So, how badly will Sarah Palin lose the Vice Presidential debate? Because, lose she will…but to what degree? Not one to relish in the misfortune of others, I’ve been having a mental battle with myself when thinking about the upcoming VP debate.

Good Me: There’s no doubt she’s going to lose. And she’ll probably embarrass herself. People will see her for who she is, and they will note her lack of experience and wisdom, and Biden will demonstrate his superiority in every facet of the debate. The rightful winner shall win, and that’s the end of it. I feel no joy that it had to come to this, but that’s the way it is. We will all learn and move on.

Evil Me: Please, let them ask really tough questions about foreign policy. I want Mbeki, and Mugabe, and Odinga… May Gwen Ifill be a salivating bulldog. Joe Biden is going to run mental circles around her and then drop her like a bag of dirt, and I am going to love it. (rubbing hands together like a fly) That scrappy terrier from Scranton will kick the pitbull’s behind all the way back to Juneau. She will be so humiliated and so exposed, she’ll slink out of public life forever after being Alaska’s most infamous one-term wonder. She wants “Stump the Candidate”, then give her “Stump the Candidate!”

Good Me: Ahem…Are you listening to yourself?

Evil Me: ….and maybe they’ll ask about the capitol of Uzbekistan…..what? Oh. (sheepish grin)

As this battle rages on between me and myself, the following news comes out today:

At the insistence of the McCain campaign, the Oct. 2 debate between the Republican nominee for vice president, Gov. Sarah Palin, and her Democratic rival, Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., will have shorter question-and-answer segments than those for the presidential nominees, the advisers said. There will also be much less opportunity for free-wheeling, direct exchanges between the running mates. McCain advisers said they had been concerned that a loose format could leave Ms. Palin, a relatively inexperienced debater, at a disadvantage and largely on the defensive.

McCain advisers said they were only somewhat concerned about Ms. Palin’s debating skills compared with those of Mr. Biden, who has served six terms in the Senate, or about his chances of tripping her up. Instead, they say, they wanted Ms. Palin to have opportunities to present Mr. McCain’s positions, rather than spending time talking about her own experience or playing defense.

I had to read that a couple times. Go ahead and read that again if you need to. (pause)

So, when the McCain team decided upon the terms of the debate, a debate in which any future candidate worth his/her salt should be able to participate, it obviously never occurred to them that their actual pick would be completely and utterly unprepared and unqualified. At this point, they are basically saying, “We know she’s going to lose, but we want her to lose less catastrophically. And we don’t really care that the American people will never get to see the woman who we want to be a heartbeat away from the highest office in the land engage in actual conversation, or be called out for her lack of knowledge. Allowing the debate to continue as is, would be far worse for us than being called out for giving head starts to ignorant people, and grading the debate on a curve.”

They’d rather she have more time to spit out the talking points, then have to defend her own qualifications. They just came right out and said it! Our little hothouse flower will be protected. Quick, add another circle of barbed wire, and dig a deeper level in that subterranean, undisclosed location…Sarah’s coming. But is she Ready to Lead?