First order of business: VP debates are on tonight, 9 pm Eastern.  The moderator, Gwen Ifill, has written a book on the Barack Obama campaign and what he means for the future of America.  It is set to come out on Inauguration Day, when it will either be wonderfully prescient or the functional equivalent of a doorstop.  Of course, she screams “racism;” we are to believe that the only reason anyone would find this situation problematic - in which the moderator of the only vice-presidential debate in a hotly contested election has a huge financial stake in the outcome of the race -  is because her skin produces more melanin than does Sarah Palin’s skin.   Obviously, Ms. Ifill did not find her financial stake in the outcome to be relevant, as she did not disclose that fact to the McCain campaign before she was approved as a moderator.  (Hat tip: Michelle Malkin.)

We’ll find out tonight whether or not the Left’s huge gamble here pays off.  While they can undermine some of the tremendous support for Sarah, they can also enrage voters - even if Gov. Palin does not perform well, the voters may blame it on Ifill.  If Gov. Palin does well - according to the Wall Street Journal, she’s a top-notch debater - despite the unlevel field, it will be the grand slam that ends the game.

Palin sez that Ifill’s obvious bias will just make her work that much harder.  Ifill, do you really want to get on the wrong side of Sarah Barracuda?

On to our (sort of) daily dose of Link-Love.  Fred Thompson is in Sarah’s corner!  He said of Alaska’s Governor and media bias:

For a while there it seems the fact that so many uninformed yahoos (average people) love her was going to drive the main stream media nuts. They had a hard time grasping the fact that people like her because she is precisely the kind of politician that everyone has been saying they’ve wanted: Independent, not a captive of the Beltway including a Congress with a 9% approval rating, who will take on hacks of either party; who has the tenacity to win and the courage to fight for the long-term benefit of those she represents.

Ann Coulter compares Katie Couric’s treatment of Palin and Biden.

Palin, while campaigning in Arizona, said that she is a regular “Joe six-pack American.”

[Conservative talk radio host Hugh] Hewitt asked Palin her reaction to the “extreme hostility” that she has faced from liberals.

“Oh, I think they’re just not used to someone coming in from the outside saying you know what? It’s time that a normal Joe six-pack American is finally represented in the position of vice presidency, and I think that that’s kind of taken some people off guard, and they’re out of sorts, and they’re ticked off about it,” she said.

PalinTruthFiles is launching an ad campaign to combat the investigation into Gov. Palin’s (totally legal) firing of one of her subordinates.  (Hat tip.)

McCain isn’t the only one comparing Palin to Reagan.

The Weekly Standard points out that only Palin has been hit with questions about her positions on abortion; Obama, who effectively voted against a bill that would require doctors to give medical care to all infants, has not.

GovernorPalin has more on her interview with Hugh Hewitt.

Sarah Palin took a stand for Israel and Iranian women.  (Hat tip: GovernorPalin.)   Score one for our feminist hero.

Is the McCain campaign beginning to unleash Sarah?

Sarah will be heading to North Carolina, which Barack Obama is trying to win, next Tuesday.