Five Questions Palin Should Ask Biden

I give credit to both the Obama and McCain campaigns for accepting a much more open debate format where an actual debate can happen. As the Commission on Presidential Debates puts it:

"The moderator will introduce each segment with an issue on which each candidate will comment, after which the moderator will facilitate further discussion of the issue, including direct exchange between the candidates, for the balance of that segment ...

"Our mission is to promote voter education. The public deserves to hear and see the candidates offer and defend their positions on the critical issues facing our country in the most thoughtful and in-depth manner that television time constraints will allow. Loosening the constraints within the ninety minutes debate will allow for more serious examination of complicated questions. This change will also open the possibility of the moderator inviting candidates to question each other."

I wish that John McCain asked more questions of Barack Obama last Friday to put the senior Senator from Illinois even more on the defensive. I hope it gets more lively in the two other debates. Jon is right that Sarah Palin "must define herself or be defined," but she can definitely help herself by asking Joe Biden the following questions:

1. The centerpiece of your Iraq policy during your Presidential campaign was the partition of Iraq into three autonomous federal regions: the Kurdish North, the Sunni Center, and the Shiite South. Do you and your running mate still think this "cut and divide" policy is the smart thing to do?
2. You voted for NAFTA in 1993, the Africa free trade bill in 1999, and the U.S.-China Trade Relations Act, which normalized trade relations with China in 2000. But you voted against the creation of free trade agreements with Singapore and Chile in 2003, with Central America in 2005, and with Oman in 2006. What makes China more deserving of free trade relations with the United States than Singapore? Furthermore, why have you flip flopped on trade?
3. You and John McCain voted against the Bush energy bill in 2005, while your running mate voted for it. Don't you think it's hypocritical of Barack Obama to attack John McCain over "giveaways" to oil companies when Sen. Obama voted for such a "giveaway" himself?
4. You said you opposed the federal bailout of AIG this month in an interview with the Today show. Soon after, you backed off of that position, telling voters in Ohio that you had not yet been briefed on AIG. Why did you change your mind? Don't you think it's dangerous for someone who wants to be in an executive position to flip flop on very important matters like our financial crisis?
5. Although we like to attack corporate loopholes in the tax code, the Treasury Department and the Congressional Budget Office say that housing industry receives more tax breaks than any other industry, part of the cause of the current financial crisis. Most tax experts say we've got to pull back some of those subsidies so that people only buy a house when they can afford it. Senator Obama's plan actually piles on more tax benefits for housing. Why are the experts wrong?

As my friend from Alaska who's an operative said on the phone today:

"I hope her interview performances are some sort of ploy to drive expectations to the ground, and then hit back with an amazing performance at the debate tomorrow."

As Jon explains, she still needs to be the "validator" for McCain ... talking about energy as it relates to foreign and economic policy, ethics, and a reform agenda ... an agenda that McCain and Palin both have a record of courage to take head on.