Calling her shot

It occurred to me last night, while watching yet another replay of the veep debate, that Sarah Palin telegraphed at least one of her passes, so to speak.

Do you think it's possible Palin asked Sen. Biden "can I call you Joe?" at the start because she wanted to set up the faux folksy “There you go Joe, there you go again" line?

Had she been forced to refer to him in more formal terms throughout the debate, Palin wouldn't have been able to get the line off to any effect. Thus, she had to ask for permission.

Either way, the ploy fell flat. Most people recognized it for what it was: a scripted riff that she'd been waiting all night to pull from her notecards. How mavericky.