Legal News

The Democratic Debate Team 2008: Craig and Granholm

By Dan Slater

There’s a coterie of D.C. lawyers who specialize in debate preparation. Among the most prolific of these practitioners is Williams & Connolly’s Bob Barnett, who played the role of George Bush (for Geraldine Ferraro in 1984, and for Michael Dukakis in 1988), and the role of Dick Cheney (for Joe Lieberman in 2000, and for John Edwards in 2004). During the 1992 campaign, Barnett practice debated Bill Clinton more than twenty times.

So who made the taxi squad for the 2008 presidential debates? Two beltway lawyers and a Michigan governor, as it turns out. The WSJ’s Monica Langley reports.

Greg Craig in the role of John McCain: Obama will take practice rounds against the former special counsel to the Clinton White House (and a partner of Bob Barnett’s at Williams & Connolly.) Craig (Harvard, Yale law) will perhaps try to focus on how to provoke McCain into anger or showing what the Obama camp says is how out of touch, or old, he is.

Jennifer Granholm in the role of Sarah Palin: To prepare for Palin, Joe Biden will beat up on Granholm, another female governor who, like Palin, is also a sports mom and former beauty-pageant winner. Biden will reportedly focus on how not to come across as sexist or superior. Granholm (UC-Berkeley, Harvard law) clerked for U.S. Judge Damon Keith on the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals before becoming an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, and then the state’s Attorney General.

Law Blog Readers: The McCain campaign is reportedly having trouble finding the right person for Palin’s practice sessions. Joe Lieberman was apparently considered, but dropped for being insufficiently fiery and loquacious to do a good Biden impression. Any ideas?

Correction: An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated that Maryland lieutenant governor Michael Steele had agreed to play Barack Obama during McCain’s debate preparations.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on September 22, 2008 (boomark / email).