This LA Times article is a must read:
Palin's former aides say under the lipstick is a real pit bull
This woman is capable of very sharp barbs indeed.
Biden must not underestimate her. I predict she will be an unwholesome mixture of acerbic barbs and incoherent sentences punctuated by "there" and "also."
When she appeared for a candidate's forum in front of a room filled with unionized Alaskan electrical workers during her run for governor in early October 2006, Sarah Palin arrived woefully unprepared. When the union members grilled her on labor policy, Palin faltered.
Afterward, a furious Palin cursed in anger and berated her staff, recalled two former senior campaign aides who blamed her unwillingness to bone up on workplace issues for the blunder.
[...]
When one moderator asked about abortion and pressed about what she would do if her daughter had a child out of wedlock, Palin had a ready answer, defending her anti-abortion stance and deflecting the question toward her male rivals: "I would choose life. And I am confident you will be asking my opponents.
Like we couldn't have guessed this one from someone who had to split her 6 yr undergraduate degree among 5 schools:
Palin, the former aides said, had a sharply limited attention span for absorbing the facts and policy angles required for all-topics debate preparation. Staffers were rarely able to get her to sit for more than half an hour of background work at a time before her concentration waned, preoccupied by cellphone calls and family affairs. "We were always fighting for her attention," said one of the aides.
And here's the part we have yet to witness:
"If you can sit her down, she has a talent for listening to a policy presentation that is so boring it would bring tears to your eyes," the aide said. "Then -- boom -- she will nail it down to its essence."
And we may be surprised yet:
Larry Persily, a panelist questioner in the campaign's final televised debate, said Palin flummoxed her rivals "like Muhammad Ali dancing around the ring." She avoided statements and tough questions that could have impaled her and repeatedly stung at her opponents. And Palin, a former sportscaster, was easily the most comfortable in front of the camera.
This will be one interesting debate. I will be on the edge of my seat.