Viewers may lament the fact that Oprah won't have Sarah Palin, or any candidate, on her show until after the election, but the decision may be irrelevant since the McCain campaign has dismissed the media's role in asking questions of the candidate. Apparently speeches, campaign events and ads, and a debate will be enough to teach Americans what they need to know about the national novice at number two.
Unscripted interviews and insight could help those who want to be as comfortable with the VP as they are with the top of the ticket, in the case that Palin must replace McCain. But others suspect that the public might give the McCain camp a pass for keeping her in the shadows. Marc Ambinder of The Atlantic says: "If Palin sat for one major television interview with, say, a gentle but probing Diane Sawyer . . . and then an interview with her local paper in Alaska . . . and then gave no press avails and held no press conferences . . . the media would complain a lot. Would people care?"
Well, do you care if Sarah Palin can answer tough questions from a reporter?
Vivienne Westwood
Dries Van Noten
Korres
Is this normal? Is Joe Biden doing a lot of interviews?
1Probably the right call after the treatment she's received over the last week. The campaign should follow the Reagan example of bypassing a hostile press and speaking directly to the public. Obama has essentially followed that model over the past year, only he doesn't have a hostile press -- he's just playing to his strength. And there's really nothing wrong with that, either. Its for us voters to listen to what we do hear and vote based on that information.
2I'd be concerned about the people who fall for the "the media is being mean to her" and don't read articles, only watch her in carefully scripted moments. They'll hear her tell them how she brought in a major pipeline to Alaska and never know that it was started before she took office and won't get built until 2018. They'll hear her talk about how she sold the previous governor's plane on eBay for a profit--and never know that it DIDN'T sell on eBay, it was sold privately for half a million less than it cost and the new owner is suing the governor's office saying that he's had unexpected costs with it. And that's just a start. Pretending it's about bad press and her kids is silly...the reality is that she has an awful lot to answer to and the reason the media is asking is that no one knows those answers yet. Biden and Obama have been in the public eye and scrutinized thoroughly...it's silly to pretend that Obama has not had his own problems with the media.
3Or you can all read this:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/kilkenny.asp
and go vote for Obama
4I'm so outraged by those people right now, and baffled that anyone could consider voting for them. Seriously. Mindblowing.
5If she is shielded from the media when is this lady going to learn to speak are they going to also shield her from the debates so she won't be asked the questions, get over this part of the job, people need to know where she stands not just what the teleprompter tells her to say
6Biden's on Meet the Press tomorrow, a shows been on a number of times in the past year. He's a known entity, with a long record and has given several interviews since the Dems convention.
The McCain campaign is controlling access to Palin so that she can't screw up by saying anything that reveals how unqualified she is to be on a national presidential ticket.
7I think it's a bad move. Millions have only known her for about a week, and so far all they have gotten is teleprompted and/or rehearsed speeches. How is anyone meant to feel they know this woman?
8i don't think this is surprising, i doubt any of the 4 will be doing many sit down interviews between now and Nov 4th. Between the debates and all the public appearances, its probably just not feasible.
9There are so many questions to be asked of Palin. The McCain camp will do its best to avoid any probing questions aimed at her. I want to know more about her and her husbands involvement with the Alaskan Independence Party.
10Obama and Biden were on 60 Minutes recently. One thing I do know, Joe Biden is not afraid of a TV camera.
11I'm kinda glad Oprah is being socially responsible. Her show holds an enourmous sway (like creating instant bestsellers). I stopped watching it years ago when it became more about celebrities and sensationalism.
12wow that letter from anne kilkenny is very clear and to the point. how refreshing. thanks for posting it, karlotta. i'm going to pass it around to some people.
anyway, to the question at hand. of course she should be talking to the press. are people so blinded by their party affiliation that they can't see she's doing this to protect herself? how is it that the same people who want us to be seen as a military and economic superpower around the world are ok with electing the oldest president we've ever had, with his second in command being a person with little-to-no policy experience? do they really think this is going to make us appear strong in the eyes of foreign leaders? can someone please tell me 3 good reasons why she's qualified to be vice president?
13oh, and i guess this all means that nancy pelosi should really be considering window treatments for the oval office... she is next in line after palin after all.
14it really blows my mind how angry people are getting over the experience issue with a VP but at the same time have no problem AT ALL elected someone with just as little experience to be the actual President.
15This is so disrespectful of the whole democratic process and no, it's not a party stance. If you're running for office the only way to get to know someone is through a Socratic relationship with the press. If information is coming one way, that's hardly instructional, it's in fact, propaganda. Unacceptable.
16well rac, i guess we should be used to it by now considering how secretive the bush white house has been. they are of the opinion that they should control all of the information that reaches the people - even when its information that we need to make informed decisions about our government. you're right. this is just more propaganda.
17IMO, claims that the quality of Palin's experience is in any way suitable for the office she seeks, or that it is on any important level equal to or superior to Obama's.
I find it despicable hypocrisy that, in order to support claims that Palin has quality experience, Republicans suddenly are denigrating the work of community organizers in major U.S. cities.
No wonder they don't want her anywhere near a reporter with a tape recorder.
18id say obama has a great deal more experience than sarah palin... and the experience he does have is of a higher caliber, more accurately reflects the real issues facing america right now, and his vice presidential candidate complements his skill set and will serve him well when he's in office. not to mention the fact that obama has a HUGE following of voters who have followed him since the 2004, and have basically built up his popularity and campaign from the ground up. he's been totally open about his past, has and has not avoided the spotlight, or the tough questions (see his speech on race, see his recent interview on o'reilly, etc.). palin just came out of nowhere, with little-to-no following, and now she's refusing to speak to the people and answer the tough questions. there's really no comparison here. it's apples & oranges.
so if we're following your logic, hausfrau, and you're so up in arms about obama's lack of experience, let's be fair and hear your thoughts on palin's lack of experience, because you must have a few. so go ahead - we're listening!
19"IMO, claims that the quality of Palin's experience is in any way suitable for the office she seeks, or that it is on any important level equal to or superior to Obama's, represent both a serious lack of integrity on the part of the claimant and a frightening lack of understanding of the world.
I find it despicable hypocrisy that, in order to support claims that Palin has quality experience, Republicans suddenly are denigrating the work of community organizers in major U.S. cities.
No wonder they don't want her anywhere near a reporter with a tape recorder."
Thank you Steph.
20"If information is coming one way, that's hardly instructional, it's in fact, propaganda. Unacceptable."
Agree with Rac 100%. If she can't hack the media now, and every word uttered must be pre-scripted, filtered and-or approved, then it says to me:
1)Her own nominating party needs to take the "renegade" out of her as neatly as they have McCain in order to prevent any sort of slip-ups on the part of of Palin.
2)It hints at their lack of trust in her ability to speak effectively for herself or the party without their "guiding hand".
3)She has no business in office if she can't handle it.
At a time when Obama showed up on "I shout louder than you" O'Reilly's show, this is just plain wussy on the part of the GOP.
21Is this for real? I know she has a lot of PR issues but this is ridiculous. She needs to show us that she can stand up to scrutiny and answer tough questions. This is just bizarre.
22yeah palin and giuliani's flippant remarks about obama being a community organizer were chilling. people in the audience laughing about that, as if it's as meaningless as, say, being a beauty queen? unbelievable. really.
23I find it funny oprah wants no interviews until the aftermath we all know she is supporting obama so she does this to not look bad, to bad she dropped hilary
24Nice personal attack Steph. Classy as always.
25yy - i don't like the palin pick in that it takes away the experience argument, thats why i disagreed with it when its done. so you'll find no hypocrisy from me. but you can't equate VP with President no matter how hard one tries. so its not an apples to apples comparison anyways.
26but do you really think palin has more experience than obama?
27Did anyone catch Jeffrey Toobin in on Real Time with Bill Maher last night? They talked about this issue.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwjLZX0F3VI
28I think cutting off access to a more "unscripted" side of her politics is a dangerous move. I certainly watch all of the candidates' speeches, but in the end, all they really tell me is that Candidate A is really good at reading someone else's words off a teleprompter. I think they're important because they do convey political platforms, and I think the way a candidate presents him- or herself is very important, but only allowing her to go on record with "official" campaign activities and scripted speeches is, like I said, a little questionable.
Are they afraid of demonstrating her lack of media experience? I think it would be much better for her to make those PR missteps now than if John McCain is elected and she actually does need to speak away from the podium. I know it's all about getting votes and that's completely unrealistic of me to want, but it just makes it seem as if she has something to hide.
29I clearly labeled that post my opinion and didn't direct it at anyone in particular.
"karlotta you have a lot to learn about being open minded."
30It only lacks class when it comes from the other side, doesn't it?
what i like about palin's experience is that she had to say yes or no. not maybe 130 times. yes or no. i like that. i like someone who can make a choice and enforce something. someone with follow through. and i like that she hasn't spent all her time campaigning for president.
so in matters of gov't and actually making tough choices, yes i think palin has more experience. in matters of being in DC and politics and being on the scene, knowing how to work the system (and i don't mean any of those in a bad way), no i don't she has more experience.
31hey at least im honest with my attacks steph, i don't try to hide behind anything.
32but steph i am only as biased as you are.
33She should have to, the three other people running for the top two spots in the USA have to right now! Imagine if the Obama campaign said, "sorry, Joe Biden won't be talking to reporters. ever." ha.
34yy - thats just my opinion, BTW. im not out to convince anyone. certainly not anyone on this board! i can't remember the last time someone came along who hadn't decided already.
35i have to say yes or no in my job all the time as well, so do lots of people. if that's all you have to go on, then the CEO of walmart (2x more employees than the state of alaska has residents) is just as qualified as sarah palin.
36I'm completely over Palin she's a non-issue. The fact that they won't even allow her to talk unscripted (even with GOP talking points memorized that all the GOP pundits have) says a whole lot, she obviously can't hack it.
IMO they're using her to take the focus off the issues. She's either being victimized by the press or her troopergate or her babygate or her abuse of powergate.
If she and the GOP don't trust her to speak effectively for the party and interview for the job of VPOTUS then why should I trust her.
I'm very focused on the issues and the GOP has not obscured my view with the sideshow.
37She doesn't want to do interviews because they will call her out on her bullsh*t. Point blank. It's not about her being a woman, her pregnant teenager, or her baby with Down Syndrome. She lied so much in her speech it's not even funny. They'll ask her why she cut programs for teen moms, why she cut programs for children with disabilities, why she lied about starting the pipeline, why she wants to take polar bears off the endangered list, and about her husband in the Alaska Independence Party. Then she won't have an answer (or she will lie, she's extremely good at that) or cry sexism.
38Anybody who doesn't think that this means that either she has something to hide or that the McCain campaign doesn't have confidence in her is naive. Her the McCain camp has this awesome opportunity to unleash this unknown personality and have the American people fall in love with her and instead, they choose to keep her on a leash. The only reason to do this is to protect themselves from her.
39imagine if the tables were turned and obama stated nope biden will not do interviews with the press, the republicans would be up in arms wondering why not accusing of the same, why is it different, because she has little experience that is why she is being hushed, and you say obama has no experience but the man is not afraid to speak, or use a teleprompter at least not at his acceptance speech that man was talking from his heart, i initially was voting for hilary, but that man has ideas and i really think he is not going to let us down then again that is my opinion
40I agree pinkprincess.
41Shop owners make 'choices' every day, people who work on assembly lines pulling out defective products make choices all day every day, everyone who comes in to Starbucks to buy coffee makes choices all day. Oddly enough, Sarah Palin is proud of the fact that she thinks the government should deny women the right to make their most important choice.
What did she say yes or no on that makes her valuable to this country? Yes we'll build that road? Was that a tough choice? 130 choices like that aren't much to brag about.
42Obama said yes to making communities better, yes to controlling the spread of weapons, yes to tracking spent nuclear fuel, yes to helping veterans returning from Iraq in an important number of ways. I'd like to hear Sarah Palin explain McCain's economic plan in depth. I'd like to hear her explain what's going on Iraq right now, how she'd like that agreement to go, how long she thinks we should be there. What choices does Sarah Palin think we should make in terms of Pakistan? Joe Biden could discuss all those issues right now. Sarah Palin cannot.
kinda sick of seeing the womans choice thing.
43The fact of the matter is, that reporters could agree not to ask her about personal issues or family issues before she sits down to an interview. I'm sorry, but I believe the fact that the campaign doesn't want her talking to the press is very telling.
44Kind of sick of the threats against the woman's choice thing.
45kastarte2 very true I'm surprised no one else mentioned that, its like that with anyone to negotiate what is off limits, which i do believe personal and family issues should be off limits unless that's what the interviewee wants to talk about, so that makes me really believe that she is avoiding to tell the truth on real matters
46kind of sick what happens in back alleys when woman don't have a choice
47I'm sick of the Obama lacks experience thing.
48I just don't understad why McCain would want to squander this oppertunity by putting a muzzle on this woman. The convention did nothing but rally the base to vote for Palin. She is now the canidate people want to support. McCain's become the secondary personality in some ways. People want to learn more about her and hear her unscripted. If she is everything we have been told to believe she is, then exposure through interviews could only help their cause. The only reason to take such drastic measures and forbid interviews is fear, in my opinion.
BTW I find it kind of sexist on the campaign's behalf to silence this woman in that way. She can only speak when they approve what she is going to say ahead of time? Is anybody else offended by the puppetry?
49Maybe they should have thought about that b4 they lie down with someone and then create life. just saying
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