MSNBC: McCain Camp won't commit to having Palin do media interviews

[sabra]

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/09/05/1353954.aspx

<snip>

*** Waiting for the interview: There are now about 60 days until Election Day and just three weeks until the debates. And who knows whether we'll get the first Sarah Palin serious issue interview before then. This morning on JOE, McCain manager Rick Davis wouldn't commit to putting her out to media interviews unless they saw it as helping their campaign. This Sunday is interesting in that three of the four principles are doing sunday shows, the lone holdout: Palin.

[ogneopasno]

1. WHAT IS SHE AFRAID OF?

Sarah, what are you afraid of? I thought you were a tough-ass hockey mom! A pit bull! What happened, Sarah? What do you fear? What's the matter? What are you afraid of?

[smoogatz]

11. I'm pretty sure she's afraid of being exposed as a wingnut loon and a moron.

But I could be wrong.

[ogneopasno]

15. Yeah, I know. But I'm thinking

if we keep asking what the woman who skins moose with her teeth is afraid of, maybe the media will, too.

[cliffordu]

18. Well...yeah, there is that......but I mean why else????

:rofl:

[MindMatter]

47. SHE isn't afraid of anything

It is the campaign that is afraid of having here out there.

The only interviews she will take will be on Faux, and only if they can agree on the scripts ahead of time.

It is pretty sad when it takes them 2 weeks to prepare her to even go on Faux.

[annabanana]

49. and THAT is exactly what the Campaign is afraid of....-

(shivering in their gucci loafers "don't go off book - don't go off book - don't go off book")

[xiamiam]

13. they know she is not capable of tackling the issues...attacking yes, answering questions, no...nt

[Boz]

19. They are not afraid of anything, This is pure pompousness and a smart move

You assume they need the media, they know they dont. The media comes with questions and contrasts that let people shape their message. The TV on the other hand can be programmed with what they want to say with out someone else changing it.

Scripted speeches can be played on the Media because they HAVE TO HAVE something to report on her and scripted messages can be played on the TV to even appear as answered questions.

GET IT. They don't need the media, the media need them. They have enough money to say whatever they want to whoever they want however they want with out apology or explaination.

[BeyondGeography]

37. Except the guy who is doing interviews will be bombarded with questions about why she isn't

And Mr. Short Fuse is going to tire of that really fast.

[Chloroplast]

44. There's great pride before a great fall.

McCain's campaign is taking a huge risk by having Palin hide out. Sure, the press will come to them but after a while, the dirt starts to come to the top. That leaves the MSM with the opportunity to not only define Palin as a person and politician but explain why she's hiding and what she's been doing in the meantime. It's extremely dangerous and balls out to pull a stunt like this. McCain can take the wind out of the media's sails by having the Palins confront the rumors head on. Even if they lie, it buys them time and leaves the tabloids scrambling for a rebuttal. But hiding out undermines their talking point of government transparency.

[deucemagnet]

38. The issues.

Caribou Barbie fears the issues.

[cynatnite]

2. The pressure will mount and they will have no choice in the matter n/t

[Boz]

20. Wrong it worked for Dan Quayle, its worked for criminals Bush and Cheney

Thee is no power in assumption, there is no force or pressure to say So what are you going to do about it, Bush hasn't even felt pressure and HE HAS BROKEN LAWS.

The republicans have all the choice in the world to ignore you and nothing you say can change that.

[Mz Pip]

3. Could it be that

it's because evverytime she opens her mouth the Dems pick up 10 million in donations?

[Alter Ego]

4. That kneecaps them pretty badly, in my opinion.

Obama and Biden are both willing and prepared to talk to the media. McCain is (kinda), but his running mate isn't? And they have less than two months to make her ready?

[Boz]

23. Bu they wont let Obama/Biden just talk onesided. So without an oponent there is no contrasts

The media is out of the game and down for the count to the election with the repubs ignoring them.

Now its not mass communicating but down to the person to person level, we are in good shape there, but ignoring the media is a game changer that will make us work harder not them.

[Connie_Corleone]

5. I hope the media keeps talking about this.

The American people should know that Sarah is a chickenshit.

She can dish it out, but she can't take it herself.

[JBoy]

6. Osama bin Palin. Hiding in her cave.

Maybe she'll mail in a video.

[blm]

7. Sexist GOP doesn't trust Palin to stick 100% to the script they wrote for her lipsticked face.

They want a woman who only says what she is TOLD to say - a real Dominionist. A real PARROT for the GOPAC talking points Republican thugs have used the last 20 years to sway their gullible audience.

http://www.motherjones.com/news/special_reports/coinop_congress/eye_on_newt/GOPAC.html

[DangerousRhythm]

8. This is such bullshit. She is not special. She wants to play in the big leagues...

She'd better step the hell up and show us what she's got going on inside her melon. So far she's been scripted 100% of the damned time. I want to see how she is unscripted, what she knows, the depth of her knowledge. I'm going to take a wild guess though and say McCain REALLY screwed up and picked an absolute moron on national and world issues. She knows fishing and hunting and drilling, but does she know anything else?

I doubt it.

[atreides1]

9. So Much For Palin

Being an equal partner in the McCain campaign. But I guess that this is exactly what those conservative women are really shooting for, someone to be seen but not heard.

True conservative values.

[Blasphemer]

10. They know her lies will be found out by the National Enquirer

When Republicans can't lie at will, they have to keep their mouths shut - they have nothing else to say.

[faithfulcitizen]

12. THIS is the story guys... FIRED UP, and ready to run? chickenshit.

[City Lights]

14. The media should make it clear that they won't air her canned speeches until

she faces the press like the other candidates. No free air time to spew her scripted talking points!

[TheKentuckian]

16. " Osama bin Palin. Hiding in her cave."

Classic!!!

[KayLaw]

17. That's just disgusting.

What a bunch of cowards!

[chill_wind]

21. Not vetted. Not qualified. Not ready. Not fit. Step UP or step Down, Ms Palin.

You owe it to a country full of voters, lady. Let them see the goods.

[Hutzpa]

22. Voters has to know this

drive it through to the voters and they will get it....

[Boz]

25. Why they didnt get it with George Bush

[cyberpj]

24. They have to educate her - "Bush Aides Schooling Palin In Foreign Policy"

Bush Aides Schooling Palin In Foreign Policy
September 4, 2008 01:14 PM


The McCain team has hastily assembled a team of former Bush White House aides to tutor the vice-presidential candidate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, on foreign-policy issues, to write her speeches and to begin preparing her for her all-important Oct. 2 debate against Sen. Joe Biden.

Steve Biegun, who once served as the No. 3 National Security Council official under Condoleezza Rice at the White House, has been hired as chief foreign-policy adviser to the Alaska governor, campaign officials told NEWSWEEK. After taking leave from his job as vice president for international affairs at Ford Motor Co. last Friday, Biegun flew to St. Paul and, together with McCain's foreign-policy guru Randy Schuenemann, began briefings for Palin on national-security issues--an area where her resume is conspicuously thin.

Biegun is hardly the only Bushie to be tapped for Palin duty. Among others:

Matt Scully, a former Bush White House speechwriter who helped draft some of the major foreign-policy addresses during the president’s first term, is working on Palin’s acceptance speech to the convention Wednesday night.

Mark Wallace, a former lawyer for the Bush 2000 campaign who served in a variety of administration jobs including chief counsel at the Federal Emergency Management Agency and deputy ambassador to the United Nations, has been put in charge of “prep” for the debate against Biden.

Wallace’s wife, Nicolle Wallace, the former White House communications director, has taken over the same job for Palin.

Tucker Eskew, another senior Bush White House communications aide, is serving as senior counselor to Palin’s operation.

Douglas Holtz-Eakin, the former chief economist at the Council of Economic Advisers who has been serving as top economics guru for the McCain campaign, has moved over to serve as Palin’s chief domestic-policy adviser.


The proliferation of former Bush White House aides in the Palin team may strike some as ironic—and could even provide some fodder for the Democrats—given the McCain camp’s efforts to distance itself from the unpopular president. (It has been widely noted, for example, that while the president is addressing the convention tonight by satellite, neither the president nor Vice President Cheney will be coming anywhere near St. Paul. And when Palin's selection was announced last week, McCain aides touted it as an example of the senator returning to his "reformer roots" and rebelling against the GOP establishment.)

here:
http://www.blog.newsweek.com/blogs/stumper/archive/2008/09/02/bushies-come-to-palin-s-rescue.aspx

[ohtransplant]

26. Free Sarah!

We know she wants to talk.

What could they be afraid of? She's a pit bull in lipstick right? Loves throwing our the red meat right? Game on Sarah!

They're not really afraid of what she might say...Are they?

I'm shocked! Shocked I tell you - that they're hiding their VP nominee in an undisclosed secure location.

I hope she's studying hard. She's going to need it when they have to release her. You can't unlearn a lifetime or learn 2 yrs of info in 60 days.

Maybe that's it...they're afraid...Naw...Couldn't be. Not republics..not John McCain...Say it ain't so.

[bushisanidiot]

27. What is she.. a crazy old aunt who lives in the attic and who we aren't supposed to talk about?

what the friggin HELL?? is she NOT running for the Vice Presidency of the United States??
why won't she face the press??

[book_worm]

28. By contrast, Biden should do every interview he can as a comparison.

[chill_wind]

32. Agree-- Make the contrast absolutely glaring. n/t

[texas1928]

29. After her "I don't know what the VP does." response...

Do you blame them?

[Douglas Carpenter]

30. this MUST be made into an issue. If she is REALLY qualified to take over as Commander and Chief -

a few unscripted press conferences and interviews should not be a problem

[PA Democrat]

31. Agreed. If she is incapable of doing anything other than reading from a script

someone else has written for her, she can go audition for a role in a Lifetime movie. The Vice Presidency is not a movie role and requires someone with a firm grasp of foreign and domestic policies plus the ability to think on their feet.

[Shine]

33. I suspect that decision, like many, will come back to haunt them.

People will undoubtedly question WHY Palin is avoiding the press, which will undoubtedly lead to questions asking WHAT is she hiding, which will inevitably lead to HOW is she remotely qualified???

If McSame wants to get Independents and Repubs that are wavering, he'll need to answer those questions.

[thewiseguy]

34. If you cant take the heat then get the F out of the kitchen!

[symbolman]

35. Sarah PTARMIGAN Palin! THAT is an Alaskan CHICKEN!! STEP UP OR STEP DOWN!

[livetohike]

36. Unless her casual conversations start sounding a little more

professional, she won't be turned loose to talk to any reporters or questions from the crowd. For a supposedly "executive" woman, her use of the English language is pitiful,imo.

[Alhena]

39. Honestly, that's fine with me- the more press coverage the geriatric hogs the better

[Patiod]

40. Not Ready for Prime Time Palin

We should skip the Caribou Barbie (which I LOVE) and call her nothing but Not Ready For Prime Time Palin, over and over and over everywhere we go. On the Internets, at parties, at pubs, at the grocery store, in mass email.

Why won't she talk? What is she hiding? Why are they hiding her?
Because she's not ready to lead.
Not Ready
Not Ready

[followthemoney]

41. Too big a gamble to put Palin unscripted in front of a camera.

Is the luck of the maverick running out? Is he losing his nerve?

Maverick Lyrics

Who is the white haired stranger there? (Not tall dark)
Maverick is the name.
Ridin' the trail to who knows where, (Must be lost. Should he be followed?)
Luck is his companion,
Gamblin' is his game. (Palin choice, Brilliant or Insane? Stay tuned.)
Smooth as the hand on S&L cash.
Maverick is the name.
Wild as the wind in New Orleans,
Blowin' up huts in Vietnam,
Crashing his aeroplanes.

Riverboat, ring your bell,
Fare thee well, Annabel.
Luck is the lady that he loves the best.
Natchez to New Orleans
Livin on jacks and queens
Maverick is his legend in the press.

Riverboat, ring your bell,
Fare thee well, Annabel.
Luck is the lady that he loves the best.
Natchez to New Orleans
Livin on jacks and queens
Maverick is his legend in the press.
Maverick is his legend in the press.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

42. becuase she doesn't know much that's why

only moose hunting

[BlueIdaho]

43. Flood the media with requests

DEMAND she give open interviews - this is the second most important job in America - we, as citizens, deserve to know more about her than the powerpoint presentation the republicans have given us so far.

Where in the World is Sarah San Diego?

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

45. She's a stealth candidate

They're trying to market her as a typical small town mom and housewife who's made something of herself through hard work. She says she's just one of many moms.

In reality, she's someone on the outer fringe of American society, a wild extremist. There's nothing typical about this person, but the Republicans don't want America to know that until it's too late. I think she's fully capable of sustaining an interview and fielding questions. She's been a politician now for quite a few years and she's won several campaigns. She's trained as a TV talking head after college. The only problem is that America will detest what she has to say in response to vital questions regarding her views on social issues, the economy, national security, and foreign affairs. She's to the right of Rush Limbaugh on virtually everything, but her handlers don't want the people to know that.

[Bluenorthwest]

46. She is in intensive coaching

Right now Palin is being trained to do these events. They do 'mock interviews' and the works. Play acting. Practice. If she did it now, she'd sink fast, a few days of hard work and she will do much better. So rather than say 'she's in class ramping up to face the press' they say 'she will not face the press' and then when she's good and ready she will. Her first 'interview' will be with an allie, and very controlled, Walters style, emotional stuff. That will be used to lay the groundwork for the rest.
But in the meantime, yes indeed, it is fear and a lack of readiness that prevents her from taking questions. That and the intense nature of the questions she will face.
Trust me, Palin is being trained with far more vigor than she was vetted.

[Whisp]

48. she's being put in the Cone of Silence

only this time it's for real, not the McCain type.