HIDING FROM THE PRESS….The Wall Street Journal tells us about the McCain campaign’s coordinated effort to keep their vice presidential nominee safely hidden from the public eye:
The McCain campaign scrambled to take control of the public debate over vice-presidential pick Sarah Palin, canceling her public appearances and teaming her with high-powered Republican operatives as she prepared for a speech Wednesday night that will be her first, and perhaps most important, chance to define herself to the American public.
….In Minnesota she has stayed out of the public eye, a contrast with Democratic vice-presidential pick Sen. Joe Biden, who milled about the convention in Denver last week. Gov. Palin refused media interviews and canceled plans to appear at the Republican National Coalition for Life Tuesday.
….In Alaska, the McCain campaign has tried to control the flow of information as liberal bloggers and the media mine her past. A team of public-relations aides has settled into the state and asked Gov. Palin’s friends and family to avoid speaking to the media.
This certainly demonstrates boundless confidence in Palin, doesn’t it? She’s great! But, um, no, nobody can talk to her. And of course that goes for John McCain too, who cancelled his scheduled appearance on Larry King tonight. His excuse: CNN’s Campbell Brown had gone “over the line” in an interview with McCain flack Tucker Bounds and he was mad about it. Anybody buying that? Normally I might just write it off to McCain’s famous sense of self-righteousness, but in this case it’s pretty obvious he cancelled his appearance because he doesn’t want to face the press either until he learns a little bit more about his “soulmate.” Not to worry, though. I’m sure the vetting will be done any day now.
