PALIN AND THE PRESS….Judging from his public statements shortly after he announced Sarah Palin as his running mate, John McCain thought she had opposed the Bridge to Nowhere. She hadn’t. He thought she had sold the state’s executive jet on eBay and made a profit on it. On both counts, she didn’t. He thought she had cut taxes as both mayor and governor. She hadn’t. He apparently thought she had fully explained her part in pressuring the state police chief to fire her ex-brother-in-law. She hasn’t. He thought she was an enemy of earmarks and federal pork. In fact, she was a pioneer of both. And now Marc Ambinder confirms that Palin is being kept deeply under wraps:
A senior McCain campaign official advises that, despite the gaggle of requests and pressure from the media, Gov. Sarah Palin won’t submit to a formal interview anytime soon. She may take some questions from local news entities in Alaska, but until she’s ready — and until she’s comfortable — which might not be for a long while — the media will have to wait. The campaign believes it can effectively deal with the media’s complaints, and their on-the-record response to all this will be: “Sarah Palin needs to spend time with the voters.”
The McCain campaign is scared to death. They knew nothing about Palin before they announced her, they relied on a cursory vetting process that has turned out to be shot full of holes, they realize now that she has no settled views on any issue of national importance and could blurt out anything at any time, and they’re terrified about what might crop up next. So they’re keeping her in the deep freeze.
Will it work? I guess it’s possible. If she does one or two friendly interviews it will prevent reporters from saying flatly that she “refuses to meet with the press,” and the slightly more complicated explanation may be just complicated enough to keep voters from noticing what’s going on. In a way, it’s sort of a test of just how gullible the American public really is. Are they actually willing to vote for someone who’s afraid to meet with Foreign Affairs, the New York Times, and Meet the Press? Will they accept a tissue-thin excuse about what big meanies they all are? We’re about to find out.
