Did Sarah Palin's nonsensical blathering to Katie Couric successfully lower the bar for her debate that all she needs to do is speak coherently to win?

I'm wondering if the McCain campaign doesn't really mind that conservatives are leaping off the Palin bandwagon in droves. (The piece from a female National Review columnist who used to be Palin's biggest champion and now calls for her to drop out for the good of the country is particularly devastating. As is a curmudgeon's rant that if a Palin presidency "doesn't scare the hell out of you, it should.")

The McCain campaign might not even mind that her poll numbers have plummeted, with only 40 percent saying she's prepared to be president vs. 64 percent for Joe Biden.

In fact, I believe they've turned it into a strategy. The fact that they leaked to a liberal radio host that Palin is shockingly unprepared is no coincidence. It's called strategy.Not that the McCain folks wanted Palin to sound as unprepared and ridiculous as she has in interviews and the one time in a month she's taken a couple questions from reporters. But in politics, you take what you've got and turn it into a positive. At this point, if Palin doesn't drool on stage, they'll claim victory.

The message will be fairly similar to Karl Rove's spinning of George W. Bush in 2000. What the Bush campaign essentially said was that everyone knows their guy wasn't too bright. And look, he showed up on stage in a suit and knew foreign leaders' names. And the other guy rudely sighed at him. Tell me Bush isn't presidential.

They've already given Palin the Bush treatment. Rove took Bush's intellectual incuriosity and inflexibility and turned it into the markings of a strong, principled leader. Palin's inexperience and incuriosity makes her authentic, the McCain campaign says. She's just like you. You don't know where Waziristan is, do you? But don't worry. John McCain has been there.

After Palin's Republican National Convention speech, she was the odds-on favorite to win the debate. Joe Biden was sure to know more, but be a condescending and overbearing guy to that nice hockey mom.

The McCain campaign won a structured format to favor her. There won't be free-flowing exchanges like between Obama and McCain. The strict time periods are designed for zingers and sound bites, which are Palin's forte.

The Obama campaign's attempts to paint her as a skilled debater have been greeted with chuckles. But Palin has been underestimated in debates in Alaska and won.

Why? Lowered expectations. No one expects her to know as much as Biden. But traditional debates favor talking points, which Palin can memorize, and attacks, which she lands with glee. America might just love the comely mom of five telling off the blowhard senator. Stick it to the man, Sarah!

Coupled with the fact that it will be viewed as a huge victory that she can just pronounce the name of Waziristan, it looks like Sarah Palin will be declared the winner just by showing up.