Advice for Biden: Pretend Palin's a Man

Joe Biden has only one prayer of winning the vice-presidential debate: He has to pretend Sarah Palin’s a man, Dahlia Lithwick writes on Slate. Biden has the experience and knowledge to crush the Alaska governor, but that’s precisely his problem. Palin’s not a serious candidate, but if Biden lectures or condescends to her, he’ll look like “a sexist bully.”

The answer on Oct. 2, Lithwick says, is to pretend Palin is not a woman, but “a machine in 3-inch heels that has been programmed to make you look brutish.” Biden must not attack Palin, no matter how much Ann Coulter-style nastiness she employs. Instead, “play to your strengths,” Lithwick advises. “Know stuff. Say it briefly.” But above all, “fight like a man. She will.” (More Sarah Palin stories.)