A bad answer not because it’s so awkward but because she lacks the knack for spinning tough questions to her advantage in a way politicians ought to be able to. E.g., “Any decision is a bad decision, Katie, where the Court arrogates to itself the right to decide difficult questions which, in a democracy, should be left to the public.” An answer like that would have gone a long way towards countering Biden’s dopey point about the virtue of Roe v. Wade lying in its expression of consensus. Hey, Joe? Consensus is best determined at the ballot box. If Biden disagrees with that, I encourage him to let the Supreme Court decide who should be the next president.

It sounds from WaPo at this point like Palin’s going to try to bait Biden into a fatal gaffe tomorrow night to cover any missteps she might commit. Not a bad idea in light of the new CBS poll: “Women’s perception of Palin has become increasingly negative. On Sept. 8th, Palin had a 47 percent favorable rating among women and a 19 percent unfavorable; now her favorable rating among the group is down to 30 percent, while her unfavorable has risen to 34 percent.” Exit question: She’s on record as opposing the Supreme Court’s ruling on punitive damages in the Exxon Valdez case. Why didn’t she just mention that?

Update: Karl e-mails, “Biden’s a senior member of the Judiciary Committee. Try asking him about the Alaskan pipeline and see how he does.”