By Woon Wui Tek

THE knives are out for Mrs Sarah Palin, the Republican candidate for the United States vice-presidency.

She has made gaffes in recent interviews that exposed her lack of foreign-affairs gravitas.

Tonight (tomorrow morning, Singapore time), she will face foreign-affairs expert Joe Biden, her Democratic counterpart, in the sole vice-presidential debate.

With the race tight, an usually unimportant event has drawn unusual attention.

And even some Republicans have suggested that she doesn't have what it takes. But they have forgotten her true tasks.

First, the debate won't be all about foreign affairs but, rather, it will focus on a spread of topics.

Second, she is confronting Mr Biden in the arena of verbal cut-and-thrust. Encyclopaedic knowledge matters less than wit and fast thinking.

And, by all accounts, Mrs Palin is a skilled debater.

She has a knack for simplifying policy questions and deflecting her opponents' attacks, with jabs delivered with a smile.

Mr Biden, bringing to bear his experience and his role as Mr Barack Obama's attack dog, could easily overreach. He's being drilled by his coaches not to.

Third, Mrs Palin doesn't have to win the debate.

The main reason she was picked by Mr John McCain was to solidify his standing among his party's true believers. Her red-meat positions on issues such as abortion and guns have sealed the deal. But she still has to avoid a spectacular gaffe.

As Republican strategist Tom Homer said: "I don't think she can get away with comments on foreign policy, like, she knows about Russia because it's near Alaska."

But, if she sticks to her strengths, Mrs Palin's smile may get broader and broader.

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