I was a member of the Debate Team at school, and our team was terrific at it, too. In fact, we went on to win the championship. And like Sarah Palin, our team won our tournaments fair and square without the aid of a teleprompter or a verbatim script. Steve Schmidt is deceiving those who aren't familiar with debate preparation and procedures with his deliberately misleading comments on the Sky News article that Palin's debate performance was completely "scripted."
Schmidt would have you believe these lies: Lie #1, that people go into debates unprepared, Lie #2, that debate coaches do not work with their debaters to find solid responses to potential questions, Lie #3, that Palin somehow read from a paper or teleprompter script. And I am writing so that I can bust Schmidt for his obvious misrepresentation of what is a common Debate preparation and practice and for his mission to denigrate Palin's performance.
Here's the behind-the-scenes info: just like all competitors ranging from Athletes to Mathletes, Debaters prepare before a competition and usually work to find the winning strategy with their coaches. Wow, that's not really such a revelation, now is it?! But Schmidt is counting on the fact that non-debaters wouldn't recognize that what he described is typical in debate prep.
From personal debate experience, I can tell you that each year, after the debate topic was announced, our team prepared during the school year by doing our research. More importantly, we brainstormed and anticipated our opponents' arguments and how our team may rebut them. Our debate coach (Schmidt's role during the debate prep, if you will) helped us determine what the questions or arguments might be.
YES, we wrote potential questions as well as arguments that can be thrown at us, along with what the best answers might be. It's how we studied and prepared in the run up to the debates. YES, we mapped out scenarios like 'If they bring this up, we can point out this fact...but if they use another way of looking at that data, we can respond to it in this other way' or 'if they mention this, we answer this way, but if they don't mention it, we'll answer it differently.' YES, our debate coach, who is experienced and trained, did his job by guiding our team members. AND YES, you better believe that the other team was doing the same thing. Here's what NEVER happened: no one ever said our prep notes was a "script", and no one ever read a script or teleprompter during the debates. I mean, do people mock Olympians as merely bringing along their "trained muscles" or auditioning pianists as merely "memorizing the order of notes to play" or perfect-SAT scorers for merely "memorizing spellings from flashcards?" How dare these competitors practice! These are illogical accusations, because in fact, preparation must meet skill and opportunity to result in success.
It wasn't Schmidt's advice or the prep alone that made Palin successful. Sarah Palin had preparation, skill, opportunity, knowledge, confidence, spontaneity, sincerity and humor. She didn't carry any cheat sheet papers or even one teleprompter (Obama has several) as she walked gracefully and confidently across the stage to shake Biden's hand. When there was levity, her sense of humor kicked up and when there was seriousness, her convictions shone through. Real life is NOT scripted. Schmidt claims that the practice questions were within a degree or two of the questions that (moderator) Gwen Ifell asked during the debate". Even if that were true, a degree or two is a LARGE variability--such questions have a different nuance, and need answers specific to the questions, and delivered with poise and eloquence. Debates take surprising turns sometimes, and no amount of scripting could have allowed Palin to lead that course with the communication, wit, and style as she did. Unlike Obama, at the debate Palin wasn't stiffly reading a teleprompter nor would she have been thrown off by any technical glitches. Palin didn't carry a script. Instead she jotted her own notes while Biden responded, and she spoke in her own tone and words. The Palin jabs, jokes, insights and answers from that debate night were all Palin. That's apparent when you hear her comments today (even she is no longer working with Schmidt and wouldn't have access to his so-called 'scripts'). And finally, there's no question that Biden also had similar notes and answer strategies. This is a vice-presidential debate, for goodness' sake! The Democratic presidential candidate carried his verbatim teleprompter everywhere! How refreshing that Sarah didn't read verbatim nor get tripped up by hecklers at campaign speeches.
Steve Schmidt is just bitter that he failed at his task to win the campaign, whereas Palin succeeded in her assigned tasks. This is another desperate attempt to discredit Palin's talents because he is embarrassed for having been called out for his weak strategy and mishandling of the campaign. Now I've called him out for his pathetic insinuation that Palin's performance was simply "scripted". From one debater to a campaign debate coach, you are an embarrassment, Schmidt.
by VidSweet
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