That's right! Tonight it's Verbal Diarrhea versus The Gaffe-Meister at Washington University in St. Louis. There have been many factors leading up to the debate, but I'll go over the top 3 I'm sure you've all heard about.

1.) Governor Palin doesn't know how to form a coherent sentence. If you've been paying attention to any news channel - except possibly "fair and balanced" Fox News - then you've probably seen Governor Palin's highlight reel with Charlie Gibson and, more notably, Katie Couric. Her greatest hits included: proximity to Russia counts as foreign policy credentials, being a hockey mom means you can hold the second highest office in the land, not knowing that the Supreme Court actually has tried more cases than just Roe v. Wade, contradicting your running mates view on Pakistan by almost agreeing with your opponent and then calling it "gotcha journalism" even though it was a voter asking the question, calling herself "Joe-six-pack" and the list really just goes on and on.

Seriously, she makes Miss Teen USA South Carolina 2007 look like she has a future in linguistics. Hell, even some members of her own party want her to drop out. On the positive side for Republicans, the bar is so low for Governor Palin - despite Democrats trying to raise expectations so she falls short - that it should be nearly impossible for her to have a bad showing compared to her recent colossal train wreck of an interview. Warning for Democrats, she did well in her Gubernatorial debates, so maybe it's simply where she shines.

2.) Senator Biden has made some truly inane statements as of late. His greatest hits include saying that FDR handled the Great Depression by going on television to speak to the nation, comments he made to Governor Richardson during a Democratic Primary Debate, insisting that Hillary Clinton might be more qualified than him for the Vice-Presidency, and his list goes on and on as well. Obviously he goes into tonight's debate as the front runner, because the spotlight hasn't been on him. So far this election has been Obama versus McCain-Palin. Biden has done some interviews, but everybody seems to be focused on the war of words between Obama and McCain, while Palin is simply trying to put together an actual word. All Biden has to do to be successful tonight is to pull what McCain did to Obama in their debate: act like she isn't even there.

The format is such, I believe, that the candidates really won't have a reason to talk to each other anyway, so if Biden just talks about why Obama is the right guy for the job and why McCain isn't, then he should be okay. But if he says anything to Palin, he'll have to be careful, because journalists all over the country are waiting for his next gaffe. If he is going to let a gaffe slip tonight, though, I'm sure journalists would prefer it'd be something that could make him look sexist or as if he's talking down to her. It'll make for a better story even if Palin does need to be talked down to so that she understands things - see Bush Doctrine for more.

3.) Gwen Ifill, PBS journalist and tonight's moderator. Now why, oh why, is the moderator a factor in tonight's debate? Isn't the moderator usually a respected journalist that has been known to ask fair questions and show neutrality? The answer is, yes, but the McCain campaign has decided to make a big deal out of nothing. The problem: she's writing a book about African-American politicians and Obama is one of those politicians. The McCain campaign is claiming that she'll be biased towards Senator Obama, while journalists have risen to her defense, backing up her credentials as a respected journalist. I could maybe see a problem if she had been hiding the release of this book, but she announced the release back in January.

Besides, writing about the rise of African-American politicians without mentioning Obama is like reading the New Testament and ignoring the parts about Jesus. Guess what, Obama is kinda a big deal when it comes to African-American politicians. Also, Gwen Ifill is an African-American, so maybe she is just showing a little pride in the rise of black politicians. The book isn't out yet, though, so obviously I haven't read it, but I doubt it's a propaganda vehicle for Obama, especially since it won't be released until Inauguration Day, well after the race has been decided. The McCain campaign should stop looking for excuses for their less than adequate Vice-Presidential nominee and play to win instead of playing not to lose.

Personally, I'm not hoping for Palin to fall flat on her face, because the fact is, she has a good chance of being the Vice-President, and I don't like my Vice-Presidents to be less intelligent than I am. I'm hoping for a spirited debate where Biden shows why Obama is the guy and Palin showing why McCain is up to the challenge. Hell, maybe they can even rise above the recent blame game and childish insults running back and forth between the Presidential nominees and we'll finally see the level of discourse in this campaign rise to the higher expectations we all had of these two candidates in the beginning.

However, if Palin repeats her Katie Couric exploits and Biden spews out gaffe after gaffe, then at least we'll be treated to a hilarious SNL skit.