Last modified on October 13, 2010 by Brad Phillips

Christine O’Donnell Blanks on Supreme Court

During her Senate debate earlier tonight, Christine O’Donnell (R-DE) blanked when asked for an example of a Supreme Court decision she disagreed with.

Worse, when Wolf Blitzer threw her a lifeline, she corrected him instead of grabbing it and marching forward.

As the astute bloggers over at Outside the Beltway point out, Ms. O’Donnell’s failure to name a single Supreme Court case with which she disagrees is even less excusable, considering Sarah Palin bombed a similar question two years ago.

When preparing a candidate for a political debate, one of the most obvious places to start is by looking at the questions journalists have asked other candidates.

For example, anti-death penalty candidates should expect the infamous question Michael Dukakis received from Bernard Shaw in 1988: “Governor, if Kitty Dukakis were raped and murdered, would you favor an irrevocable death penalty for the killer?”

And candidates perceived to have gaps in their knowledge should expect to be asked “test” questions – such as the geography questions posed to George W. Bush in 1999 or the Supreme Court question posed in 2008 to Gov. Palin.
It’s possible that Ms. O’Donnell prepared for the Supreme Court question but went blank under pressure. But her totally unprepared expression suggests her debate prep team failed to anticipate the question at all.

Related: I Am Not a Witch: Christine O’Donnell’s New Ad