| | Dems, press raising expectations for Palin ahead of debate
 Just as it seemed like Sarah Palin could be declared the winner of Thursday's vice presidential debate simply by showing up and speaking in complete sentences, a spate of stories appeared to set higher expectations for the Alaska governor.
"Palin Proved to Be Formidable Foe in Alaska Debates," the Wall Street Journal declared.
"Underestimate Palin at your own risk," the Los Angeles Times warned.
"On small stage, Palin scored big debate wins," concluded Politico.
Democratic aides, perhaps wary of Palin's ability to exceed the rock-bottom expectations that she's facing, helpfully forwarded those articles to reporters Wednesday morning.
While Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden is certainly better versed in policy details than his Republican rival, a debate win is anything but a sure thing. The Delaware senator has a reputation for gaffe-laden verbosity, and he needs to be wary of appearances he's beating up on a woman if he attacks Palin too harshly. It's tough to imagine Biden being able to parallel his "a noun, a verb and 9/11" attack against Rudy Giuliani earlier this year.
Palin may not have shined in her series of interviews with Katie Couric over the last week, but if anything the appearances on the lowest-rated evening newscast simply served to lower expectations for her.
Besides, one of Palin's former opponents says, her greatest gift is her ability to wow observers while actually saying nothing at all.
"[S]he's a master, not of facts, figures, or insightful policy recommendations, but at the fine art of the nonanswer, the glittering generality," writes Andrew Halco, a former state legislator who ran for governor against Palin in 2006. "Against such charms there is little Senator Biden, or anyone, can do."
Halco recounts a conversation with Palin that perhaps shouldn't be surprising, considering the governor's inability to name a single newspaper or magazine she regularly reads.
On April 18, 2006, Palin and I sat together in a hotel coffee shop comparing campaign trail notes. As we talked about the debates, Palin made a comment that highlights the phenomenon that Biden is up against.
"Andrew, I watch you at these debates with no notes, no papers, and yet when asked questions, you spout off facts, figures, and policies, and I'm amazed. But then I look out into the audience and I ask myself, 'Does any of this really matter?' " Palin said.
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