Oliver believes the debate will be pretty much gaffe-free. I'm not so sure -- cable news will invent a gaffe, the same way they overplayed Senator Obama's complimentary remarks for Senator McCain (great politics given McCain's tone). So they'll invent at least one gaffe for Senator Biden. A look or a glance. Maybe a remark about Sarah Palin that they'll play up as being too harsh. Drama! Ratings!
On the other hand, Sarah Palin will be the shrill sarcastic Palin from the convention. I wouldn't put it past her to remark about Biden's hair plugs. It'll be stuff like the 'community organizer' remark and the 'listening to Biden's speeches since, like uh-doy, second grade' zinger. And she'll have at least one big Couric-style 'duh' moment. At least one. The debate is 90 minutes without a break -- the laws of probability dictate that between the pressure and the precedent, she'll mangle something big time.
However, the fact that she might not flub every answer will give the cable news people reason to praise her. She didn't totally screw it up. She's awesome! And those zingers! Fun-neee! That's the kind of crap that'll send me into a rage. Probably not the debate itself. The ignormus post-debate whole-cloth invention of stupid. That'll do it.
Buchanan will love her. Hannity will soil his pants. Matthews will compare her to a movie character. Alex Castellanos will punch Paul Begala. Begala will pummel Castellanos with a folding chair. Roland Martin will figure-four-leg-lock Bill Bennett. And Gloria Borger will accidentally swallow a coin.
Overall... Pain.
PS. I'll be liveblogging tonight of course. But I'll be using a gizmo called Cover It Live, so as to prevent another back-end techie meltdown. Naturally, you can still comment as per usual.