The American Spectator

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The Press Has Ways Of Making Palin Talk

By J. Peter Freire on 9.5.08 @ 6:24PM

"If she can't handle a press conference, how can you argue she's ready to be vice president?"

I completely agree with you, *but* I was just on MSNBC with David Shuster, and realized something. These people are salivating. They're eager to rip into her.

First he asks me what I figured Palin was going to talk about on the trail -- I suggested that it's likely she's going to stick to the conservative themes that made her convention speech so popular. He then asks, abruptly, why she won't do one on one interviews yet and answered "the American people" and if that means she's not ready to be vice president.

Wait, wait. She's been in the spotlight for how many days, and the fact that she hasn't pitched up for a one on one means that she's not ready for the slot? If anything it's probably a smart move right now. The press is mistaking itself for The People. The more self-righteous it gets about not getting a Sarah Palin interview, the better she'll look. Her speech was so well-received in part because it was a good speech and she was good at delivering, but also because everyone said she's a total novice. She's benefitted from low expectations. By the time she actually does an interview, she'll be expected to be boring/rehearsed/inchoate, making it all the more impressive when she knocks it out of the park.

Anyway, I responded that I thought it was strange that the press hasn't really scrutinized Barack Obama despite having months to do it. Shuster claimed, "Oh we have, and we've asked all the questions, and I could show you." I just responded, "Yeah, but did you ever get any answers?"

It doesn't count if you didn't wind up getting answers to the questions. If Palin needs a few more days before she faces the press, that's fine. Frankly, the whole point of having Palin on board is that she's so down-to-earth. She contributes nothing to the ticket by hiding. She'll have to come out at some point.

topics:
Barack Obama, Sarah Palin