From what I've seen and read about Sarah Palin, the term 'gotcha' appears to refer to any question with a specific, verifiable answer, even if that answer is based on opinion. What do you think of the Bush Doctrine? was a request for an opinion but depended on knowledge of what a specific term - The Bush Doctrine - meant. Similarly, when asked for specific examples of periodical reading material or objectionable Supreme Court decisions, the Palin fount of knowledge went dry.

People are saying that Palin could pull off a tie with Biden tonight by falling back on generalized, palatable fluff to answer every question but I think if Biden recognizes this one fact - that 'gotcha' for Palin is defined as 'any request for moderately deep specifics' - it wouldn't be hard to turn the debate into a Palin debacle.

Gilker wrote: "People are saying that Palin could pull off a tie with Biden tonight by falling back on generalized, palatable fluff to answer every question......."

That's exactly what McBush did last Friday and many said he won. I suppose, besides being a racist or some other type of unproductive subculture group, your average RepubliCON supporter has fluff for brains.

Gilker--great post. Slawrence, of course many people thought McCain 'won' the debate. What they mean is, he said things they agree with, which is fair enough, I suppose. Similarly, Palin could say virtually nothing tonight except one meandering, badly worded sentence that contains the words 'life begins at conception' or 'abortion is wrong'...and millions will rapturously declare her the winner.