This Ifill hack has an invested interest in trying to damage palin... How would the left feel If Ann Coulter were doing the interview and she had a book due for release on the day of inauguration entitled "how I learned to love President McCain?'

The fix is in.  That seems obvious.

I have to say, this seems like a poor choice for an impartial debate moderator.

I will be watching the moderator and thier attitude towards the candidates as much as the candidates themselves.  I personally am hoping Sarah Palin gets a chance to prove herself more than I think she is - this is her chance to show she isn't the religious whacko I and many other independants see her as.  If she loses her chance to prove she has her own leg to stand on through a biased debate, I will be very upset.

With the whole Messiah complex thing going on right now I'm starting to see an uphill battle for McCain/Palin.  The media absolutely hates Palin with a vengeance.   I've not seen this much obvious hatred in a candidate like this before.  It's like they are coming completely unglued trying to get at her.   I picture the media as all having weapons under the table as they interview her wanting to shred her to pieces when the camera shuts off. 

Around here locally I'm seeing lots of stickers for McCain and very few for Obama.  Hope that's a good "omen." 

Where do you live, KFC?  It's about even around here, kinda matches America.  Kinda sucks that no matter who wins, 40-50% of the country loses in thier mindset.

We should really go back to electing the VP too.

I wonder if Palin will actually answer a question.  I see several clips of her just dodging around a straight answer.  Moreso than most politicians, that is.

I'm sure fun will be had by all.

~Zoo

Florida. 

This is true.....about only half of the country will be happy but that's how it goes.  Win some....lose some.  We've had 8 years of Clinton and then 8 years of Bush.  So let the voting begin! 

 I wish it were over already.

I just want to see fair play here. Any indication that Gwen is picking on Palin will automatically mean that Democrats don't deserve to win. If they feel they need to ride ever Republican just to win, then they are not a party who is confident they can win because they are the right choice. I don't want McCain to win before I think Obama is terrible, I pick McCain because he represents better my opinions on how to run the country. Granted I would not have chosen him but I just don't agree with Obama's ideas on how to run the country. If the Obama campaign feels the need to put the other perty candidates down so much and with such persistance then it means they have little or no confidence in their campaign and don't believe people could make the right choice, that's if they are the right choice.

Fairness, something Democrats scream they want, that is all I ask and that is all I expect from Gwen. I will give her the benefit of the doubt, but I will not ignore the fact that an Obama win is beneficial for her, in many ways.

But.. have you seen the recent interviews given by Palin? She was digging her own grave! Just the way she answered about the Bailout or her foreign policy's credential, or McCain's roadtrack about legislating financial companies... It's not like the interviewer was out to make her look bad, she said all these things herself!

Now, if she goes on with the same... err.. quality of statement than in these interviews, do you think it's going to look like everybody was picking on her?

That is the 2 edge sword.  Now that the "fix" has been exposed, any hint of a bend towards Obama/Biden will queer the debate to Palin.  Indeed, Ifill has to bend towards her, or her goose is cooked.  So if Palin is as bad as you say, that will never come out.  All that will come out is that the media has picked the messiah, and is not even trying to hide the fact they are out to get Palin.

It is a lose-lose for the Biden side right now.

Maybe she will do better than *that*, off course. But if, for a very good and neutral question, she answers like that... Are we really going to blame Gwen for that?

Maybe. The expectation of Palin to act like a fool is sure high, so maybe she will beat the expectations! But Gwen hasn't wrote about Obama, so why do everybody thinks she is a democract-hardcore supporter?

Look, if she screws up, there is no hiding that. But you can't tell me it won't be obvious that the form of questioning towards Palin is on purpose if it does happen? This is not about the way she answers, it's about the way she is questioned. Just take "The View" for example comparing how Obama was treated vs how McCain was treated. Sure, that show is not a controlled enviroment like the debates will be, but that does not mean some people won't try to push their own agendas when given the chance.

The way I see it, no matter how much trust they wanna put Gwen, knowing her neutrality could be compromised because of the book, which was not mentioned to the McCain campaign BTW, should be enough to reconsider a change. But it's too late now since the debate is tonite. Let's just hope she does prove everyone wrong. I don't mind being wrong when the results are good.

You know, McCain has also said things that would make you wonder if he is fit to the run the country. But then so has Obama and Biden, even Hillary did it. Are we to say that people aren't always gonna get the right answer every time? Last I checked we are looking for a human do run for President, not a God, though Obama seems to think otherwise. What they say does not always bother me, not unless they are constantly saying it over and over. It's what they do now and what they might do later that concerns me.

Of course no one actually cares that every time Palin is interviewed, the questioning does always come across as an "I'm out to get you" interview. I mean, even O'Reily  put Obama on the spot but in a respectful manner.

Personally, it's one thing to not agree with a candidates opinion and policies, but I don't get this fear towards Palin. She is a woman, a politician, a mother and an American. She has something in common with most people in this country, I have yet to see any evidence of a monster, and alien or some kind of mutation in her. I like her even more if she can get the Democrats to tremble every time she shows her face to the point they are looking for anything to make her look bad.

I can't deny that everybody have done mistake, and said stupid things over the course of the campaign.

But *that*.. come on, does she even KNEW what she was talking about? You can say a lot about many people, even Huckabee, but they usually knew what they were talking about in the first place (okay, maybe not Huckabee, but he seemed to attract the same crowd than Palin). I mean, you may consider them totally wrong, but they still know about the situation.

Healthcare?!?! Wtf?!

The interview I was using the transcripts of didn't struct me as trying to get out against Palin. I have seen way more aggressive interviews of political candidates over the years (and considering I'm only 22, that's says something!). So.. No. Palin was evasive on many points, and she wasn't answering. It's the interviewer's job to make the interviewee answer those question, or look bad if they don't (there has to be a price for not answering). Specially if the interviewee is saying nonsense, and you are aware of it.

And.. I didn't thought Couric was disrespectful against Palin. Like I said, when Palin was saling bullshits, she called her bluff, but outside of this, it was very average-like respect of a regular interviewer.

Do people really feel that way? I see nothing wrong with Couric questions, she's asking basic questions with sensible followups.

See this video for example (almost the same questions for both VP candidates). Yep, the video makes her look like a fool, but not because of the questions...

Why in your view is Roe v. Wade a bad decision?

Do you think there is an inherent right to privacy in the constitution?

It's a cornerstone of Roe versus wade.

What other supreme court decisions do you disagree with?

Now if there is anything wrong with those questions, I would really like to know...

She's not an expert and that's ok, but at least we should expect her to be able to read, understand and remember a 5-pages brief prepared by her staff. Even without remembering the names of the specific cases, she should be able to at least give some sort of detailed info. I just don't understand how she can do so bad