yesterday Saint Arnold’s Divine Reserve No. 7. It’s very potent and goes down smooth.