Joltin' Joe Biden Will Pound Pit Bull Palin ... Don't Bet On It

When the verbal jabs start flying Thursday evening at the vice presidential debate, Democrats might be anticipating an easy knockout win.

And who could blame them.

In the Dems corner stands Joltin' Joe Biden, 6-term senator from Delaware and two-time seeker of his party's presidential nomination. His record shows that as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, few, if any, lawmakers know more about the international perils facing our nation.

And in the Republican corner stands Sarah "the Barracuda" Palin, a doe-eyed former beauty queen, Alaska governor and newcomer to the national political scene. Her record shows that she told interviewer Katie Couric she can claim international relations experience because Alaska borders Russia.

Looks like a mismatch for the ages, right? But in this upside-down political environment where real world experience can be viewed as a detriment, I wouldn't rush out and bet on a Biden blowout just yet. ...
Just look back eight years ago when two-term vice president Al Gore faced a scrappy, straight-talking governor from Texas named George W. Bush in a highly anticipated presidential debate.

Going in, political observers predicted Gore would make mincemeat of the Bush. So what happened? Political pundits lowered the bar of expectations for Bush. And when he managed to at least stay upright and awake during the face-off, Bush was perceived to be the winner.

Bush also played to the current sentiment that lawmakers with Washington experience like Gore were the problem. With his Texas twang seemingly lending authenticity to his words, all that was needed, Bush reasoned, was some good-old-fashioned, shoot from the hip, common sense to deal with this complex and dangerous world.

Look at where all that common sense has us today.

Exactly when did the notion of having proven, time-tested, experience become a bad thing? You would want it in the mechanic who repairs your water pump or the surgeon who repairs your leaky heart valve.

But when it comes to Washington politics, bring us the next pretty face that can claim they are an outsider and we just might give them the highest elected offices in the land.

So keep your eyes open and don't say you weren't warned. If the Barracuda manages to stay upright and awake Thursday night, political inexperience will have claimed another victory.

All debates begin at 9PM ET View Detailed Schedule
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Paul Shepard blogs the Democrat side of the election for BlackVoices. He has been a journalist for 16 years; on the national urban/minority affairs beat for The Cleveland Plain Dealer and for The AP in Washington, D.C.